Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Keith Dwight Parker
January 2014 - Present
Dr. Parker is the founder and CEO of the National Education and Empowerment Coalition, Inc. He is also a professor of sociology and criminal justice at Florida A&M University. He is author and co-author of numerous articles including Pathways to Reducing Recidivism: Providing Formerly Incarcerated Individuals with Resources to Achieve Attainable Goals in Society (2022), Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Implications for Higher Education (2022), Voter Participation in the Absence of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (2021) and Using Microaggression to Examine U.S. Voter Suppression Tactics (2018).
Board of Directors
Terry Carter
Ms. Carter is an accomplished, passionate solution-oriented professional with over 15 years of solid experience in marketing, sales, digital, finance, radio and television advertising. Her expertise includes planning, designing, and executing strategic marketing campaigns to effectively and efficiently reach client's targeted audience and goals.
Ms. Carter has developed and managed annual budgets from $100k to $30 million. She is a Certified ScrumMaster, Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), and was certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Terry is a graduate of Jackson State University with a Bachelor of Science in Finance.
Dr. Fredrick Douglass Dixon
“The thrust of my existence is to elevate the whole of the black community to higher levels of academic excellence.”
A lifelong resident of Chicago, Dr. Fredrick Douglass Dixon is a second-generation educator, historian, and community advocate. He directs the University of Wyoming's Black Studies Center, the African American and Diaspora program, and works as an assistant professor in the African American and Diaspora department.
One of Dixon’s fundamental roles is to build bridges between the all-too-often divisive worlds of campus, community, and the most at-risk populations. His overarching theoretical perspective is taken from Robert Chrisman's black-scholar-activist model, which espouses that the black scholar must contribute their knowledge of African American history outside the Eurocentric cannons to enhance traditional research, teaching, service, and community engagement. The inextricable link between historical accuracy and democratic citizenship remains the foundation that frames his approach to classroom instruction. This vein of student-teacher interaction adds to the Western paradigms and theories that dominate the customary historical narrative. As his indispensable duty, he remains devoted to providing successful pathways for the most at-risk students toward access, matriculation, and graduation while interjecting the paradigm that self-improvement as the basis of community development.
To concretize his efforts, Dr. Dixon works with multiple national educational and grassroots organizations that possess a liberatory lens to prepare students to become successful in an ever-increasingly competitive global society.
Debi Ghate
Debi Ghate is a Partner at Steadfast LL.C., a full-service firm supporting non-profits that advance individual rights and strong communities. She also serves as Executive Fellow at the State Policy Network and the Empire Center for Public Policy and as the Initiative Director for “Voices for Liberty: Free Speech, Civil Rights & Social Progress,” operated by the Liberty & Law Center at George Mason University.
Ms. Ghate was trained as a lawyer. She previously practiced civil before moving to California to join the Ayn Rand Institute. At the Institute, she oversaw the education and policy programs before serving on leadership teams at three Foundations, including the Char litigation in Ontario, Canada, and Strategy and Programs for Philanthropy Roundtable before launching Steadfast.
She received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Biology, and French at the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Calgary. In her spare time, Ms. Ghate loves to travel and experience new cultures, grow orchids and garden at home, and spend time with her family and friends over home-cooked meals.
Kim Johnson, President/CEO
Kim has spent the last 30 years working on the frontlines of underserved communities in central Florida, helping improve children's and families' lives. Kim’s professional experience includes management, program development, training, teaching, grant writing, and community engagement in social service, schools, universities, and nonprofits. It was when she began managing the Callahan Neighborhood Center in 2007 where her love of anti-hunger work began. She served on the board of Florida Impact for two years and then worked as their Central Florida Program Coordinator from 2010 until 2017. During that time, she also served on the Central Florida Second Harvest Food Bank board. Kim then moved on to work for Orange County Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services as their grants, nutrition, education, and community programs manager until she re-joined Florida Impact as President/CEO in January 2021.
Kim was born and raised in Great Neck, New York, and she received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Social Work from Adelphi University. Kim is married to Langston Johnson and is a proud mother of three amazing daughters, Robyn, Renee, and Ryanna. She is a member of Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church in Orlando and a proud member of her beloved sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. She loves to exercise, roller skate, and spend time with her family.
