In 2017, Richard C. ‘Moriba’ Kelsey founded the Pittsburgh Collaborative, an organization comprised of representatives of Atlanta’s historically black colleges and universities and neighbors, business owners, and investors charged with preserving the history and culture of Atlanta’s historic Pittsburgh community.

Kelsey was raised in Pittsburgh, attended Booker T. Washington High School, and graduated with honors from Tuskegee University.

He earned a doctorate in Counselor Education and is a licensed psychologist and clinical counselor. Kelsey has lectured extensively on civic, social, cultural, and educational issues and has authored numerous books about the Pittsburgh community including: Pittsburgh: A Sense of Community and Being Healthy and Wealthy: A Process for African People which emphasizes the need for a culturally centered approach to growth and development.

Kelsey is co-founder of the Afrocentric Personal Development Shop, is a member of the Association of Black Psychologists, the National Alliance of Black School Educators, the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations, and the Afrikan National Rights of Passage United Kollective. He is President Emeritus of the Pittsburgh Collaborative, Inc., and serves on the advisory board for Friends of Pittman Park.

Dr. Kelsey is married to Barbara J. Kelsey, Ph.D., and father to Riba Kelsey-Harris, M.D. & Rimani Kelsey, M.D., and Richard C. Kelsey, Jr.

Johnny Floyd is a former City of Atlanta firefighter (1981-2011) who was born and raised in Atlanta’s historic Pittsburgh neighborhood more than sixty years ago. He attended Clark Atlanta University and is chair of the L.J. Price High School class of 1974.

Floyd is co-founder of the Atlanta Lady Hawks basketball team and helped lead the team to two AAU championships from 2006-2012.

He owns several construction, landscaping, and renovation companies serving the greater Atlanta area and owns two properties in Pittsburgh listed on the National Historic Registry.

Floyd served as chair of the Pittman Park Advisory Council from 1992-1995, and chaired the Pittsburgh Civic League, the governing body for the Pittsburgh neighborhood and the Pittsburgh Civic League Apartments, from 1984-2012. He was an NPU-V board member until 1996 and served on the Salvation Army Leadership Team, assisting with community outreach.

Floyd is currently President of the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Association, and serves as President on the Executive Board for the Pittsburgh Collaborative, Inc., and on the advisory board for Friends of Pittman Park.

Johnny Floyd is married to Sharon Ivey and father to Lakeisha Floyd, Pittsburgh business owners Chloe Floyd & Tennille Floyd, and an active grandfather to five grandchildren.

DeKimberlen J. Neely, Ph.D., is an associate dean in the Office of Undergraduate Studies at Atlanta’s prestigious Spelman College. She began her career at Spelman as an instructor in the psychology department and later served as program coordinator for the Bridges Pre-Baccalaureate 2006 Summer Institute. Neely has held appointments in the Office of Undergraduate Studies, where she served as the program coordinator for the sophomore class, and as program manager for the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (LEADS) at Spelman College.

A counselor by training, Neely has provided individual, family, and group counseling in various clinical settings prior to her professional affiliation with Spelman. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Spelman College, and both a master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 1999 and 2004, respectively.

Neely serves as CEO on the Executive Board of the Pittsburgh Collaborative, Inc., and serves on the advisory board of Friends of Pittman Park, one of Atlanta’s largest neighborhood green spaces located in the historic Pittsburgh community.

Dr. Neely is the proud godmother of 10, loves to travel domestically and abroad, and enjoys being outside.

When not volunteering, Winfrey Young serves as curator for the William “Bill” Traylor Family, Inc. and owns the Artistry of Bill Traylor, LLC. For three decades she has directed and managed the career of the renowned artist Gilbert Young via gilbertyoungart.com.

A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, she has degrees in journalism and English Literature. From 1983-1991, Young served, simultaneously, as Community Services Director for two Scripps Howard newspapers, The Cincinnati Post and The Kentucky Post. She was the first African American department head in the history of both papers. Young served on the American Red Cross Board of Directors, was chair of the Red Cross Volunteer Resources Committee, and chair of the promotions committee for the Cincinnati Ballet Community Outreach program. After relocating to Atlanta in 1995 she was appointed to the board of directors for the historic Atlanta Dogwood Festival. She served as PR director for the bi-annual Ansley Park Tour of Homes in 2006 and 2010 and in 2008 was named PR director for the ArtReach Foundation, Inc. to promote “Breaking the Veils: Women Artists of the Islamic World,” an international exhibition of contemporary art that toured Europe before its debut at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center.

