Meet the Staff
Doug was most recently a Principal in the Atlanta office of the Boston Consulting
Group. Doug joined BCG’s Atlanta office in 2001 and was a summer consultant in
the BCG New York office in 2000. He also spent one year in BCG’s Mumbai, India
office as part of BCG’s Ambassador Program.
During his time at BCG, Doug worked for with senior executive clients within the
financial services, consumer goods and industrial goods industries. He has led
cases dealing with marketing, sales force organization and incentives, sales distribution
strategy, pricing, and operations. He has extensive experience in strategy and
overall management issues. Doug also has an extensive educational background in
issues of race, ethnicity and gender including undergraduate and graduate studies
in topics including the relationship between economics and poverty, the history
of American minority groups and religion as applied in social movements including
the American Civil Rights movement, the Indian independence movement and the Buddhist
environmental movement in Southeast Asia.
He has also served as a facilitator for discussion groups exploring racial understanding
in Richmond, VA and Cambridge, MA. Doug has an MPP (Master of Public Policy) from
the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with an emphasis on domestic
politics; an MTS (Master of Theological Studies) from the Harvard Divinity School
with an emphasis on religion in public situations and politics and a bachelor’s
degree with High Honors from Emory University with majors in Economics and Political
Science. In 2010, Doug was named one of the New Leaders Council's "40 under
40" in the area of political entrepreneurship.
Marva Anderson,
Finance and Human Resources Manager
Marva brings extensive expertise and specialized training in accounting practices
and procedures. Anderson manages the Center’s finances and banking,
monitors gifts and pledges, and oversees the annual audit. With more than thirty
years of experience in a variety of accounting and bookkeeping functions including
audits, banking, payroll, accounting software programs, and overseeing employee
benefits, Anderson offers the Center comprehensive financial services.
Most recently Anderson spent twenty-eight years as Accounting Manager for the
Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland, OH where she made her home until 2009.
She is a Cuyahoga Community College alumna where she focused on accounting, audits
and accounting for nonprofits. The mother of five and grandmother of nine,
she enjoys her family and reading in her free time.
Brenda Johnson provides C-level support to
Center executives utilizing her broad-based experience in corporate and non-profit
environments, providing expertise in development, operations and strategy.
In her current role as Grants and Proposals Manager
with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Johnson manages
all development functions, and directly supports the Executive Vice President’s
fundraising initiatives. She manages and implements multi-million dollar campaigns,
prospecting, grant writing, corporate and foundation proposals, donor
cultivation and stewardship. Johnson has over 10 years of experience in
business development and program management. She is well-versed in developing strategic
public-private partnerships, identifying state, federal and local project
funding opportunities, as well as managing proposals and qualifications
processes.
During her 17 years of experience, Brenda has served in various roles utilizing her
background in engineering and project management. Recently, Johnson combined
her technical expertise with her passion for community service and fully
transitioned into non-profit administration. Driven by her passion for children
and youth, she developed an extensive background in the development of youth
programs, fundraising, and mentoring.
Johnson’s community involvement centers on her commitment to youth and poverty
issues. Johnson served as the Director of Fundraising for the Atlanta
Center for Creative Inquiry, an after-school mentoring and exposure program at
Benjamin Mays High School. Brenda is
also a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) advocate, promoting science
and technology education and careers to students from high-need communities and
girls. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Johnson earned a bachelor’s
degree from Purdue University in Civil Engineering and minored in Political
Science and Sociology. She enjoys both the climate and southern
hospitality Georgia offers, and has made Atlanta her home for 15 years.
Judy was born in Yonkers, New York and has lived in Ontario, Canada, Atlanta,
Georgia and St. Petersburg, Florida. Judy has a great passion for world travel.
Currently she is an Executive Assistant at the National Center for Civil and Human
Rights. Previously, a Development Assistant at Southern Regional Medical
Center and also worked for The Delta Air Lines Foundation & Community Affairs.
As a result of both of these work experiences Judy has seen both the giving and
asking side of Foundation and Corporate support as well as in-kind donations.
Her expertise is problem solving, has great organizational skills and the ability
to acquire in-kind donations. Previous employers include Delta Air Lines,
The Coca-Cola Company and World of Coca-Cola Atlanta as well as Georgia Institute
of Technology. Judy worked in the Public Relations and Marketing Department
of the World of Coca-Cola and the Foundation, Diversity and Community Affairs Department
of Delta Air Lines. Judy spent seven years as a full-time home missionary
directly after graduating from North Clayton Senior High. Her parents were
missionaries in Austria, her father being a Holocaust Survivor and her mother being
involved in a human rights Supreme Court case which has helped sustain freedom
of religion for all Americans.
David oversees the exhibition design and content development process for the Center.
As the liaison between the curatorial team, the exhibition designers, and the building’s
architects, David is responsible for seeing that the emotional and intellectual
synergy established by the exhibition’s content and design visually represents
and promotes the Center’s message.
David’s career in exhibition design and development began in 1991 when, as a founding
staff member at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.,
he helped develop the USHMM’s permanent exhibition. Hired by Ralph Appelbaum Associates
NYC, the world’s largest interpretive museum design firm, as a senior exhibit developer
he worked on the National Constitution Center, the Newseum, the Country Music Hall
of Fame, and the Vietnam Era Educational Center. After ten years at Appelbaum,
he became the Director of Exhibitions at the N-Y Historical Society in Manhattan
where he oversaw the design and development of the landmark Slavery in New York
exhibit. While at the NYHS, he designed and installed exhibitions on the
fifth anniversary of 9/11, a portraiture exhibit, and a contemporary art show on
the topic of slavery. After graduate studies in graphic design at the Portfolio
Center in Atlanta, he was a partner at Elsas Design, an identity and print design
studio.
