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Becky Anderson Executive DirectorHandMade in America, Inc.Asheville, North Carolina

Becky Anderson is the founder and executive director of HandMade in America, where she coordinates15+ major projects involving 3,500 citizens and more than 20 partnerships with local, regional and stateorganizations and institutions; and serves as a consultant for heritage and cultural tourism and economicdevelopment projects related to arts and crafts. In 2000, U.S. News and World Report named her as oneof America’s top ten visionaries for her work in community and civic development. In 2003, WorthMagazine ranked HandMade in America as one of the top 24 arts nonprofits in the United States thatgive “The biggest bang for your buck” and represent “the best of our country’s culture.” Anderson has aB.A. from Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C., and has done graduate work at the University ofNorth Carolina, Asheville, N.C.

Jim AzumanoDirectorOffice of Rural PolicyState of OregonSalem, Oregon

James “Jim” Azumano is director of Oregon Governor Theodore R. Kulongoski’s Office of Rural Policy. Inthat role he works with rural communities to identify a wide variety of rural concerns. Azumano served asadministrator in Hood River County from 1992 to 2000. There he helped form the first four-countyregional adult and juvenile corrections facility in the United States. Azumano was born in Portland andhas a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon.

Bill BishopReporterAustin American-StatesmanAustin, Texas

Bill Bishop is a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, Austin, Texas, where he has worked sinceNovember 1999. Before coming to Austin, Bishop was associate editor and columnist for the LexingtonHerald-Leader, Lexington, Ky., where he worked for 11 years. After graduating from Duke University,Bishop worked as a reporter at The Mountain Eagle, a weekly newspaper in the coalfields of EasternKentucky, served in several political campaigns and spent five years as a free-lance writer specializing inthe coal industry. In 1983, he and his wife bought The Bastrop County Times, a weekly newspaper inSmithville, Texas, that they operated until 1987. Bishop was Senior Journalist in Residence at DukeUniversity’s Sanford Institution for Public Policy in 1994, where he taught a course on rural development.In 1996, he was the Ford Foundation Writer in Residence at MDC, Inc., a rural development think tank inChapel Hill, N.C.

The State of 21st Century Rural America:Implications for Policy and Practice

March 20-22, 2005 · Washington, DC

Biographies

Meg BostromPresidentPublic Knowledge L.L.C.Severna Park, Maryland

Meg Bostrom is a communications strategist with a unique perspective resulting from her experiences asa communicator, public opinion analyst, advertising agency executive, and political consultant fornonprofit groups, political candidates, foundations, national associations and corporations. Bostrom sitson the Board of Advisors of the FrameWorks Institute, which has as its mission advancing the nonprofitsector’s communications capacity by identifying, translating, and modeling relevant scholarly researchaddressing social problems. A Chicago native, she received her bachelor’s degree from the University ofIllinois and holds a master’s degree in public opinion research from the University of Connecticut.

Marcia BrandDirectorFederal Office of Rural Health PolicyU.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services AdministrationRockville, Maryland

Marcia Brand was named director of the federal Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) in the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)on Jan. 4, 2001. As director of ORHP, Brand is responsible for health policy, research, and grant activitiesthat promote better health-care services in rural America. These programs include the Rural OutreachGrant Program, which requires partnering among grantees to improve health service delivery, and theRural Network Development Program, designed to further collaboration among rural health careorganizations. The office advises HHS on matters affecting rural hospitals and health care, coordinatesrelated HHS activities, and maintains a national Rural Assistance Center as the department’s “singlepoint of entry” for rural health inquiries. Brand earned a doctoral degree in higher education from theUniversity of Pennsylvania and master’s and bachelor’s of science degrees in dental hygiene from OldDominion University.

Caroline M. CarpenterProgram DirectorFood Systems and Rural DevelopmentW.K. Kellogg Foundation Battle Creek, Michigan

Caroline Carpenter is a program director for Food Systems and Rural Development programming at theW.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Mich. In this role, she takes part in domestic and internationalplanning and development, reviews and assesses new proposals, reviews programming priorities andrecommends proposals for funding. She also manages and monitors active projects, and conducts on-and off-site project evaluations. Carpenter was selected to be a Community Scholar at MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) with the Center for Reflective Community Practice during the 1999-2000academic year. Carpenter has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University, Durham, N.C.; a master ofarts from Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; a master of science from West Virginia University,Morgantown, W. Va.; and a master of business administration from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Shealso is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma.

