|
Who We AreBoard of Directors Lisa Marie Pickens, Co-Founder, President and Treasurer Lisa Pickens works as an Independent Consultant in the areas of Youth and Community Development. Pickens provides organizational development, strategic planning, and program evaluation to a range of non-profit organizations. Over 15 years ago when there were very few options for Black Lesbians on the Southside of Chicago, Pickens created the African American Womyn's Alliance, a support group for Black Lesbians, Bisexual and Questioning Women, which included monthly meetings, group outings, special events and a monthly newsletter. As AWA was phasing out, Pickens worked with others to create a broader support network for the Black LGBTQ Community on the Southside which eventually led to the creation of Affinity Community Services. In 2005 Pickens returned to serve on the board of Affinity. Pickens served for over six years on the Chicago Commission on Human Relations Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues. Additionally, Pickens has served on the board of the Crossroads Fund for over 6 years. The Fund raises money to support organizations doing social change and social justice work in the city of Chicago. And finally, Pickens has worked as an open Black Lesbian in her own Southside community where she has served as the CAPS Beat Facilitator for Beat 411 for over 6 years. Pickens has a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Chicago and is currently ABD in Psychology/Human Development at the University of Chicago. Email Lisa Kelly Suzanne Saulsberry, Vice-President Kelly Saulsberry joined the Affinity Board in April 2008. Ms. Saulsberry works as Project Coordinator and Special Assistant to the Director at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Hull-House Museum preserves and interprets the history and legacy of Jane Addams and other important social reformers who resided at the Hull-House settlement. Ms. Saulsberry graduated from Wellesley College with a major in History and minor in Women's Studies and French language. While there, she developed a keen interest in issues of race, gender, and sexuality, which led to her employment at the Centers for Research on Women based at Wellesley College, and a summer internship in 1997 with Facing History and Ourselves. In 1999, she was selected to be a Summer UONGOZI Institute Fellow to study conflict resolution at the University of Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania. After college, she accepted a position as an English teacher in a high school just outside Paris, France. These culminating experiences have had a profound impact on her personally and have broadened her view of the world and various communities. In her spare time, Ms. Saulsberry enjoys reading, traveling, dancing, and sharing a meal with close friends and family. She is pleased to be on the Affinity Board, where she can bring her skills and enthusiasm and be part of the valuable work and legacy of Affinity. Email Kelly Yomika Alexander Yomika Alexander joined the Affinity Board in April 2010. She is currently a Project Coordinator for the Office of Community and External Affairs, an extension of the Urban Health Initiative for the University of Chicago Medical Center. She provides on-site and logistical support for events and sponsorships hosted by the department, ranging from community-based health-fairs to widely-known and attended events such as the Bud Billiken Parade and the Annual Day of Service and Reflection. Yomika also serves as the Assistant to the Director of the South Side Healthcare Collaborative, a network of federally qualified health centers, hospitals and clinics whose efforts are to expand the accessibility of health care to the under-served, uninsured and under-insured populations of Chicago's south side community. Yomika's previous experience includes the American College of Cardiology Foundation, Bethesda, Maryland as small programs Coordinator. Yomika was born in Charlottesville, Virginia and graduated from Orange County High School. She was a sports activist and competitive in volleyball, basketball and softball. She was a member of the yearbook staff and Army ROTC, where she was granted the opportunity to experience a semi-boot camp at Quantico, Virginia. This validated her interest and became a prerequisite in joining the armed forces. Yomika is a veteran of the United States Air Force and spent the bulk of her tour at Peterson, Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado. She worked with the 21st Space Command as an Information Management Specialist, managing sensitive, classified and top secret documents disseminated to over six-hundred personnel. She also served as an augmentee, an honor given to active-duty personnel interested in developing skills as a Security Police officer. Yomika obtained her B.A. at DePaul University in the field of Women's Studies and hopes to build upon this knowledge by remaining an active participant in the struggle for women's rights, equality and safety. She has served as a volunteer with Rape Victim Advocates and Interfaith Refugee and Immigrant Services as an English as a Second Language [ESL] tutor to a Burundian refugee. Yomika has volunteered with Affinity Community Services where she helped launch the Singles Mingle program. Yomika is extremely excited and grateful for this opportunity to be a Board Member and aims to cultivate a sustainable athletics program within the organization. Email Yomika Linda E. Doss Linda Doss joined the board of Affinity in January of 2007, and has served in leadership roles, including health, development, and program initiatives for more than five years. Ms. Doss provided leadership roles in the 2006 Chicago Gay Games, and has served in multiple leadership roles within the greater Chicago community. Email