Executive Director, BVF & Program Director, The Opportunity of a Lifetime, Hardy Brown II
Since 2004, Hardy Brown II has successfully managed Wilberforce University’s Cooperative Education and Professional Services Program. He also spent one year as director of the Science, Technology, Engineering Program (Step-up) during that time. During his tenure at Wilberforce he developed and taught career placement courses for over 2500 students and adult learners. He presented multiple seminars on values and career searches for the National Urban League and conducted training for forty (40) universities on how to update technology in their career service departments. He published numerous national articles on career advice for students and diversity recruitment professionals. Mr. Brown developed a website currently utilized by over 3000 students and alumni annually and over 850 regional and national employers in Ohio. His course “Preparation for Success” received a 95% positive rating from students over a five-year period.
While Director of the Cooperative Education Program, Mr. Brown developed and managed multiple case study teams that completed and won at the national level and was awarded the “2007 Campus of the Year” beating out 68 participating universities through the National Urban League Black Executive Exchange Program. He has over 12 years experience in non-profit development and organizational management and has worked as Assistant Area Development Director for the United Negro College Fund and Campaign Manager for the United Way of Orange County. A graduate of Wilberforce University, Mr. Brown is a member of the National Association of Colleges and Employers and Cincinnati Corporate Diversity Board. He was a Diversity Group Member for the Hershey Company, Ecampus Recruiter, Wilberforce University National Case Study Team Advisor for the 2007 - 2009 championship teams, and Sam Walton Fellow with SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise).
Managing Partner, BPC Media Works,
Paulette Brown-Hinds, PhD
Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds earned her PhD in English Literature with an emphasis in African-American Literature & Culture from the University of California, Riverside, and has taught at various universities throughout the country including the University of Cincinnati, Pomona College, CSU San Bernardino, University of Redlands, and UC Riverside. She was most recently an adjunct faculty member in the Department of English and Communications Studies at LaSierra University in Riverside. As an expert in ethnic media Dr. Brown-Hinds is often asked to participate in forums on ethnic media for various trade and academic organizations including: New America Media, California Black Media, West Coast Black Publishers Association, National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Aspen Institute for Communications and Media, and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism Diversity Workshops.
While at the University of Cincinnati she was awarded service-learning teaching fellowships and developed a number of community-based service learning courses that examined literature and culture in urban America. As a tenure-track Assistant Professor she was acknowledged for excellence in teaching by her peers in the Department of English. Several of her scholarly articles have been published in academic journals and books on 20th Century Black women writers in the US and Caribbean. Since 2001, she has been responsible for the development and implementation of the programs and projects of the Black Voice Foundation. She is a former board member for the Resource Center for Non-Profit Management and currently serves as an advisor for The Community Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Initiative.
Kenneth W. Briggs, Independent Consultant
His list of clients includes the U.S. Department of Energy, Black Voice Foundation (The Opportunity of a Lifetime), Wilberforce University, City of Dayton, Clark State Community College and AVETEC Inc. AVETEC, a 501 (c) 3 not for profit research organization created to increase the role modeling and simulation play in the design, test, and analysis of jet engines. Ken was involved in the promoting, coordinating and improving educational programs, activities and opportunities.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and history from Texas Southern University in Houston TX, Ken entered federal service in August 1972 as Personnel Staffing Specialist with the U.S. Civil Service Commission in Houston TX. After excelling in duties, he transferred to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where he acquired extensive experience and knowledge about civilian personnel programs and operations with a service population over 8,000 people.
Before retiring from federal service, Ken completed thirty-three years of service in the area of human resources for the federal government. Ken served as the human resources director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Cincinnati OH. He was responsible for the classification of positions, recruitment, staffing, placement and examination, employee relations, benefits, labor relations and workforce development programs and operations.
Ken also worked for the U.S Department of Energy in Miamisburg OH. As the Service Center Director for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in Dayton OH, he was responsible for the merit system for federal employment, which included recruiting, examining, training, and promoting people on the bias of their knowledge and skills.
Scholars in Residence:
Dr. Daniel Walker
While still a sophomore in
college at the age of 19, Dr. Daniel Walker and Dr. Shawn Ginwright founded
Leadership Excellence, a non-profit organization that utilized college students
to teach leadership and academic skills to inner-city youth. Eventually
creating a Saturday school, regional and national leadership conferences,
summer leadership camps and retreats, and professional development seminars
focused on bringing real skills to real people, the organization annually
placed over 97% of its high school participants in accredited colleges and
universities. Still making a difference in the lives of youth in the San
Francisco Bay Area, Leadership Excellence has a current budget approaching $1
million. A former consultant to the City of San Diego on issues of community
economic development, he presently serves as the Lead Scholar for the San
Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools' Roots of Freedom Teaching American
History Grant and Co-Lead Scholar for the San Joaquin County Board of
Education's Religion in American History Grant.
The author of No More, No More: Slavery and
Cultural Resistance in Havana and New Orleans (University of Minnesota Press),
Dr. Walker possesses a PhD in Latin American and African American History (with
distinction) from the University of Houston. A former Assistant Professor of
History at Indiana University, Visiting Professor of Latin American History at
Occidental College, and Associate Director of the African American Studies
Program at the University of Houston, he is an expert on a wide range of
topics. The Founding Director of the Gospel Music History Project, a joint
venture between the Black Voice Foundation and the Center for Religion and
Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, Dr. Walker's articles
on history, music, literature, and religion have appeared in numerous academic
journals, newspapers, and national magazines. He is currently writing a book on
the early history and music of the Church of God in Christ and another
exploring the ways in which young people use the symbols and metaphors of Hip
Hop culture as a means of coping with the ungodly rates of homicide that
pervade African American communities.