Since 2014, Young has led efforts to preserve the history and culture of Atlanta’s Pittsburgh community by serving on the arts & history committees for the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Association, the Pittsburgh Collaborative, Inc., and the Annie E. Casey Pittsburgh Yards project. Since 2017, she has served as CFO on the Executive Board of the Pittsburgh Collaborative, Inc., comprised of representatives of Atlanta’s historically black colleges and universities and neighbors, business owners, and investors interested in preserving the legacy of Pittsburgh.

In 2018 Young was elected Vice President of the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Association. That same year, she was named Chair of Friends of Pittman Park and Co-chair of the Atlanta Beltline Public Arts Advisory Council.

Winfrey Young is married to Gilbert Young, is mother to Matthew Perry, Bart Cody & Gilbert Montana, and is grandmother to baby Olivia.

Passionate about analysis, numbers, and trends, Colin Hutchings has 25 years of experience in finance. He is a numbers person who loves to solve problems based on facts. Forecasting, planning, process improvement, and executing goals have led to his success in this industry. He has extensive experience developing detailed and complex analysis using large data sets.

Currently, Colin serves as the manager of store finance and planning for both White House Black Market and Soma, retail stores. In his role, he identifies business trends, makes recommendations, supports long-range company goals, creates an annual budget, and forecasts and manages $100M personnel costs. Prior to joining the Chico's FAS brand, Colin was a financial analyst of store finance for Soma. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Colin also worked for other major retail brands including DSW, Express, L Brands, Victoria's Secret, and Lane Bryant.

A graduate of Morehouse College, Colin has roots in Atlanta, Georgia. During the summer of 2020, he volunteered with the Pittsburgh Collaborative and volunteers annually at a food bank in Fort Myers where he currently lives. Colin is the proud father a 21-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son.

Erica L. Knight is a cultural strategist and collegiate student advocate whose experience in higher education spans across enrollment management, student affairs and graduate admissions. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Erica has dedicated her career to diversifying advanced degree programs by establishing pipeline programs between minority serving institutions and top tier research institutions.

In her current role as Assistant Director at Harvard University in The Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Erica recruits and retains underrepresented populations within the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Previously, as a member of The Graduate School at Northwestern University, Erica overhauled the graduate peer-mentoring program, graduate student retention efforts and assisted underrepresented populations throughout their scholastic graduate journey. Erica formerly managed professional development and career advancement programming for the James T. Laney Graduate School at Emory University. In this capacity, Erica supported doctoral candidates seeking careers beyond the professoriate. Previously the administrator of Graduate Relations at Spelman College, Erica assisted several hundred underrepresented women in being accepted to graduate or professional school, with the majority earning funding to attend. More notably, during her tenure in Career Planning and Development, she negotiated articulation agreements, memorandums of understanding, and feeder program agreements totaling beyond 10 million dollars in tuition assistance for Spelman women.

Erica is civically engaged and an active member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Sigma Tau Delta National English Honor Society Alumni Epsilon Chapter, The National Conference of Race and Ethnicity, Clark Atlanta University Alumni Association, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, Boston Alumni Chapter.

Erica has received several accolades for her humanitarian efforts and dedication to excellence, including; the Power 30 Under 30 Award for the state of Georgia, Atlanta Black Girls Rock Award, Outstanding Black Alumni of the Year, inclusion in Cambridge’s and Montclair’s Who’s Who Among Professionals and Executives, Soror Service with a Heart Award, and finalist in the L’Oreal Woman of Worth Award.

In her limited spare time, Erica enjoys traveling to the Caribbean, sampling various cuisines, attending trunk shows, and fellowshipping with friends and family.

Judge Shermela J. Williams was elected to the Fulton County Superior Court in June 2020, in a history making election, wherein she unseated an incumbent gubernatorial appointee. Such a feat had not been accomplished in Fulton County since 1996. Judge Williams has wanted to be a judge since she was a child, and thanks to the voters, she is living her dream. Judge Williams is currently assigned to the Family Division where she handles divorce, custody and other domestic matters.

