Bruton Allen (2006-08)
Salisbury

Bruton is a business banker with First National Bank and Trust Company in Salisbury, NC. He was born and raised in Troy, a southern mill town of 3,000 people and spent many years as a sales representative selling commercial packaging, mainly to hosiery and textile mills while living in Winston-Salem. In the late 1990’s those mills moved their operations out of NC to remain competitive in world and national markets. From there Bruton became a business banker with BB&T and worked out of their offices in Elizabeth City for two years before returning to his native part of North Carolina to work with First National. Bruton is active in community service through his church, the Rotary and the Boy Scouts of America. He and his wife Jean have two sons, Daniel and Thomas. 

Ana Lucia Divins (2008-2010) 
Charlotte

Ana Lucia Divins is a passionate leader with 10 years of experience in the financial industry. Her leadership skills, strong belief in helping others and international and bi-cultural background are all factors that have helped Ana Lucia achieve important milestones in her career. Aside from her role as a Senior Project Manager where she leads key initiatives for the Hispanic Segment at one of the largest financial institutions in the country, Wachovia Bank, she is also an artist. She is a singer who promotes biculturalism and integration, through bilingual music for children. In 2007, Ana Lucia launched her first bilingual CD for children: “Criss Cross Mangosauce”. She also serves as the Vice-President of Wachovia’s Hispanic Latino affinity group. The mission of this group is to provide professional development opportunities for Hispanic/Latino employees and to connect Wachovia with the Latino communities in a meaningful way.  Ana Lucia graduated in 1998 from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali-Colombia (South America) with a Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering.  She is also a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt. In a personal note, Ana Lucia was born in Colombia, South America and has lived in Charlotte, NC for over seven years. She is married with two children, Nicholas (6) and Sofia (5); her family is the main drive in her life.

Danny Ellis (2008-2010)
Wilson

Pastor Danny Fitzgerald Ellis believes in the holistic concept of building the total man. He has committed himself and the church to the economic empowerment of people in the community he serves. He is often sought out nationally for his teaching and speaking abilities related to leadership and organizational development. He emphasizes that ”you can’t teach what you don’t know and you can’t lead where you won’t go”. Whenever and wherever Pastor Ellis preaches, he challenges listeners through theological, spiritual and pastoral insight to work their vision and walk in their purpose. St. Paul is enjoying tremendous growth (242 members since Jun 2005). The ministry just finished a ½ million dollar building project which includes a 6,700 sq ft Family Life and Wellness Center. Pastor Ellis is the author of two recently published books called “Why Keep Trying” and “It’s Never 2 Late”. Pastor Ellis is married to the former Karen E. Jones of San Antonio TX.  He is the proud father of three children. Pastor Ellis presently holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a second degree in Nursing Services from Wayland Baptist University in San Antonio, Texas where he completed theological courses in both Old and New Testament. Pastor Ellis earned the distinguished honor graduate award of his nursing class.  He was also selected as a member of the President’s list upon Graduation with a 3.83 GPA. In 2004, Pastor Ellis was awarded a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and Health Care Management Degree from East Carolina University. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Human Services from Capella University. He is a member of The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, The United Supreme Council of 33rds, and The NAACP. While in the military he was selected to attend the prestigious U.S. Army Sergeant Major Academy.  Pastor Ellis was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions taken during the Persian Gulf War.

Charmaine Fuller (2008-2010)
Durham

Charmaine S. Fuller, the current executive director of the Carolina Justice Policy Center in Durham, is a native of Henderson NC.  She graduated magna cum laude from NC Central University in 2002 with a degree in Political Science and concentration in international relations.  In 2007, Ms. Fuller completed the Master of Public Administration Program at NC State University with a concentration in nonprofit administration.  Ms. Fuller is a former research assistant for the late Senator Jeanne Hopkins Lucas of Durham and has been employed by the Carolina Justice Policy Center since 2004.