Paul Ortiz, Ph.D.
Dr. Ortiz is a Professor of Labor History at Cornel University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
A PEN Award-winning author, Dr. Ortiz's book, An African American and Latinx History of the United States, was identified by Fortune Magazine in 2020 as one of the “10 books on American history that reflects the United States”. He is a consultant and narrator for John Leguizamo’s American Historia docuseries on Latino history that will air on PBS this fall. Dr. Ortiz was a consultant and narrator for Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s The Black Church: This is Our Story. This Is Our Song, which premiered on PBS in 2021.
Other awards include the National Archives Distinguished Fellow in Latinx History from 2021 to 2023 and the 2023-2024 Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence at Brooklyn College. Between 2008 and 2024, he was a professor of history and director of the award-winning Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida.
Dr. Ortiz's book, Emancipation Betrayed, received the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Book Prize.
Dr. Ron Scott
Ronald Scott, Vice President Emeritus, was also an associate professor in Media Journalism and Film at Miami University. Ron joined Miami in 1988 after receiving his doctorate in communication from the University of Utah.
During his tenure at Miami, he has helped in the development of courses and programs related to issues of diversity and inclusion, including the Mosaic Program for first year students and the I AM Miami initiative. Ron served as a faculty-teaching associate in the Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching where he facilitated multiple Faculty Learning Communities for Understanding and Developing an Inclusive Campus Climate.
Ron has been recognized by Miami as a Distinguished Educator and was given the Effective Educator Award by the Alumni Association. In addition to serving on the cabinet of the President of the university as the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, Ron was also the Faculty Athletic Representative.
David Sickey, CEO
David Sickey is a member of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, a federally-recognized Indian tribe located in Southwest Louisiana with nearly 1,000 tribal members and over 1,600 employees. He is also the founder and CEO of Sickey Global Strategies, LLC., a strategic consulting firm focusing on social justice, human rights, economic and community development, indigenous education, outreach and relationship development/management, diversity, equality and inclusion, missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIW), and Tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
Sickey was elected to the governing body of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana in 2003, and two years later became Tribal Vice-Chairman. During his eighteen years as a member of Tribal government, Sickey focused on restructuring and improving government programs, increasing funding for health, education, culture, welfare, and elder programs, and expanding economic development.
Elected to the position of Tribal Chairman in 2017, Sickey was responsible for steering the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana through the COVID-19 pandemic. He oversaw the procurement and provision of health services, worked with numerous federal agencies and officials to secure federal funding for his Tribe, and navigated his Tribe’s multi-million-dollar business through the pandemic’s unstable financial throes. Notwithstanding the shutdowns and other significant hurdles imposed by the COVID pandemic, the Coushatta Tribe’s business grew stronger. Sickey also helped the Coushatta Tribe overcome the impacts of multiple natural disasters. He was instrumental in helping his Tribe obtain millions of dollars in grants and funding programs thereby securing prosperity for Tribe and its surrounding communities.
Drawing on his extensive experience in government, Sickey led the Coushatta Tribal Council in enacting several important ordinances, including a Tax Revenue and Administration Code, an Environmental and Cultural Resource Protection Ordinance, and a Tribal Archive and Artifact Protection Ordinance. Sickey also negotiated with the Governor of the State of Louisiana to secure a favorable amendment to the Tribal-State Gaming Compact between the State and the Tribe. Most recently, Sickey laid the groundwork for significant improvements to tribal infrastructure that will improve access to education, ensure adequate health care, alleviate environmental concerns, and allow for community investment.
Sickey serves on the National Diversity Advisory Board at LSU Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, and the Committee of 100 Louisiana (C100). He was recognized by The Times & Fusion Five "Up & Coming and Under 40" in 2008, received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unsung Hero Award given by the Louisiana State University Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, and was chosen for the Sowela Technical Community College Leadership Award.
Throughout his years of dedicated public service, Sickey positioned the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana as a leader in matters that affect Native American interests, a partner with the State of Louisiana, a player in federal matters affecting Indian tribes, and a force for positive change throughout the United States.
Sickey and his wife, Kelly, are proud parents to five children: Marianna, Maxwell, Miles, Magdalene, and Meyer.