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Edyael CasaperaltaLlano Grande Center for Research and DevelopmentEdcouch, Texas

Edyael Casaperalta has worked with the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development, anonprofit organization dedicated to educational pursuits and community youth leadership, since she wasa freshman at Edcouch-Elsa High School (E-E HS) in Elsa, Texas. She was born in Mexico andimmigrated to the United States when she was 12, graduated from E-E HS in 2001. Edyael is one of fourfounders of the Llano Grande Center’s Spanish Language Immersion Institute, and she led severalcommunity based research initiatives in her rural South Texas home town. She is a senior at OccidentalCollege in Los Angeles, Calif.

U.S. Representative Artur Davis7th Congressional District of Alabama Washington, D.C.

Congressman Artur Davis was sworn in on Jan. 7, 2003, as representative for the 7th District in Central and West Alabama. Congressman Davis’ challenge is representing a district in two paradoxicalworlds containing some of the highest pockets of prosperity and at the same time some of the poorestregions in America. Five of the 12 counties in the 7th Congressional District are identified in the list of100 poorest counties in America as ranked by the U.S. Census Bureau. Congressman Davis serves onthe Financial Services Committee, with seats on three subcommittees: Capital Markets, Housing, andOversight Investigations. He also serves on the Budget Committee, which sets the annual blueprint forgovernment spending practices. Born in 1967 in the impoverished neighborhood of West Montgomery,Ala., and a product of Montgomery Public Schools, Congressman Davis excelled in academics includinggraduating Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University in 1990, and Cum Laude from Harvard LawSchool in 1993.

Dee DavisPresidentCenter for Rural StrategiesWhitesburg, Kentucky

Dee Davis began his media career in 1973 as a trainee at Appalshop, an arts and cultural center devotedto exploring Appalachian life and social issues in Whitesburg, Ky. A native of Hazard, Ky., Davis went onto become the first president of Appalshop. During his 18 years as Appalshop’s executive producer, theorganization created more than 50 public television documentaries, established a media training programfor Appalachian youth, and launched a number of initiatives that use media as a strategic tool inorganization and development. Davis is a member of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation of theRural Advisory Committee and a member of the Institute for Rural Journalism’s national advisory board.He received an English degree from the University of Kentucky. Davis lives in Whitesburg, Ky.

Julia DawsonGraduate StudentMount Holyoke CollegeSouth Hadley, Massachusetts

Julia Dawson is a native of Charleston, S.C. She graduated from the Academic Magnet High School in1999. She will be working as an intern with the South Carolina Association of Community DevelopmentCorporations during the summer of 2005. Dawson was introduced to community economic developmentin 1998 through her work with the Community Foundation Serving Coastal Carolina, where shecompleted a research project concerning community development in the nonprofit vs. the localgovernment sectors. Dawson received her bachelor’s degree in Afro-American Studies in May 2004. Shecurrently attends Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass.

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Oleta Garrett FitzgeraldDirector, Southern Regional OfficeChildren’s Defense FundJackson, Mississippi

Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald is director of the Children’s Defense Fund’s Southern Regional Office (CDF/SRO).Fitzgerald serves as the regional administrator for the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative forEconomic & Social Justice (SRBWI). SRBWI operates in 77 counties across the Black Belts of Alabama,Southwest Georgia and Delta Mississippi. The CDF-SRO also serves as lead for the W.K. Kellogg-fundedSupporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) initiative. Before joining the Children’s DefenseFund, Fitzgerald served as White House Liaison and executive assistant to then-U.S. Secretary ofAgriculture Mike Espy. Shortly thereafter, she was named the department’s Director of IntergovernmentalAffairs where she worked with local, state and tribal governments; coordinated the Administration’s long-term recovery of Midwestern states affected by The Great Flood of 1993; and was a member of USDA’sexecutive review panel selecting rural Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Fitzgeraldreceived a B. A. in sociology from Tougaloo College in Jackson, Miss.

Anthony FlaccaventoExecutive DirectorAppalachian Sustainable DevelopmentAbingdon, Virginia

Anthony Flaccavento was a founding member of Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) and hasbeen the executive director since its origination in October 1995. Under his leadership the organizationhas helped to create an infrastructure of sustainability in both agriculture and forestry in southwestVirginia and northeast Tennessee. In sustainable agriculture, he has been instrumental in creating analternative means of income through the promotion of certified organic farming and establishing marketopportunities for farmers, particularly tobacco growers. In the area of sustainable forestry, he has helpedestablish a solar dry kiln and wood products primary processing center to promote ecological timberharvesting and add jobs in the region. Flaccavento holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and ecologyfrom the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in rural development from the University ofPittsburgh.