Linda Michele D. Miller Michele Miller joined the board in March 2009. Michele brings 13 years of experience in the non-profit sector, particularly in the Healthcare Industry. She began her career in the non-profit world as an Administrative Assistant with Blue Shield of California Commercial Business Unit assisting the SVP with the daily operations of the administrative sales operation while cultivating the morale of the employees within the Commercial Business Unit and beyond. While at Blue Shield, Michele spearheaded the Employee Thanksgiving Potluck and Recognition Luncheon, and the Back to School Supply Drive, which served underserved youths within the City of Los Angeles. In 2006, Michele relocated to Chicago, IL where she began to put her community service spirit to work. She is an active member in her community, serving as the Secretary for the local neighbor block club, sits on the Development Advisory Committee for Alderman Pat Dowell in the 3rd Ward, and is an active member of the Metropolitan Community Church where she serves as an Ambassador for the Just A Sister Away Ministry. Michele is currently working on a degree in Marketing with the goal of owning her own business. She sees working with Affinity Community Services in a leadership role as rewarding. Email Michele Errick Murray Errick Murray joined the Affinity Board in April 2010. Errick is married to Attorney Elizabeth (Liz) Murray and is the father of three small children. He has been a board member of the American Cancer Society (Chicago) for the past six years, where he is currently a member of the Health Initiatives committee. He has also served as the Vice Chairman of the Income Development committee. Errick has served on the local school council of Pershing East Elementary School. He also is the owner/broker of his own real estate business. Errick attended the University of Iowa and majored in Sociology. Email Errick Staff Kim L. Hunt, Executive Director Kim Hunt became Executive Director in May 2009 after serving on the Board of Directors for two years. Ms. Hunt is co-founder and managing partner of O-H Community Partners, Ltd. (OHcp), a management consulting firm that provides capacity building and technical assistance services to nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies. Prior to starting OHcp, Ms. Hunt was a senior planner with the Chicago Transit Authority where she designed and managed special projects, participated in public outreach initiatives, and obtained alternative sources of funding for nontraditional services. Ms. Hunt has Master's degrees in public policy and urban planning from the University of Chicago's Harris School for Public Policy Studies and the University of Illinois at Chicago, respectively. While at the Harris School, she had the honor of working in South Africa to develop a methodology for a fares equity study with the Kwazulu-Natal Department of Transport. Ms. Hunt is a published author and has written research papers on women's issues in transportation, planning and policy, and environmental justice. Ms. Hunt was also a board member for Chicago 2006, the bidding organization for the Gay Games, an international sports and cultural festival that took place in Chicago in July 2006. Email Kim
Aisha Truss-Miller is a grassroots activist, organizer, researcher, and educator. She is affiliated with several non-profit organizations and academic institutions including Ella's Daughters, Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago, Southwest Youth Collaborative, Crossroads, the Anti-Defamation League, and University of Illinois at Chicago. Most of her past and present work regards youth of color, particularly the education and criminalization of youth of color, discriminative school and public policies in Chicago, and the politics surrounding mass incarceration. Aisha's Chicago network of social activists and scholars allows her to intersect her social interests with other pro-feminists, radical thinkers, and young leaders whose interests cover a variety of issues such as LGBTQ rights, gentrification in Chicago, human rights, government and media accountability in the US and abroad, conquering capitalism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, war, violence, immigration rights, fair housing, adequate education, reproductive rights, and plenty more. Now serving as Affinity's Youth Coordinator and facilitator of Affinity's Youth Leadership Institute, Aisha has planned to strengthen, develop, and learn from present and future activists and leaders of LGBTQA and African-American communities. Email Aisha
Rosalind Fielder is an Assistant Professor of Library and Information Services and Reference and Instruction Librarian. She joined the Chicago State faculty in July 2009. She holds a Master of Science in Library and Information Science and a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Currently she is ABD in the Department of Political Science at Illinois. Her political science course work and research have focused on comparative politics, Latin American politics, racial and ethnic politics, identity politics, nationalism, ethnic conflict, and social movements, particularly in Latin American and the United States. Her professional interests include social science reference and collection development, government information services, legal reference, and electronic resources librarianship. Prior to changing careers to become an academic librarian, Rosalind served as Assistant to the Director of the Latina/Latino Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and as Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago. She has more than 15 years of experience using a broad range of print and electronic research resources and online information systems. She is passionate about information technology. Email Rosalind |
|
