Seven St. Louis area residents have joined the board of Forward Through Ferguson, a successor organization to the Ferguson Commission.
The nonprofit group received 27 applications for the positions. Through what the group called an open, community-driven process, the committee selected “unflinching and unusual leaders” to work toward racial equity.
Forward Through Ferguson promotes the goals set by the Ferguson Commission. The commission issued its 189 policy recommendations on Sept. 14, 2015.
According to a press release, the seven new board members are:
- Rebeccah Bennett, founder and principal of Emerging Wisdom, a social enterprise that advances personal, organizational, and social transformation.
- Zach Boyers, chairman and CEO of U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation.
- Trina Dyan Clark James, founder of Jamaa Learning Center, a full-service charter school in the Ville neighborhood on St. Louis city’s north side.
- Carmen Garcia Ruiz, cultural change agent with St. Louis Renewed, an empowerment and leadership program promoting racial justice and unity in the St. Louis region.
- Adelaide Lancaster, co-founder of We Stories, a program that uses children’s literature to support family conversations about race and social justice.
- Christy Maxfield, director of entrepreneurship development services at the Center for Emerging Technologies (CET), an affiliate of St. Louis’s Cortex Innovation Community.
- De Andrea Nichols, a community engagement specialist with the Contemporary Art Museum and founder and founding director of Civic Creatives, which equips organizations and leaders to resolve critical social challenges using design thinking.
