BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Anthony Dedmon's leadership experience includes areas such as small business, sales, network marketing, medical, dental, surgical, small arms, security, professional driver, physical fitness, and mentoring. He has made a serious impact in the lives of many young men through sports, life skills, art, poetry, leadership and business training. As the founder of Xseed in Life, Anthony has been able to really level with and truly understands the issue many young people face today. This has helped him create such effective mentoring, coming of age, and rites of passage programs with youth and young adults 9 - 25. After 4 years the programs have been scaled to 2 cities as well as overseas. He believes that the youth and young adults will play the biggest role in changing the problems and issues that plaugue the urban commuities nationwide.

A father, coach, activist, leader, and more... William Grace is a landmark when it comes to our young people nationally. 1972 Bill Grace an Air Force veteran, started the W.E.B. Dubois Reading Center while working at Center High School as a reading teacher. By 1978, the W.E.B. Dubois Learning Center was incorporated. Over the next 40 years William would change the lives of thousands of young people across the nation. He's raised over 2.5 million dollars for programs to help urban youth stand out in both reading, science, computer technology, and mathematics. Few men in the Midwest can claim the same achievements that William Grace has accomplished in his years of service.

Dr. Umar Abdullah-Johnson is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist who practices privately throughout Pennsylvania and lectures throughout the country. Umar is considered a national expert on learning disabilities and their effect on Black children, as well an expert on helping schools and parents modify challenging behaviors that can ultimately lead to disruptive behavior disorder diagnoses in Black boys.

Victor Dyson is the Vice President of Carter Broadcast Group and The Director of Sales and Marketing. Vic serves on the Board of Directors for the United Minority Media Association. He is currently President of the KC Swingers Golf Association the oldest Black golf club in the region. Vic has also served on the board of the Kansas City Black Archives.

Carmaletta M. Williams is Executive Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professor of African American Studies at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Overland Park, Kansas. She has won a number of distinguished teaching awards including the Burlington Northern-Sante Fe Faculty Achievement Award, five Distinguished Service Awards from Johnson County Community College, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Kansas Professor of the Year

Dr. Robinson has worked as an educational consultant for the past 4 years assisting schools around the country with various types of academic and cultural school improvement initiatives. In the area of educational research, Dr. Robinson has published on the topics of Afrocentric education and special education.