Rick FosterVice President for ProgramsFood Systems, Rural Development, and LeadershipW.K. Kellogg FoundationBattle Creek, Michigan

Rick Foster is vice president for programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich. Hisprogramming duties include guiding Foundation efforts in food systems, rural development andleadership development. Foster also serves on the Executive Team that provides overall direction andleadership for the Foundation. Specific programming initiatives for which he is responsible include: Foodand Society, Mid South Delta Initiative, People and Land, Networks for Rural Public Policy and theKellogg Leadership for Community Change Program. Foster joined the Foundation in 1991 as a visitingprofessional while on sabbatical leave from the University of Nebraska, where he served as a professorof agricultural education. Foster was selected for a staff position at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as aprogram director in 1992 and appointed vice president in 1995. Previously, Foster taught at Iowa StateUniversity, the University of Idaho, and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln from 1976 to 1992. Fosterreceived his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in agricultural education from Iowa StateUniversity, Ames, Iowa. He was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree by theUniversity of Maryland Eastern Shore (2002).

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Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Jr.Acting Under Secretary for Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and Planning for Rural DevelopmentUnited State Department of AgricultureWashington, D.C.

Gilbert G. Gonzalez oversees the policies and programs of the Rural Development Mission Area of theUnited States Department of Agriculture. He was appointed to be the Deputy Under Secretary for Policyand Planning for Rural Development in December 2001, and was appointed as Acting Under Secretaryfor Rural Development in December 2003. Rural Development consists of three agencies: RuralBusiness-Cooperative Service, Rural Utilities Service and Rural Housing Service that provide $14 billionannual funding authority for grants, loans, and technical assistance to rural residents, communities andbusinesses and an $80 billion portfolio of existing business, housing, and infrastructure loans to ruralAmerica. Prior to joining USDA, Gonzalez was founding president of the Community Development LoanFund, Inc., a for-profit multi-bank community development corporation, a collaborative effort betweenthe City of San Antonio and 21 banks created in 1993 to serve the credit needs of small, minority-owned,and women-owned businesses in San Antonio, Bexar and surrounding counties. Gonzalez received abachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Bill GreenerFounding PartnerGreener and Hook, LLCWashington, D.C.

Bill Greener is a founding partner of the firm, Greener and Hook, LLC, a communications and politicalconsulting firm servicing individual companies, trade associations, ad-hoc organizations and Republicancandidates for political office. He has nearly 30 years in the communications and political consultingfields, and an extensive background in dealing with situations that involve balancing public opinion,public policy and political considerations. A 1972 graduate of Washington and Lee University withgraduate-level studies in psychology at Miami of Ohio University, Greener serves on the faculty of theGeorge Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.

Anna GreenbergVice PresidentGreenberg Quinlan Rosner ResearchWashington, D.C.

Anna Greenberg advises U.S. political campaigns, issue campaigns and non-profits and foundations.She has extensive experience polling for nonprofits and charitable foundations focusing on women’shealth, rural issues and education. Greenberg directs the firm’s evolving work with Web-based researchand its innovations in micro-targeting, leading a joint project with Stratalys Research calledSmarTargeting. Prior to joining Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Greenberg taught at HarvardUniversity’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Greenberg earned a bachelor’s degree from CornellUniversity and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago.

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Francisco GuajardoCo-Founder and Executive DirectorLlano Grande Center for Research and DevelopmentElsa, Texas

Francisco Guajardo is co-founder and executive director of the Llano Grande Center for Research andDevelopment, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educational pursuits and community youthleadership in Elsa, Texas. The Center, located approximately 16 miles north of the Texas-Mexican border,focuses on three components: research, training and development; publishing and the arts, and; policyand education. Through its work, more than 51 of its students were placed in Ivy League universitiesbetween 1993 and 2001. It also formed a nonprofit organization through which its alumni and currentstudents build relationships and have substantive conversations about education, community and otherissues. In addition to his position at Llano Grande, Guajardo is an assistant professor at the University ofTexas Pan American, Edinburg, Texas, where he teaches in the Department of Educational Leadership.He has a B.A. in English, an M.A. in history, and a Ph.D. in educational administration from the Universityof Texas at Austin. He also attended Brasenose College, Oxford University, England.

