Renita Martin is a critically acclaimed interdisciplinary artist whose works have appeared on "Good Morning America," in Ebony Magazine, the New York Times, and the Boston Globe. Renita has worked Off-Broadway, regionally and internationally, as well as in independent films and on broadcast television. She is the author of two books and several plays and has contributed to numerous anthologies. She has written music for various media including the currently running podcasts "Jump at the Sun", Sharon Bridgforth’s “Who Yo People Is?”, and the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority's "Metro Voices".The consummate storyteller, Renita also uses her creative skills in corporate industries. Her innovative approach to telling her clients' stories offers a refreshing edge to organizational communication. 

Renita is a National Ambassador to Brown University's "Black Lavender Experience", and guest lecturing artist at Brown University and Tougaloo College. 

Renita’s creativity has earned her a “Telly Award” for best music video for Massachusetts Transit Bay Authority's "Safety Bounce”, All Out Art's "Fruitee Award for Outstanding Play", the "Arch Bruce and Brown Play Award", and the National Performance Network's "Creation Fund Grant". For her commitment to community, Ebony Magazine,and Pine Sol honored Renita with the "Unsung Hero Award". She’s also received community service awards from the Fenway Health Center, Boston Women's Service Club, and Eta Phi Beta Sorority. 

Renita is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, the National Writers Union, the Screen Actors Guild, Actors’ Equity Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and Phi Beta Theta International Honor Society. 

Courtney Liferidge, Board President, has been a board member since the age of 7. She has served as a volunteer, board treasurer, and clerk for the organization. Courtney recently received a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from Cambridge College.

Samuel B. Williams, II is a Houston native who received his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology from Texas A&M University in 1969. Mr. Williams was one of the two First Black Football lettermen at Texas A&M and was on the 1967 Southwest Conference & 1968 Cotton Bowl Championship team. Mr. Williams has over 40 years of industry and is currently a Business Development & Technical Consultant, Certified Mediator, and Real Estate Manager.

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In 2005 Mr. Williams Co-founded the Houston A&M Club’s Caring Aggie Mentoring Program (CAMP) to support underrepresented students by making a 10- year commitment to mentor and inspire them to pursue higher education. And to reinforce excellence, build confidence, leadership skills, and provide fun, life-enriching experiences through direct role modeling success relationships. The program has over 350 students. The program has been featured on the local ABC affiliate in Houston.

Taneesha Peoples is Georgia-born but resides in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Taneesha graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Finance. She gained an Internship  with a non-profit organization called SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity), which focuses on placing minorities into internships with Fortune 500 companies. Upon completing her internship, Taneesha gained a full-time opportunity with EMC, where she worked for two years. She now works at Santander Bank as a Compensation Analyst. Taneesha has a teenaged son and enjoys everything fun.

H. Tia Juana Malone is a PMI Certified Project Manager. In addition to serving as adjunct faculty at Cambridge College and Roxbury Community College (RCC), her background includes directing and coordinating specialties programs such as; Ujima Project at Northeastern University and AtD –Learning Communities at RCC. As a certified ACE Facilitator, Malone uses research-based strategies to teach and coach college-bound students. Malone earned a B.A. degree at Albany State University (ASU) in Georgia. Her M.A. degree in English and her graduate certificate in nonprofit management are from Northeastern University (NU). Malone is a member of the international PMI organization.

Lauren R. Brown, M.D., is a full-time practicing Obstetrician and Gynecologist. She has been in private practice for the past 20 years in the City of Champions, Brockton, MA. Lauren holds a B.A. from Vassar College, where she majored in Film/Drama and from Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN. She interned at Booth Memorial Hospital,

Flushing, NY, and completed her residency at Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY. She then went on to complete a fellowship in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology at Harvard University Children's Hospital and remained on the faculty there for several years. She has traveled to the Marshall Islands as a volunteer with the Brookhaven National Laboratory, examining patients involved in the Bikini Island Project. Lauren enjoys traveling, photography, and reading poetry.