Bonner Gaylord (2008-2010)
Raleigh

Bonner Gaylord leads Kane Realty Corporation’s residential division with responsibility for all of Kane’s residential properties and is Broker in Charge of Kane Residential. In his position, Bonner is accountable for project feasibility, design coordination, financing, construction, sales, and marketing. Bonner’s experience in residential real estate includes positions as both project manager and builder with Richard Gaylord homes in Raleigh. In these positions, he worked on developments in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Apex and Wake Forest. He has also worked for DiVosta/Pulte Homes in West Palm Beach, Florida. Bonner holds an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kenan-Flagler Business School where he was a Hobgood Fellow. Bonner is a licensed general contractor in North Carolina, a licensed real estate broker in North Carolina, sits on the Executive Committee of the ULI Triangle District Council, is past Chair of the ULI Young Leaders Group, and is a LEED Accredited Professional through the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition, he is a member of the NAHB Multifamily Council, the Congress for New Urbanism, and serves on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity. In 2007, Bonner was appointed by the Raleigh City Council to serve on the Planning Commission.

Nancy Gottovi (2006-08)
Star

Nancy is the Executive Director of Central Park North Carolina.  Her background includes nonprofit management, education and community research and technical assistance, and teaching.  Prior to joining the Project, she was the Executive Director of Heritage and Cultural Tourism Partnership of North Carolina, and developed and led the statewide 1000-100 Cultural Tourism Leadership training program.  Nancy has served as editor for the national Rural Education Finance Center’s Rural School Funding Report. She has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  Nancy also served as the initial Project Director of the North Carolina Pottery Center.  Nancy has long had an active interest in rural sustainable development and was a 1995 Fellow of the NC Rural Center’s Rural Economic Development Leadership Institute.

Patton McDowell is the Managing Director for Patton McDowell & Associates LLC, a Charlotte-based consulting firm that provides nonprofit strategic planning, talent development, presentation/facilitation, and fundraising services.  His consulting career followed a decade in higher education administration, including 5 years as Vice President for University Advancement at Queens University of Charlotte and 5 years as Vice Chancellor for University Advancement at UNC Wilmington, where he was the youngest vice chancellor in the UNC system. Before going to Wilmington, he served as Program Director for North Carolina Special Olympics in Raleigh for seven years following two years with Special Olympics International in Washington D.C. His work for Special Olympics included the creation of a unique volunteer training system called sport development teams, still in use today nation-wide. Patton is a native of Elizabeth City, NC, and active in the community. He serves as a Deacon at First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte and is on the boards of Special Olympics North Carolina, Kids Voting Mecklenburg County and served as vice chair of the public charter school Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy. He's on the steering committee of the local Leave A Legacy chapter and on the board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in Charlotte. 

Rev. Nancy McLean (2008-2010)
Greensboro

Rev. Nancy M. McLean is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina.  She traveled extensively for 20 years with her husband while he was on active duty in the US Air Force and returned to Greensboro in 1994.  She was educated in the Greensboro public school system and earned her high school diploma from Dudley High School.  Rev. McLean earned an Associates Degree while stationed with her husband in Oklahoma from Western Oklahoma State College. Upon her return to Greensboro she enrolled at NC A&T State University and received a Bachelor of Social Work Degree in 1997. She graduated with honors. She completed the MPA program at High Point University and earned a Master of Public Administration Degree, with a concentration in Nonprofit Administration.  Nancy has also completed the Associate Ministers Training Curriculum at Mt. Zion Baptist Church and is an Ordained Minister. In 2004 she founded Joseph’s House, Inc., which is a faith-based nonprofit ministry that serves homeless young adults in Guilford County.  It is the only one of its kind in Greensboro.  Prior to founding Joseph’s House she was the Assistant Director of Welfare Reform Liaison Project, Inc., a local nonprofit.   Rev. McLean has over nine years of experience in the non-profit sector in administration and economic development.  Her primary function with Joseph’s House is to direct and implement the program.  She presently resides in Greensboro, NC with her husband, Samuel. Rev. McLean is a member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Greensboro, where she is an Associate Minister.   One of her strengths is a unique sensitivity to the needs of young people.   She expresses it in her daily interactions with those she serves in her role as Executive Director of this innovative Faith-Based Initiative.