Oran B. HestermanProgram DirectorFood Systems and Rural DevelopmentW.K. Kellogg FoundationBattle Creek, Michigan

Oran Hesterman is program director for Food Systems and Rural Development programming at the W.K.Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Mich. In this role, he provides primary leadership to the Foundation’sFood and Society initiative, in addition to focusing on Food Systems and Rural Development policy.Hesterman’s key responsibilities include domestic and international planning and development, reviewingand assessing new proposals, and managing active projects. He also is active in organizing internationalseminars on sustainable agriculture and community-based food systems on behalf of the KelloggFoundation at the Salzburg Seminar in Austria. Previously, Hesterman researched and taught forage andcropping systems management, sustainable agriculture, and leadership development in the Crop andSoil Sciences department at Michigan State University. In the area of sustainable agriculture, he hasauthored or co-authored more than 400 reports, journal publications and book chapters.Hesterman earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of California-Davis in plantscience/vegetable crops and agronomy, respectively. He received his doctorate in agronomy andbusiness administration from the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.

Peter HilleDirectorBrushy Fork InstituteBerea CollegeBerea, Kentucky

Peter Hille joined Brushy Fork in 1990, and became director in 1994. He has worked extensively inBrushy Fork’s leadership development program - a unique leadership development program in Kentucky,Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. As director, Hille recruits participants, organizes workshops andworks with teams of community leaders as they carry out local projects. He also has created customworkshops, designed and led retreats and facilitated strategic planning processes for regional non-profits, foundations, government agencies and development organizations. In recent years, he hasfocused on building collaborative networks of diverse organizations serving the Appalachian region. A1977 graduate of Swarthmore College, his background includes experience in grassroots environmentalorganizing and small business management.

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Gail L. ImigProgram DirectorFood Systems and Rural DevelopmentBattle Creek, Michigan

Gail Imig is program director for Food Systems and Rural Development at the W.K. Kellogg Foundationin Battle Creek, Mich. In this capacity, she develops and reviews programming priorities and initiativesrelated to the Food and Society initiative, evaluates and recommends funding proposals, and administersprojects. In addition, she provides leadership for initiatives, conducts on-site evaluations of proposedprojects, and maintains her professional contacts in the areas of higher education, human developmentand family studies and rural and community development. Prior to joining the Foundation, Imig wasassociate vice provost at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. Earlier she was director ofMichigan State University Extension. Imig earned her doctorate degree from Michigan State Universitywith a major in family ecology and a minor in higher education and administration. From the sameuniversity she earned a master’s degree in family studies and sociology and a bachelor’s degree in homeeconomics and biology education.

State Senator Robert L. JacksonMississippi State SenateCEO, Quitman County Development Organization, Inc. Treasurer/CEO, 1st Delta Federal Credit UnionMarks, Mississippi

Robert L. Jackson is a member of the Mississippi State Senate, representing District 11. He was electedto that office in November 2003. Jackson also is chief executive officer of the Quitman CountyDevelopment Organization, Inc., a position he has held since March 1987. QCDO is a private non-profitcommunity development corporation serving the needs of the rural poor and low income people inQuitman, Tallahatchie, Coahoma and Panola counties in Mississippi. Jackson is also treasurer/CEO ofthe Quitman/Tri-County Federal Credit Union, now known as 1st Delta Federal Credit Union, acommunity development financial institution, which has more than $6 million dollars in total assets andhas lent more than $26 million dollars since its inception in August 1981. 1st Delta was founded byJackson and others. He also founded the 21st Century Investment Club, in August of 1998 and currentlyserves as its president. Jackson is currently enrolled as a student in the Executive Masters of BusinessAdministration Program at Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. He holds a bachelor’s degree inbusiness administration from the University of Southern Mississippi and an associate’s degree fromNorthwest Community College in Senatobia, Miss.

Kathi JaworskiExecutive DirectorRural Development Initiatives, Inc.Sandy, Oregon

Kathi Jaworski is the executive director of Rural Development Initiatives, Inc, (RDI) Sandy, Ore., anonprofit corporation that provides leadership training, organizational development, planning and projectimplementation assistance to community-based groups in economically distressed rural communitiesthroughout Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. RDI partners with the Ford Family Foundation, NorthwestArea Foundation and Sherwood Trust to deliver large community leadership training projects in Oregonand Washington. RDI also acts as the “rural convener” on larger scale regional and statewide projects todevelop new programs and advise on new policy affecting rural areas. Jaworski has a bachelor’s degreein economics from Bryn Mawr College, and a master’s in city planning from the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology.

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Honorable Mike JohannsSecretaryUnited States Department of AgricultureWashington, D.C.