Dr. Griffin Davis is a Chief Medical Officer at Fort Washington Medical Center, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, and a board-certified emergency physician at The George Washington University Hospital and the District of Columbia Veteran’s Hospital. He is also the Director of Physician Quality and the Chief of the Administrative Section at the GW Medical Faculty Associates. Dr. Davis served for three years as Chair of Emergency Medicine at Prince George’s Hospital, where he helped select and implement the first Electronic Medical Record. He has given national talks on implementing RFID location systems in Emergency Departments and served as a Principal Investigator for a multi-center trial studying the use of ultrasensitive troponin testing in patients presenting with chest pain. He has several years of experience in healthcare administration, implementing quality improvements in the clinical setting, and serving on hospital compliance, quality, and risk management committees. Dr. Davis earned his MD and Masters in Public Health from The Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine and Public Health and an MBA from the George Washington University School of Business. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Attorney Ramona Williams serves as Executive Director at Jobs for Mississippi Graduates, where her primary duties are overseeing the heads of each department in Jobs for Mississippi Graduates, including marketing, fundraising, program development, HR management, and accounting. She leads the fund-raising department in setting annual income goals. She also works with program managers to set standards for serving the organization's targeted needs groups.

Karen Allen Baxter is the Managing Director of the Department of Africana Studies/Rites and Reason Theatre, Brown University. She started her career as an arts administrator at the New Lafayette Theatre in Harlem. Before coming to Brown, Baxter was the Executive Director of the Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop (FSWW). Baxter has produced concerts and reggae artists Bob Marley & The Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, and Burning Spear. She co-produced the Grammy-nominated album Reggae Sunsplash - A Tribute to Bob Marley. From 1987 to 1999, she produced the Annual AUDELCO Awards that honor excellence in Black Theatre.

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As Producer/Managing Director for Africana Studies’ Rites and Reason Theatre, Baxter produces each season's productions and programs. These have included works by Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Rosa Guy, Elmo Terry-Morgan, Denise Nicholas, Ifa Bayeza, and Carl Hancock Rux. Baxter also curates and produces annually, The Black Lavender Experience – and conversation sparked by queer artists of color; and the Africana Film Festival. Her international projects include the Trilateral Reconnections-University of Cape Town, SA, Brown, and the University of the West Indies.

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Baxter’s course, Art and Civic Engagement, explores public art, communities, social and cultural identity, democracy, and power structures.

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Baxter chaired The New Lafayette Theatre Project; and is the Founding Chairperson, SonEdna, based in Mississippi that supports literary arts. Baxter holds a BS in sociology from CCNY, a Certificate in Arts Management from Harvard University, and in Arts Management from Lesley University. Baxter was awarded a 2-year scholarship August Wilson to Dartmouth College and earned a Minority Business Executive Program Certificate.

Greg Griifin is a lifelong resident of Jackson, Mississippi. He graduated from Murrah High School and Tougaloo College, where he majored in Sociology. Greg worked as a full-time community organizer for five years at Citizens for Quality Education in Lexington, MS. His focus was on youth organizing, addressing educational, environmental, and juvenile justice issues. From community organizing, Greg moved into finance and has worked in the finance industry for ten years as a loan underwriter and credit counselor. Greg currently serves as project manager for HOME. He is the owner of the HoneyComb SLIM t-shirt line.

Clinton Turner Davis was born on April 9, 1949 in Washington, D.C., and received his B.F.A. degree in theater from Howard University in 1972.

Davis began his career with the Negro Ensemble Company in 1972 as the production stage manager for The Great Macdaddy at St. Mark’s Playhouse. Throughout the 1970s, Davis served as the stage manager for a succession of Negro Ensemble Company. In 1982, Davis made his directorial debut with the off-Broadway production of Abercrombie Apocalypse: An American Tragedy at Westside Arts Theatre in New York City. Davis would go on to direct Pearl Cleage’s first play, Puppetplay, at Theatre Four in New York City, and serve as the stage manager for Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. In 1986, Davis co-founded the Non-Traditional Casting Project. He then directed his first August Wilson play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, at Theatreworks in Palo Alto, California in 1989. At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1993, Davis directed Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, which was the festival’s first produced work by an African American playwright. 

Davis served as a director for the American Young Playwrights Festival in New York City. He was a guest lecturer at Yale University, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, The Ohio State University, and Howard University; and directed theatrical productions at The Juilliard School, Brandeis University, and Colorado College. Davis received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Howard University, in addition to Dallas Theatre, Bay Area, and Drama-logue Critics’ Awards. In 2015, Davis received the Lloyd Richards Directors Award from the National Black Arts Festival.