James Mills (2008-2010)
Raleigh

James E Mills is a husband and father of father of three beautiful children.  He is originally from New York and New Jersey and came to North Carolina in 1997 after spending nine years in the US Army.  As an accounting major, he attended Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, NJ.  He moved to NC to assist his father in opening and running a new manufactured housing dealership in Rocky Mount. James started as a salesperson and bookkeeper and was eventually promoted to Sales Manager.  The dealership was purchased by a larger company and he stayed on with them.  Within a year James was promoted back to Sales Manager and within 18 months, was promoted to General Manager and started running his own dealership.  James attributes a large part of leadership skills to his years of military service. Today, he works as a Financial Advisor for an independent brokerage firm in Raleigh.  He considers himself (professionally)  a salesperson and fundamentally a teacher.  Today he sells financial products to help people reach their own financial goals.  He does this by teaching the average person practical principles of finance that they can apply to their own lives, and better their own financial future.  James enjoys helping people create a plan  that allows them to fulfill their own dreams and goals.  The feeling they get when they realize that they can actually retire in dignity or reach any other financial goal they set is just awesome.

Erik Ortega (2008-2010)
Charlotte

Erik Ortega is a Hispanic originally from the Bronx, NY who moved to Charlotte, NC in 2005. He graduated from the Metropolitan College of New York, Audrey Cohen College of Human Services in 2004 with a Bachelors in Professional studies in Human Services. He has been working with people with criminal records for 13 years with agencies such as the Women’s Prison Association and most recently the Center for Community Transitions in Charlotte. He is also certified in Applied Control Theory which is a cognitive approach to examining human behavior. Erik is the father of two daughters, ages 11 and 17, and coach my 11 year old’s basketball and soccer teams.

Shawn Overcash (2008-2010)
Charlotte

Shawn Overcash is the owner and president of Philatás, a marketing and communications firm specializing in human relations. Since founding the firm in 2001, Shawn has worked with Fortune 500 clients such as Cartus, Compass Group, General Electric, and Genworth Financial, and local clients such as Crisis Assistance Ministry, the Heineman Foundation, and the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to develop a wide range of print and Web-based communications solutions focused on diversity, fund raising, and public relations. His core professional skills include writing, graphic design, and photography. Shawn is also a freelance writer for a number of Charlotte’s most well-known publications, including Pride, Realtor Reflections, and SouthPark magazines, and the Charlotte Business Journal. Prior to creating Philatás, Shawn served as president and chief marketing officer of Certified Paper, a national paper distribution firm. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Ricardo Romero (2008-2010)
Biscoe

Ricardo Romero is married to Sharon and has three daughters Elizabeth, Natalie, and Sofia, and one son, Ricardo.  He lives in Biscoe in Montgomery County, and was born in Mexico City and lived in Mexico until age 12.  His father immigrated to work in the United States as a farm laborer in the early 80’s and once his father became a permanent resident he applied for a family petition.  His mother’s two younger sisters and he moved to the United States in the fall of 1989 and lived in Atlanta, Georgia for three years before setting roots in the town of Biscoe.  In 2007 he finalized his immigration process by becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States. Ricardo attended  East Montgomery High School, Montgomery Community College, and earned his bachelors degree in business administration through the adult learning program offered by Garner Webb University. Currently he works for First Bank, a community bank based in Troy, North Carolina where he oversees the implementation of the Primer Banco initiative as their Business Development Officer AVP.  This innovative banking model was developed in order to meet the financial needs of the un-banked or under-banked Hispanic Community.  Our goal is to provide financial literacy and understanding in order to promote economic mobility.  Ricardo has three years of job experience working in the education sector as an English as a Second Language Teacher for Montgomery County Schools. 