Mike Johanns was sworn in as the 28th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Jan. 21, 2005. As the son of an Iowa dairy farmer, he developed a deep respect for the land and thepeople who work it. He still describes himself as “a farmer’s son with an intense passion for agriculture.”Johanns was elected Nebraska’s 38th governor in 1998. During his six years in office Johanns was astrong advocate for rural communities and farmers and ranchers. He enacted a Value-Added AgricultureInitiative and signed into law the “Agricultural Opportunities and Value-Added Partnership Act.” SecretaryJohanns is a graduate of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona. He earned a law degree fromCreighton University in Omaha.

John (Jody) KretzmannCo-Director, The Asset-Based Community Development InstituteInstitute for Policy ResearchNorthwestern UniversityEvanston, Illinois

John (Jody) Kretzmann is co-director of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, aresearch project of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. ABCDInstitute works with community building leaders across North America as well as five other continents toconduct research, produce materials and otherwise support community-based efforts to rediscover localcapacities and to mobilize citizens’ resources to solve problems. The Institute continues to build on thestories and methods about successful community building reported in the popular book, BuildingCommunities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets thatKretzmann co-wrote with John L. McKnight. Kretzmann has worked to develop community-orientedpublic policy at the national, state and local levels. His educational background includes a B.A. fromPrinceton University; a M.A. in English literature from the University of Virginia; and a Ph.D. in sociologyand urban affairs from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.

Leslie LillyPresident and CEOThe Foundation for Appalachian OhioNelsonville, Ohio

Leslie Lilly is the president and chief executive officer for The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO).Lilly is the founding chief executive officer and architect of the Foundation’s operations and programs,including its grant making and special project initiatives. She is immediate past executive vice presidentand chief operating officer of the Foundation for the Mid South (FMS) a highly successful three-statecommunity foundation serving Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. She serves currently as a boardmember of the Ohio Grantmakers Forum. She is a long-time member and 20-year participant in theactivities of the national Council on Foundations. She is currently a member of COF’s CommunityFoundation Leadership Team, an advisory body to COF on issues affecting the community foundationfield nationwide.

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Carolyn J. LukensmeyerFounder and PresidentAmericaSpeaksWashington, D.C.

Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, founder and president of AmericaSpeaks, has made her mark as an innovator indeliberative democracy, public administration, and organizational development. Concerns about thedeep partisan divide in Washington and the growing disconnection between citizens and governmentacross the country led Lukensmeyer to launch AmericaSpeaks in 1995. Her goal was to develop newdemocratic practices that would strengthen citizen voice in public decision-making. Prior to foundingAmericaSpeaks, Lukensmeyer served as consultant to the White House chief of staff from November1993 through June 1994. From 1986 to 1991, she served as chief of staff to Governor Richard F. Celesteof Ohio. Lukensmeyer earned a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Case Western Reserve Universityand completed postgraduate training at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

Charles W. MalloyExecutive DirectorCommunity Development Corporation of Marlboro CountyBennettsville, South Carolina

Charles Malloy is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Community Development Corporationof Marlboro County in South Carolina. His duties include representing the Community DevelopmentCorporation in providing community, state, and federal collaboration in the development andcoordination of community collaboratives and partnerships. Malloy has been executive director since2002. He also is lead pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a position he has heldsince 1989. Malloy has a bachelor’s degree in sociology, with a concentration in social work, fromLivingstone College, Salisbury, N.C., with additional studies for a master of divinity degree from HoodTheological Seminary, Salisbury, N.C.

Wilma Mankiller Former Principal ChiefCherokee Nation of OklahomaTahlequah, Oklahoma

Wilma Mankiller served for two years as the first female elected deputy chief, and for ten years as firstfemale principal chief, of the 220,000 member Cherokee Nation. Her areas of expertise includecommunity development, public relations, tribal governance, leadership, writing and theconceptualization and development of an extensive array of projects ranging from basic infrastructure toprograms for children and youth. Mankiller founded and served as the first director of the CherokeeNation Community Development Department, which has received a number of national awards forinnovative projects utilizing self-help. She has presented more than l00 lectures at universities andpublished more than a dozen papers in journals and newspapers. Mankiller is a trustee of the FordFoundation and the Freedom Forum’s Newseum. She co-edited A Reader’s Companion to the History ofWomen in the U.S., co-authored Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, and wrote Every Day is a Good Day.She is one of a handful of Native American recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Mankillerlives on the land allotted to her paternal grandfather, John Mankiller, soon after Oklahoma became astate in 1907. The family name, Mankiller, is probably an old military title that was given to the person incharge of protecting the village. She has a bachelor’s degree in social services, and, l8 honorarydoctorates from universities, including Yale University, and Dartmouth and Smith Colleges. She was aChubb Fellow at Yale and a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth.