Prior to coming to the bench, Judge Williams had a distinguished career with approximately 15 years of hands on litigation and trial experience. Judge Williams was a prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, plaintiff and civil defense lawyer; in addition to representing parties on both sides in family law matters. Judge Williams tried over 25 jury trials and hundreds of bench trial during her career. A former law clerk with the United States Department of Justice, Judge Williams has worked with various high-profile civil law firms and non-profit organizations. She was a Senior Litigation Associate at Thomas Kennedy Sampson & Tompkins LLP (“TKST”), specializing in premises liability, negligent security, personal injury, and high stakes litigation cases. Prior to joining TKST, she was a Senior Assistant District Attorney with the Fulton County, DeKalb County, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Offices. In said capacities, she prosecuted complex felony cases, including: Murder, Rape, Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault/Battery, Burglary, Aggravated Child Molestation, Aggravated Sexual Battery and other crimes. Judge Williams served as the director of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office’s Domestic Violence Task Force and was a member of the Fulton County Gender Equality Initiative Panel. In 2012, she received the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office Trial Court Lawyer of the Year and Trial Court Best All-Around Lawyer awards. In 2018, Judge Williams was selected a Lawyer to Watch by Attorney-At-Law magazine and Mentor of the Year by The Daily Report in 2019. Judge Shermela J. Williams is a proud native of Atlanta, GA who volunteers her time and talents to her community. Judge Williams has been an Adjunct Professor at Spelman College for over a decade. Judge Williams ran youth leadership programs for five years, wherein she taught and oversaw conferences, as well as developed GirlsLead – a program geared towards arming young ladies for what they are sure to face ahead; educating them on etiquette, self-esteem, leadership, self-image, debunking media stereotypes, branding, goal setting, and other issues specific to today’s women. She received her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, and her Bachelor of Arts from Howard University. She is a member of a host of civic, community and professional organizations. Judge Williams is a 2010 alumna of GABWA’s Judicial & Public Officer Academy, 2015 alumna of Lead Atlanta, member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and IMPACT United Methodist Church where she also serves as a Worship Facilitator and in various other capacities. Judge Williams’ interests include traveling, writing, cooking, “restaurant- hopping”, anything that makes her laugh, and spending time with loved ones.

Shantoria Vance has a passion for supporting and seeing others thrive personally and professionally. Her 15-year career in higher education has centered on helping countless individuals attain academic and career success. She has served in various roles, including Leadership Academy Instructor and HBCU Coordinator for Lansing Community College, and she currently serves as Career Planning Coordinator for Spelman College.

Shantoria believes that her calling is to inspire hope in every life she encounters. For this reason, she has worked to serve through her career and in ministry. Through ministry she has guided

youth as a Sunday school and children’s church teacher. Her desire for ministry continues as she now serves as a member of the Prayer Ministry at the House of Hope Atlanta, and as a facilitator for DIVAS, Inc., a nonprofit organization providing trauma recovery support for clients of the local judicial system.

Shantoria strives to live by the famous poet Maya Angelou’s words, “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” Even in her own pursuits, she is always looking for ways to reach out and assist others. Shantoria received her Bachelor of Arts from Spelman College. Today, she is completing a combined degree at Mercer University with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership. She hopes to use this knowledge to help youth who have been a part of the juvenile justice system by providing programming that will equip them to succeed academically and personally.

Dr. Standifer is a Director of Health Policy at Morehouse School of Medicine’s Satcher Health Leadership Institute. She has over 15 years of applied health program administration, evaluation and research expertise, including health policy development and analysis, mixed methods research and examining health disparities and inequalities domestically and globally.

Previously, Dr. Standifer served as a Research Specialist, Program Administrator and Study Investigator for Research Development Services at the James A. Haley Veterans Administration Hospital in Tampa, Florida. Her current research advances the science of health information technology and patient-centered care to improve vulnerable veteran populations.

Her training as a Medical Anthropologist and public health practitioner has allowed her to apply unique insight within disparate and medically underserved populations. Her research focuses on the intersections between culture, health, and vulnerable communities. Her expertise is in qualitative and quantitative methods, research and evaluation, community engagement, women’s healthcare, along with implementation and health services research. Dr. Standifer is also an Assistant Professor, and a Co-Investigator on multiple federally funded studies. Her research portfolio furthers production of community-based participatory research to create culturally-tailored interventions that empower disenfranchised populations to make healthy informed decision-making life choices.

Dr. Standifer continues to administer, develop and conduct studies and evidence-based prevention initiatives that effectively implement targeted strategies to reduce social determinants within vulnerable populations throughout the Diaspora. Dr. Standifer received her Bachelor’s degree at Spelman College, her Master’s degree in Public Health from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, and a doctorate in Applied Anthropology with a concentration in Medical Anthropology from the University of South Florida.

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