Douglas Singleton (2008-2010)
Charlotte

Douglas Singleton joined North Carolina Dance Theatre in 1996. Prior to becoming executive director, Singleton served as director of operations. After graduating from the College of Charleston, he traveled the world for more than five years with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. While in New York City, he was the producing manager for the premiere performances of Complexions Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson.  During his career, Singleton has been involved with more than 1,000 dance concerts in Europe, Asia and most of the continental United States and Virgin Islands. He has worked with luminaries of the dance world, including Judith Jamison, Jerome Robbins, and Garth Fagan. Doug and his wife, Viki, live in Charlotte with their three boys David (13), Max (11), and Jack (7).  Doug has been a coach at Dilworth Little League for over 5 years and recently joined the Board of The Choir School at St. Peters.  He assisted in the establishment of an endowment of the Choir School at St. Peters with Charlotte Cultural Trust.  In addition, the Charlotte Business Journal recently awarded him the prestigious honor of one of Charlotte’s 40 under 40.  He also led the effort to create Dance Friendships.  This two-year-old program brings together the secular and sacred dance art forms while creating social trust through communities.  Dance Friendships will allow a deeper understanding for dance communities throughout the Charlotte area while they share a common passion. 

Trip Stallings (2008-2010)
Durham

The common thread running through the professional chapters of Trip’s life to this point has been his interest in public education. He taught for six years after college: three in a rural middle school in central Virginia and three in a middle-high magnet school in North Carolina. Trip left the classroom with the hope of becoming more involved in system-level education policy while also staying meaningfully engaged in classroom teaching. He spent four years as a university-community liaison, service-learning coordinator, and public policy graduate student, after which he returned to the classroom, only this time as a teacher of teachers. While working in teacher licensure, Trip also spent time writing about education policy issues in North Carolina, but soon learned that maintaining a connection to public school and school culture is difficult at best without direct contact with students. Trip’s policy writing had been leading him toward another stint as a graduate student, so before going back to school, he decided to take a “year off” to return to the high school classroom to reconnect, during which time he also learned firsthand and wrote about dropout in North Carolina.  In 2005, Trip entered graduate school again, this time with a goal of tying together my education and policy experiences with a third strand of politics and an eye toward bridging the gap between policy development and classroom implementation. He has just completed his third year and is writing toward his dissertation.

Yona Wade (2008-2010)
Cherokee

Yona Wade is currently the Outreach Coordinator for Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc., which is the oldest Native American cooperative in the US.  Yona is both an artist and administrator having received his B.M. in voice and his M.F.A. in Performing Arts Management from the North Carolina School of the Arts.  Mr. Wade is very interested in the preservation of traditional Cherokee Arts and Crafts and finds most of time devoted to this cause.  Yona serves on the ArtsNC executive board, the Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts board, Cherokee Hospital cultural advisory committee, Generation Qualla Committee and serves as Vice President for his community.  Mr. Wade is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee and resides on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, NC.

Louisa Warren (2008-2010)
Raleigh

Louisa Warren joined the Justice Center as a Senior Policy Advocate focusing on work and income support issues in July 2007.  Prior to coming to the Justice Center, Louisa served as the Director of the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform that spearheaded comprehensive lobbying and ethics reforms in North Carolina.  Before directing the Coalition, Louisa was the Coordinator of Special Events & Communications at El Pueblo, Inc., a statewide Latino advocacy organization based in Raleigh.  She currently serves on the Boards of N.C. Women United, the Covenant with North Carolina’s Children and N.C. Voters for Clean Elections and recently co-founded a young women’s giving circle called The Beehive Collective.  A Raleigh native, Louisa graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Grinnell College in Iowa.

Julian practices law with Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, PA in Charlotte.  He handles primarily employment, securities, and commercial litigation, and he previously chaired the Labor & Employment Section of the North Carolina Bar Association.   Julian also is an active pro bono attorney, particularly in landlord/tenant cases, domestic violence matters, and post-conviction capital representation.  Julian's community service activities include service on the Boards of Kids Voting Mecklenburg, Inc. and Freedom School Partners, Inc.  He previously chaired the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' Equity Committee.  Julian and his wife Amy have three children, Elizabeth, Cora, and Hugh.