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Bernie Mazyck President and Chief Executive OfficerSouth Carolina Association of Community Development CorporationsCharleston, South Carolina

Bernie Mazyck is president and chief executive officer of the South Carolina Association of CommunityDevelopment Corporations (CDC). SCACDC is South Carolina’s trade association for communitydevelopment corporations and grassroots economic development organizations. Since his time withSCACDC Bernie has helped shepherd the growth of the community economic development movementin South Carolina from four CDCs to more than 50, and, has been able to attract more than $4 million toSouth Carolina, leveraging more than $15 million in community economic development production. He isa board member of the Historic Charleston Foundation, College of Charleston Foundation, CharlestonSouthern University Alumni Association, the Southern Rural Development Initiative, the Federal ReserveBank of Richmond’s Community Development Advisory Council and the Federal Home Loan Bank ofAtlanta Advisory Council. Mazyck is a life-long resident of Summerville, S.C., and a graduate ofCharleston Southern University.

Cynthia H. MilliganTrusteeW.K. Kellogg FoundationBattle Creek, Michigan

Cynthia Hardin Milligan has been a trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Mich., sinceJanuary 1999. A resident of Lincoln, Neb., Milligan is dean of the College of Business Administration atthe University of Nebraska in Lincoln. She also is a director of Wells Fargo in San Francisco, Calif.;Gallup Inc. in Washington, D.C.; Calvert Funds in Baltimore, Md.; Raven Industries, Sioux Falls, S.D.;Bryan LGH Medical Center, Lincoln, Neb.; and Prison Fellowship Ministries in Reston, Va. She is amember of the Board of the Omaha branch of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. Milligan receivedher bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. She was awarded her juris doctoratefrom the George Washington University National Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Donna MorganAssociate DirectorBrushy Fork InstituteBerea CollegeBerea, Kentucky

Donna Morgan joined Brushy Fork in 1990. As associate director, she assists with program planning,fundraising and administrative functions. She oversees the organization’s communications work,including editing Mountain Promise, a quarterly publication on Appalachian issues, and maintainingBrushy Fork’s Web site. Morgan also conducts workshops and works with grassroots leaders andcommunity groups, both in the Brushy Fork Institute Leadership Development Program and forcollaborative projects. She has 15 years of experience in leadership and community development andcommunications. Donna also has managed a Web-based training and communications effort forCommunities by Choice, a national network of communities committed to practicing sustainabledevelopment. Morgan is a 1989 graduate of Berea College with a B.A. in English literature.

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Anne C. PetersenSenior Vice President for ProgramsW.K. Kellogg Foundation Battle Creek, Michigan

Anne C. Petersen is the senior vice president for programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek,Mich. As a senior member of the executive staff, she provides overall leadership for programming,including the development of effective programming strategies, teamwork, policies, philosophies, andorganization-wide systems to accomplish the programmatic mission of the Foundation. She also isresponsible for human and financial resources as well as planning and reviewing all program areas.Previously, Petersen was the deputy director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Before joiningNSF, she served as the vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School at the University ofMinnesota. Petersen is the past president of Developmental Psychology/American PsychologicalAssociation, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the AmericanPsychological Association and the American Psychological Society. Petersen holds a bachelor’s degreein mathematics and a master’s degree in statistics from the University of Chicago in Illinois. There shealso earned her doctorate in measurement, evaluation, and statistical analysis. She is a native of LittleFalls, Minn.

Anne B. PopeFederal Co-ChairAppalachian Regional Commission Washington, D.C.

Anne B. Pope serves as the tenth federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), aneconomic development partnership between the federal government and the governors of 13 states.ARC initiates economic and community development programs and serves as a key advocate for the 23million people in the Appalachian Region. The Commission also oversees work on the 3,090-mileAppalachian Development Highway System, designed to connect the region to the nation’stransportation grid. Pope is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the Cumberland School of Law atSamford University.

William C. RichardsonPresident and Chief Executive OfficerW.K. Kellogg FoundationBattle Creek, Michigan

William C. Richardson is president and chief executive officer of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of BattleCreek, Mich. Before joining the Foundation in 1995, Richardson was president of The Johns HopkinsUniversity in Baltimore, Md., a position he had held since 1990. In addition, Richardson was professor ofhealth policy and management at the university. He has been appointed professor and presidentemeritus. Richardson has been active with numerous foundations, non-profit institutions, and thecorporate and public sectors. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy ofSciences, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Public HealthAssociation. He serves on the board of the Council of Michigan Foundations, and also serves on theboards of directors of the Kellogg Company, CSX Corporation, and The Bank of New York. He served aschair of the Committee on Quality of Health Care in America for the Institute of Medicine, NationalAcademy of Sciences, and as chairman of the board of the Council on Foundations. Richardsongraduated from Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., with a bachelor’s degree in history. He went on to earn amaster’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago, Center for HealthAdministration Studies, Graduate School of Business, in 1964, and a doctorate from the University ofChicago, Graduate School of Business, in 1971.

