Board of Directors
Margaret Burnham, Co-Chairman, LLB
Distinguished lawyer and civil rights activist, Burnham is an Associate Professor of Law at Northeastern University. First African American woman to serve in the Massachusetts judiciary and formerly a principal of Burnham and Hines, Attorneys-at-Law, she is internationally known for her contributions to the struggle for human rights and justice. Margaret Burnham is founder of the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project.
Vivian Johnson, Ph. D, Co-Chairman
Associate Professor Emeritus (School of Education) at Boston University, Johnson pioneered innovative and successful educational development programs for urban youth and their communities. Working along with her husband of fifty years, she has assisted black communities and nations internationally in improving their education and social productivity while deepening their cultural grounding.
Ennis J. Walton, Treasurer
A Harvard Business School graduate, Walton has worked in the field of banking and finance, and has also owned his own entrepreneurial ventures. He is presently Cheif Financial Officer of Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation in the City of Buffalo, New York. Formerly, he was Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations in the Office of Institutional Advancement at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia.
The Honorable Milton L. Wright, Jr.
Milton Wright is retired First Justice of the Roxbury District Court in Boston. Presently, he is a Commissioner on the City of Boston Licensing Board. A gifted singer and writer of a musical production as well as a lawyer, Judge Wright is Musical Director for adults in Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity as produced by the National Center of Afro-American Artists and Co-founder of the Butterfly Project.
Sharif Abdal Khallaq
Abdal Khallaq is the owner of SAAK Realty Company and has interests in other entrepreneurial ventures. He is a long-time residence of Roxbury where his family has long and extensive business roots.
Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.
Noted activist, author and legal scholar, Ogletree is the Jessie Climanko Professor of Law and Founder and Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard University. He has played a leading role in many social justice projects including the current suits seeking reparations for slavery in the United States.
Amy Olatunji
A founding member of the Board of Directors, Olatunji is a member of Peace Action International and is active in several initiatives of the United Nations and other organizations concerned with cultural and humane issues. She is the wife of the late deceased Nigerian drummer Michael Babatunde Olatunji.
Melissa Nobles, Ph. D
Nobles is an author and Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Ma. She is also a social activist with international interests and experiences.
Michele David, MD
David is Staff Physician at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and was appointed a member of the Public Health Council by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. She is also a fine artist working in fibers and textiles who has drawn critical, national attention through exhibitions and printed articles on her art.
Kafi Meadows, Ph. D
A graduate of Wellesley College and Albany Medical College, Meadows is a Field Specialist for QIAGEN, Inc. She is also the niece of the late Elma Lewis, Founder and Artistic Director of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc.
Frances Bernat
Bernat is a patron of the arts and prominent member of several leading professional women’s organizations including the Middlesex Links. Inc. and the African American Women’s Service Organization. She has served on the board since its inception.
Charles Desmond
Desmond has served as Chair, Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, a Trustee at Cambridge College, Vice Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Boston and Executive Vice-President of the Trefler Foundation.