Exhibitions he has worked on have won numerous design awards including the Presidential
Award for Design Excellence (the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum), the Gold Industrial
Design of Excellence Award (IDEA) for exhibits (the Newseum), and Communication
Arts Award of Excellence for Environmental Graphics (Country Music Hall of Fame).
David has a B.A. in History from Washington University in St. Louis and lives
with his wife and daughter in Atlanta’s Lake Claire neighborhood.
Scarlet Pressley-Brown,
Vice President of Marketing (Loaned Executive, Delta Air Lines)
As the Vice President of Marketing, Scarlet is responsible for assisting in developing
an overall brand approach for the Center where positioning and strategy will be
key to grand opening in 2014. Prior to joining the Center, she served as
the Director of External Affairs & Community Relations at Delta Air Lines and
Vice President of the Delta Air Lines Foundation.
Since June 2000, Scarlet managed Delta’s presence in the community, establishing
the company as a leading corporate citizen.
Prior to Delta, Ms. Pressley-Brown spent six years with the East Lake Community
Foundation as director of Community Affairs successfully restoring and revitalizing
the historic East Lake Golf Course community.
The restoration included the establishment and opening of Drew Charter School,
Atlanta’s first Charter School.
Ms. Pressley-Brown has received numerous awards: the “Outstanding Georgia Citizen”
Award presented by the Secretary of State, the Atlanta Business League named Mrs.
Pressley-Brown one of “Atlanta’s Top Black Women of Influence” for the past six
consecutive years and The Trumpet Awards Foundation presented her the “High Heels
in High Places Award in 2007.
The February 2006 issue of the Atlanta Tribune featured Scarlet and husband, Wendell,
as one of Atlanta’s “Power Couples” and the Atlanta Urban League Guild recognized
both of them with the “Transportation Achievement” Award.
Mrs. Pressley-Brown has received the Outstanding Community Service Award from
SCLC Women’s and the Excellence in Business Award from the Interdenominational
Theological Center. Ms. Brown has also been featured on the cover and in several
editions of Who’s Who in Black Atlanta, the cover of the Business to Business and
The Atlanta Tribune.
Scarlet received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Oglethorpe
University in Atlanta and her MBA from University of Phoenix as well as Lean Six
Sigma/Green Belt Certification from Georgia State University...
She is on the board of directors for the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Business
League, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (ATL), the Atlanta Medical Association,
the Advisory Council of Ron Clark Academy and the Agnes Scott Board of Visitors.
She is a member of the National Black MBA Association, the Clark Atlanta Guild,
the American Institute for Managing Diversity, the National Coalition of 100 Black
Women, graduate of Leadership Atlanta Class of 2008, member of NCCHR Women’s Solidarity
Society, and a member of The Links Inc. Buckhead/Cascade Chapter.
Scarlet and Wendell have five children, one son-in-law: Wendell, Jr., April, Amber
French (Jason), Kiesha, Dexter, and two granddaughters – Ryan Michelle and Riley
Maria.
Deborah J. Richardson,
Executive Vice President Prior to joining the Center staff she was Chief Program
Officer at Women’s Funding Network in San Francisco. A native Atlantan, Deborah
was the CEO of The Atlanta Women’s Foundation (AWF);Director of Program Development
for Fulton County Juvenile Court; founding Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice
Fund and Managing Director of the National Black Arts Festival.
Deborah has been recognized over the years for her community service. She
has been given many distinctions such as: The Community Leadership Award by Spelman
College Board of Trustees, The Legacy Award by the Juvenile Justice Fund, The Grassroots
Justice Award by the Georgia Justice Project, a Woman of Excellence by Business
to Business Magazine, Ember Award by Campfire USA, inducted into the YWCA Academy
of Women Achievers, the Atlanta Business League 100 Black Women of Influence and
the Liberty Bell Award by the Atlanta Bar Association. She is an alumnus
of Leadership Atlanta, the Regional Leadership Institute and a recipient of a Harvard
Business Club of Atlanta Executive Education Scholarship. She is on the board
of the African Women’s Development Fund – USA and a member of the Sister Scholars
Advisory Council of the Delta and on the D5 Executive Committee, a coalition among
funders to increase equity and diversity in philanthropy.
Deborah is a nationally recognized leader on social justice for women and girls
and an advocate against child sex trafficking. She has designed leading programs
for girls victimized by commercial sexual exploitation and is the co-author of
"Ending Sex Trafficking of Children in Atlanta" (Affilia: Journal of Women and
Social Work, Spring 2007). In 2010 Deborah testified during the “Domestic
Minor Sex Trafficking” hearing of the U. S. Congress Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee
on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. She is a national spokesperson for
A Future. Not a Past., a campaign to stop the prostitution of our nation’s children
and a frequent contributor to Huffington Post.
As the Director of Communications for the Center, LaTasha is responsible for developing
and implementing integrated marketing and communications programs for the Center.
LaTasha manages the Center’s press and media relations; plans, edits, and distributes
thought-leadership; and manages the Centers web and new media presence in the national
community.
Prior to joining the Center, LaTasha served as the Communications Manager for
Families United in Educational Leadership (FUEL). FUEL, a Boston-based nonprofit
organization, offers incentives to low-income families to motivate them to participate
in their children’s higher education ambitions and gives them the knowledge, skills,
and network to realize their dreams of educational accomplishment.
While in Boston, LaTasha served as a fellow with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive
Office of Health and Human Services, and a member of the Big Sister Association
of Greater Boston. She completed her Master of Public Administration with honors
from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. There she focused her research on international
relations, human trafficking, and gender-based policy.
LaTasha also holds a bachelors in Consumer Journalism from the University of Georgia,
where she competed as a high jumper for the SEC championship women's track and
field team.