Board of Directors
Dr. Albert Anderson Jr. - Chair
Dr. Anderson is Professor Emeritus of Education at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, where he served as Director of Graduate Counseling Programs for over 30 years. Dr. Anderson's commitment to youth is both professional and personal, having served as a foster parent to 28 adolescent males entrusted to his care by public and private child placing agencies.
Jackie Rowand - Vice Chair
Monongahela Power Company and the Ordinance Office of the United States Army - Retired
Ms. Rowand also serves as chair of the Upper Mon Valley SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), a volunteer association sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration. She is a former chair and current board member of the Marion County Meals on Wheels where she has volunteered for 28 years. She has served as an objective reviewer from the community for foster care cases for DHHR in West Virginia.
Mary Ramseyer - Secretary
Director of Teacher Education - Retired
Ms. Ramseyer spent many years teaching pre-school, elementary and college students and recently retired as Director of Teacher Education at Clinch Valley College in Wise, VA. She is a lifelong community activist, grassroots organizer and child advocate.
John Wilkin - Treasurer
Financial Management Systems Consultant
With more than 40 years experience in the thrift and banking industries, Mr. Wilkin has developed and provided programs and services to educational organizations for the purpose of training financial institution management in the areas of financial planning and risk management.
Dr. Frances James Brown
Columbus State Community College (CSCC)
Dr. Brown is a retired professor in the Mental Health/Chemical Dependency/Mental Retardation Department of Columbus State Community College and currently an adjunct faculty member of The Ohio State University. She has more than 25 years experience working in the child welfare and social services field.
W. David Gemmill, M.D.
Mercy Children's Hospital - Retired
Dr. Gemmill retired as the Director of the Child Maltreatment Protection Program at Mercy Children's Hospital in Toledo, OH. He is an emeritus member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Helfer Society and has been active at the state and national levels of The American Professional Social on the Abuse of Children. He was chair of the OYAP Board of Directors prior to its incorporation into NYAP. He currently serves the Wood County (OH) CASA program as a Medical Consultant and Treasurer of the Friends of CASA Board.
Delois McKinley-Eldridge
Fort Wayne Community School District
Ms. McKinley-Eldridge is a case manager with the Fort Wayne Community School District. Prior to that, she served as an investigator for the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission for 8 years and as Director for 10 years. She is a certified conflict mediator and owner of her own agency, specializing in civil rights discrimination, parents' and children's issues and diversity training.
Scott Kennedy
Scott Kennedy is Chair of the Board of Directors of the California Youth Advocate Program and serves on the staff of the Resource Center for Nonviolence. Kennedy founded the Isla Vista Youth Project and the Isla Vista Children's Center in Isla Vista, California in the 1970s. He is a former three term member of the City Council and two term Mayor of the City of Santa Cruz, California. Scott serves on the national boards of Interfaith Peace-Builders, the Refuser Solidarity Network, and National Youth Advocate Program and was twice chair of the National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. He is the coordinator of the Middle East Program of the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz, California that he co-founded in 1976.
Dannette (Danni) M. Palmore
Danni Palmore, a principal of PolicyWorks, is a successful businesswoman with 25 years of experience as a political consultant and campaign manager for local and national candidates. With an intimate knowledge of politics and government, her experience uniquely enables her to establish grassroots coalitions around touch issues. From working in the Ohio House of Representatives to working with former City Council President, Mayor Michael Coleman, as his legislative and community liaison, Danni has been an effective communicator and builder of consensus. Her personal commitment lies in creating opportunities for fair and decent housing in Columbus, OH. Her success in housing is reflected in the initiative known as “The Commons Grant” and her work with National Church Residences and the City of Columbus on future housing opportunities. Ms. Palmore’s outstanding achievements in campaign management and grassroots organization has earned her numerous honors; she has been featured in Who’s Who in American Politics, given honorable mention by Campaigns & Elections Magazine and invited as a guest lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Linda Sanner, MBA
Linda Sanner is an accomplished Information Technologies (IT) professional
with over 20 years of experience in IT Management, Systems and Services.
She has worked as a Sr. Information Technology Manager with Avon, an IT
Manager with ALCOA and a Network Administrator for the United States Postal
Service in Illinois. She received her MBA from Olivet Nazarene University
in Illinois. She is on the Board of Directors for the Northwest IL
Suburban United Way and is a member of the Society for Information
Management. She was formerly on the Board of Directors of ILYAP, the
Illinois Youth Advocate Program, prior to the merger with the National
Youth Advocate Program.