FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 31, 2019
For media inquiries:
Michelle Rash
mrash@rlfcommunications.com
336-553-1733 (office)
336-823-5501 (mobile)
Durham, N.C. — The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) is delighted to announce that Dr. Andra Gillespie, Lisa Jones and Susan Price will join its board of directors, effective immediately. All three of these dynamic women are exceedingly accomplished in their areas of expertise and have a great passion for social justice work and will help reinforce the SCSJ’s regional focus and further develop its expansive programming.
“I am extremely pleased and honored to welcome the three newest members to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice Board of Directors,” said Ryan Roberson, board chair. “They each bring incredible expertise, judgment and energy to the table from diverse professional backgrounds. The board is very fortunate that they have agreed to join us. I’m looking forward to working with them individually and collectively as the board continues to support the ongoing and important programs that SCSJ brings to the South.”
Gillespie is an associate professor of political science at Emory University and director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute. A native of Virginia, she is a leading scholar on the topics of race and political representation. She has authored several books on black politics, including one of the definitive scholarly works on Senator Cory Booker. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale University.
Jones, a retired corrections administrator, is a native of North Carolina and has returned home after a distinguished 30-year career as a leader within the federal corrections system. She was one of the highest ranking women of color in the federal corrections system, having served as warden in facilities in Connecticut, Arizona and Georgia. She now pursues projects in Durham focused on supporting re-entry. She is a graduate of Southern Nazarene University and is completing graduate studies at Saint Leo University.
Price is vice chancellor and chief of staff for the Community College System of Alabama and lives in Montgomery. She has a storied career in public service, both in the states of Washington and Alabama. In her present role, she has supervised the development of educational programs that serve marginalized communities in Alabama, including a full-service community college program for the incarcerated. Price is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Virginia Law School.
“Those of us who manage the daily work of SCSJ, whether in its projects or in its administration, keenly recognize that our success depends upon the active engagement of wise, considered leaders who can help us address large strategic questions. Each of these marvelous additions to the board brings boundless potential to help us do cutting-edge work,” said Dr. Kareem Crayton, executive director of SCSJ. “I am terribly grateful for the selfless contributions these new members are willing to make for us to continue growing as a leading force for social change. Each new member surely receives a multitude of requests for their time and talent; I’m so deeply humbled they have chosen to invest their valuable resources in The Southern Coalition.