Dora Tilles, Ph.D.
Dr. Tilles is a Business Analyst at Veeam Software and an Educational Leader. She is a graduate of Florida A&M University. Her research interests revolve around minority inequalities in education and technology.
Dr. Tilles participated as a panel member and presenter at the 2017 Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University Graduate Appreciation Week. She co-authored the article A Review of the Literature on the Barriers Faced by Black Males and Female Undergraduates Enrolled in STEM Disciplines, which was awarded first prize at the 2017 National Association of African American Studies and Affiliates National Conference in Dallas, TX.
Between 2016-2017, Dr. Tilles served as a Volunteer Career Counselor at Bethany Family Services in Tallahassee, FL. In 2016 she was a Volunteer Organizer of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott 60th Anniversary and between 2013-2014, she was a teen mentor with the Big Brother, Big Sister of the Big Bend organization. Since 2021, she has been a guest presenter at the yearly Lakota Nations Educational Conference in Rapid City, SD. Her topics address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in the workplace. In her free time, Dr. Tilles enjoys traveling abroad and exploring the diversity of cultures.
NEEC Board of Directors' Responsibilities
Along with individual Board member’s responsibilities, the NEEC Board of Directors is responsible for the overarching tasks designed to set forth criteria by which the board may periodically review the Coalition, its performance, and ensure measures of accountability.
Mission and Purpose
The Board’s fundamental responsibility is to ensure that everyone connected directly or indirectly with the Coalition understands its reasons for existing. This usually takes the form of a written mission statement. In addition to ensuring that the Coalition has a modern statement of what it is, represents, and does, the Board should periodically review the statement’s adequacy, accuracy, and viability. Further, the Board should explain what makes the Coalition distinctive and select, and present a compelling reason for individuals, foundations, and corporations to support it financially. The Board sets the stage for developing fundraising strategies and strategic planning.
Organizational Planning
Board members must be involved extensively in the strategic planning process if they and the Board as a whole are to assume proper ownership of the plan and otherwise help implement many of the plan’s goals and objectives, including the acquisition of new resources. The Board’s role is essentially one of asking the right questions, expecting adequate answers, and serving as resources in areas of personal and professional expertise.
Resources
The Coalition is only as effective as it has resources to meet its purposes. Providing adequate resources is, first and foremost, a Board responsibility. Every Board member should inventory his/her connections with potentially helpful givers, and the Board should accept an obligation in this area. All prospective Board members should understand that an annual gift (of $1,000 donation or raised cash contribution) is one of the Board’s expectations. The Board should periodically consider and approve a written statement of needs that extends in more detail what is presented in the organization’s statement of mission and purposes. Again, fundraising is a full Board function; the appropriate standing committee is simply the Board’s agent to help coordinate the work of the Board members and any fundraising staff.
Effective Management of Resources
An essential part of serving the public trust is protecting accumulated assets and ensuring that current income is appropriately managed. Because organizations are incorporated and granted tax-exempt status by state and federal laws to fulfill a public need, the Board’s obligations go well beyond its organization’s members, constituents, or clients.
Monitor Programs and Services
The Board’s fundamental role begins with the question of whether current and proposed programs and services are consistent with the Coalition’s stated mission and purposes. Given limited resources and unlimited demands, the Board must decide among competing priorities.
Enhance Public Image
The Board serves as a link between the Coalition’s staff or volunteers and its members, constituents or clients. Outlined achievements, contributions to the public good, and explanations for how gifts, grants, and other revenue sources are allocated, are all part of the process. Written annual reports, timely and informative press releases, consistent communication initiatives with community and government leaders, and timely speeches by appropriate Board members to civic and community groups are essential elements of a comprehensive public relations strategy.
Self-Evaluation
The Board of Directors should be open to self-evaluation and regularly review its composition to ensure constituent representation, board expertise, and commitment. Board members perform their responsibilities through regular meetings and a committee structure appropriate for the size of the board and organization.
Other Duties
The Board should ensure that (1) the Coalition follows the law, (2) Board members attend most Board meetings, (3) Board members participate in coalition-sponsored conferences and events, and (4) Board members perform other assigned duties.