Meet Our Team
Non - Profit Leader
Dr. Ben Williams has been involved in the movement to secure justice for all since the age of thirteen. Growing up north of the Mason Dixon Line and spending time with his grandfather, who like many of his generation was a follower of Marcus Garvey, Dr. Ben spent many hours walking with his "Big Poppa" who took him by the hand on numerous occasions as he walked through the neighborhoods in South Philadelphia [PA] preaching the gospel of self-determination. These early experiences helped to prepare Ben for the constructive confrontations that he would face later in life so much so that those experiences influenced his professional practice as a school teacher and urban school superintendent.
In one of the several school districts in which he served, Dr. Ben had an opportunity to coordinate the largest Teacher Corp Project in the nation. He worked with former Peace Corp Volunteers who served in Africa, two Institutions of Higher Education [IHE] and an urban school district to prepare the Volunteers in the areas of curriculum theory and development, community organization and educational leadership. The project developed an African History curriculum for middle school students that was culturally sensitive, employed competency-based instruction, project-based learning and authentic consensus decision-making. The project made credible contributions to the professional literature and influenced changes in the teacher preparation programs offered by the IHE partners.
Dr. Ben was highly mobile during his career primarily because of his belief in mission clarity, commitment and that leadership is most evident when the interest of those who one serves is never compromised. Stated differently, leaders are most effective when they abide by the words of the immortal Barry White: “Practice what you preach.” Those beliefs continue to guide his work as a policy advocate, community organizer and coalition builder. In his current role as President of the Cobb County Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference [SCLC] and Chairman of the Cobb Freedom and Justice Fund, Inc, he collaborates with other like-minded individuals and organizations to mitigate food insecurity, access to affordable housing, criminal justice reform and voter empowerment. Dr. Ben contends that it all begins with raising the level of civic literacy.
Non - Profit Leader
Monica Wills Brown, Ph. D. is a social justice policy researcher and transformative servant committed to building culturally responsive learning opportunities that empower people and cultivate a growth mindset for social justice advocacy. Monica is guided by the sentiments that ‘serving others is the ultimate act of love’ and that ‘quality education is the ultimate civil right’. Her parents instilled in her a love of community and learning which she cherishes and serves as the foundation for her collaborative work ethic. For most of her life, she has dedicated her efforts to researching, creating, implementing, and evaluating innovative educational programs that support and advance equity for both educational institutions and community organizations. Her approach merges research-based methodologies with common sense engagement practices. Designing programs to support community initiatives, educational needs and/or policies is something that Monica thoroughly enjoys. She has served as a secondary teacher, a district coordinator of Federal Programs, a governing charter school board member, and Executive Director for a charter school. She also conducts research and collects data on varied educational facets to improve accountability initiatives. She has published articles and a book chapter in the areas of school finance policy, state level budgeting systems, and culturally responsive leadership practices and preparations. Monica believes that knowledge is power and through virtual engagement, community discussions, and other educational modalities, levels of civic literacy can and will be increased along with the fundamental principles of democracy.