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Sandra RosenblithSenior Vice PresidentLocal Initiatives Support CorporationWashington, D.C.

Sandra Rosenblith is a senior vice president of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) managingits national rural program, known as Rural LISC. LISC is the largest philanthropic intermediary in thenation providing support to community development corporations (CDCs) to transform distressedcommunities. Started in 1995, Rural LISC provides training, information, technical assistance, capacitybuilding funding and project and venture financing to 74 partner CDCs from 37 states, and information,education and advocacy services for more than 1,700 rural community developers, coordinating andstaffing Stand Up for Rural America, a national coalition campaign to help these groups gain theresources and policy support their work deserves. Rosenblith has been with LISC since 1980. She was afounder of the Rural Funders Working Group in the Council on Foundations, and served on its executivecommittee for its first two years (1998-2000). Rosenblith is a graduate of Harvard Law School and theUniversity of California at Berkeley.

Robert F. SextonExecutive DirectorPrichard Committee for Academic ExcellenceLexington, Kentucky

Robert F. Sexton has been the executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellencesince its creation in 1983. A Louisville native, he also has been the deputy director of the KentuckyCouncil on Higher Education, an administrator at the University of Kentucky, a professor of history and ahigh school teacher. He is on the boards of the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center and theSchool Curriculum, Assessment and Accountability Council. He was a founding board member of theKentucky Institute for Education Research and served on the Governor’s Task Force on Early Childhood.Sexton also serves the boards of Editorial Projects in Education (publishers of Education Week andTeacher Magazine), the Education Trust, the Trust for Early Education and the Consortium for PolicyResearch in Education. Sexton’s book Mobilizing Citizens for Better Schools, was published in early2004. A graduate of Yale University, Sexton earned his Ph.D. in history from the University ofWashington. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard University and at the Annenberg Institute for SchoolReform at Brown University. He has been recognized widely for his efforts to improve public education,receiving the Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement and honorary degrees from BereaCollege, Georgetown College, and Eastern Kentucky University.

Miriam SharkSenior AssociateAnnie E. Casey Foundation Baltimore, Maryland

Miriam Shark is a senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private philanthropy dedicated tohelping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. Miriam was one of thearchitects of the Foundation’s Neighborhood Transformation/Family Development (NT/FD) agenda.NT/FD is the centerpiece of the Foundation’s work and represents its commitment to strengthening theconnections families in tough neighborhoods have to the resources, relationships and help they need tosucceed in raising their kids. Subsequently, Miriam developed a rural agenda that complements thiswork and she has on-going responsibility for work with a variety of national civic, philanthropic andservice delivery organizations on awards programs, executive education and other activities designed topromote family strengthening and family economic success strategies. Miriam holds an A.B. degree fromWashington University a Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology from St. Louis University and a M.P.A. fromHarvard University.

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Leon SharpeFounder and PrincipleThe Praxis Group, LLCSt. Louis, Missouri

Leon Sharpe is the founder and principal of The Praxis Group, LLC., a human relations consulting firmthat specializes in leadership training, strategic planning and issues pertaining to communitydevelopment and diversity. He spent nine years with the American Youth Foundation where, as directorof community education and international leadership, he organized and managed training conferencesfor emerging leaders from more than 25 countries. He has designed and conducted professionaldevelopment programs for corporations, government agencies, school districts and universitiesthroughout the United States. As a senior training associate with the Heartland Center Leon has workedon numerous projects. They include Empowering Neighborhood People in Washington, D.C., and aleadership-training program with the University of Namibia’s Northern Campus in Africa. He also servesas a regular trainer for the Heartland Center’s annual institutes Helping Small Towns Succeed, Skill-Building for Stronger Communities Strengthening the Rural-Urban Connection.

Clifton L. TaulbertPresident and FounderBuilding Community InstituteTulsa, Oklahoma

Clifton Taulbert is an internationally acclaimed author, lecturer and thought leader on the critical issue ofbuilding community within all the places of our living. He is the founder and president of the BuildingCommunity Institute, which aims to extend the reach of timeless and universal ideals Taulbertencountered while growing up in the Mississippi Delta. The Institute is based upon the principles outlinedin his book, Eight Habits of the Heart, which was chosen in 1997 by USA Today as their year-end choiceof a book to enrich our minds and lives. Taulbert’s growing list of literary works include the awardwinning, Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored, the Pulitzer nominated The Last Train North, andthe book the Los Angeles Times called for all Americans to read, Watching Our Crops Come In. He alsohas penned three award-winning picture books for children, the start of a series… Little Cliff and thePorch People, Little Cliff’s First Day of School and Little Cliff and the Cold Place. Taulbert serves on theboards of the University of Tulsa Board of Trustees, and the Character Education Partnership.

Frank C. TaylorAssociate Director, Kellogg International Leadership ProgramProgram Director, Philanthropy and VolunteerismW.K. Kellogg Foundation Battle Creek, Michigan

Frank Taylor is a program director for Food Systems and Rural Development programming at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Mich. In this role, he takes part in domestic and internationalplanning and development, reviews and assesses new proposals, reviews programming priorities andrecommends proposals for funding. He also manages and monitors active projects, and conducts on- and off-site project evaluations. Previously, Taylor was president for the Mountain Association forCommunity Economic Development (MACED), where he was responsible for staff management, policyanalysis, program development and fund-raising activities. Concurrently, he served as president forRidgecrest Enterprises, MACED’s for-profit subsidiary for business investment. Taylor earned abachelor’s degree in sociology from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He receivedmaster’s degrees in international education and journalism, and a doctorate degree in economics ofeducation, all from Columbia University in New York City.

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Rachel B. TompkinsPresidentRural School and Community TrustArlington, Virginia

Rachel Tompkins is president of the Rural School and Community Trust (Rural Trust), a nonprofitorganization addressing the crucial relationship between good schools and thriving rural communities.Working in some of the poorest, most challenging rural places, the Rural Trust involves young people inlearning linked to their communities, improves the quality of teaching and school leadership, advocatesfor appropriate state educational policies and addresses the critical issue of funding for rural schools.Previously, Tompkins served as extension professor for Community, Economic, and WorkforceDevelopment in the West Virginia University (WVU) Extension Service in Morgantown, W. Va. Tompkinsholds degrees from West Virginia University in biology, the Maxwell School of Syracuse University inpublic administration, and Harvard Graduate School of Education in administration, planning, and socialpolicy. She was vice chair of the Annenberg Rural Challenge from 1995-1999, and continues as an ex-officio member of the board of the Rural School and Community Trust.

Deborah B. WarrenExecutive Director Southern Rural Development InitiativeRaleigh, North Carolina

Deborah Warren has spent the past 30 years doing and promoting community-based development andphilanthropy across the South. Since 1995 she has served as the executive director of the SouthernRural Development Initiative, Raleigh, N.C. Focused in 11 states of the rural South, SRDI brings andtests new ideas, works to strengthen the power of grassroots organizations and helps unleash criticalcapital in communities challenged by poverty and racism. Warren holds a master’s degree in regionalplanning from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and an undergraduate degree from theUniversity of Chicago.

Ali WebbCommunications ManagerW.K. Kellogg FoundationBattle Creek, Michigan

Ali Webb is communications manager for leadership, and food systems and rural developmentprogramming at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Mich. Webb manages communications and marketing projects in support of these areas. This includes working with program staff to plan anddesign activities and products - print, video and electronic - that communicate the knowledge gained byFoundation-funded projects. Additionally, Webb develops marketing strategies for targeting program-related products and messages to a wide audience of citizens and policymakers. Webb has taughtgraduate-level courses at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and at Harvard Universityin Cambridge, Mass. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism at Stanford University inCalifornia, a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University, and will be receiving aPh.D. in May 2005, from Michigan State University.

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Jeffrey G. YostPresident and CEONebraska Community Foundation, Inc.Lincoln, Nebraska

Jeffrey G. Yost is president and chief executive officer for the Nebraska Community Foundation, Inc.(NCF), a statewide organization assisting communities, organizations and donors to mobilize charitablegiving as a community betterment strategy. The Lincoln, Nebraska-based NCF has affiliated funds inmore than 160 Nebraska communities and $20 million in assets under management. NCF is heralded asa national model for its innovative work empowering community leadership, building communitycapacity, estimating the intergenerational transfer of wealth to craft community endowment buildingstrategies and directly linking charitable assets to building greater economic opportunity throughentrepreneurship. Yost received bachelor’s degrees in economics and agricultural business from theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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