Alice G. Thompson, BoV Chair

Alice Thompson is the CEO of BFDI Educational Services and served as CEO of Black Family Development for 26 years from which she retired June 2020.  During this time, she established two subsidiaries, BFDI Educational Services, Inc. and BFDI Training Institute, focused on education, building relationships and repairing harm. BFDI Educational Services, Inc. is now a 501c3, and the BFDI Training Institute is an L3C. Thompson served for several years as Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and now serves as Chair of the School of Social Work Board of Visitors. She serves on many boards that focus on quality of life issues in the City of Detroit.

Shirley Mann Gray, BoV Vice Chair

Shirley Mann Gray, MSW, LMSW, a passionate advocate for women and children, provides strategic leadership for maternal child health and infant mortality programs at the Detroit Health Department. Recognized as an expert in the areas of maternal-child health, child maltreatment, domestic violence, and family-centered care, Gray serves on many local and state boards. Her advice to others: "No matter the path you take, don't walk it alone." Gray earned her bachelor's and master's in social work from Tennessee State University and Wayne State University respectively. She and her husband have two adult daughters.

Lori Edelson

Lori Edelson is a Licensed Master Social Worker and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been practicing as a clinical psychotherapist for 43 years. She is the owner and CEO of Birmingham Maple Clinic, an outpatient mental health clinic founded in Birmingham in 1973, and now located in Troy. The clinic employs three psychiatrists, approximately thirty-nine psychologists, social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed professional counselors, as well as seven administrative staff. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Edelson maintains a clinical practice and is often interviewed in the media on a variety of mental health topics.

Janice Fialka 

Janice Fialka, LMSW, ACSW, is a nationally recognized speaker, author, advocate, and social worker on issues dealing with disability justice, family-professional partnerships, inclusion, Circles of Support and post secondary education for students with intellectual disabilities. She has directed several teen health centers in Michigan, including the Taylor Teen Health Center, which she co-founded in 1988. Fialka has provided the keynote address and conducted workshops at numerous conferences in Canada and throughout the United States. Fialka values the impact of poetry and storytelling in building relationships and respect. Cultivating communities of care and advocacy are fundamental links to Fialka's passion. She has also been an instructor for several graduate classes and is a proud graduate of Wayne State University, School of Social Work. Learn more at Dance of Partnership.

Sara Gleicher

Sara Gleicher is a licensed Master's Social Worker with thirty-six years of professional experience. She served as Chief of Staff for the late Detroit City Council President Maryann Mahaffey for twenty-one years. In 2006, Gleicher was hired by a Detroit-based community mental health organization to lead the agency's policy and advocacy program, as well as multiple grant-funded initiatives. In 2015, Beaumont Health launched a community-based health prevention coalition and Gleicher served as its Project Manager for four and one-half years. Now retired from professional practice, she continues to supervise social work students, assist with grant writing assignments and engage with political advocacy projects.

Paul Hubbard

Paul Hubbard earned a bachelor's in Business Education from Ohio University, an MSW in Community Organizing and Social Work Administration from Wayne State and completed post-graduate work at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. While at Wayne, Hubbard was the president of the Association of Black Students and the Association of Black Social Work Students. He was also VP of the Association of Social Work Students. Hubbard went to become president of New Detroit, sat on multiple organizational boards, and has received over 100 awards and honors. At present, Hubbard is a Real Estate Agent with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

Brandon Ivory

Brandon Ivory is a leader in community development working for the betterment of families and children.  Ivory has 25 years of experience in implementing and evaluating programs to improve the quality of life for metro Detroit residents.  Since 2004 Ivory has worked in community and economic development providing financing and technical assistance for the development and preservation of affordable housing.  Ivory is committed to building sustainable and equitable communities where families can live and children can thrive.  Ivory holds a Master's in Social Work from Wayne State University and an undergraduate degree from Saginaw Valley State University. 

Saunteel Jenkins

Saunteel Jenkins is CEO of The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW). Before joining THAW, she served as a member and President of Detroit City Council and Residential Treatment Program Director at Mariners Inn. In addition to her service on Wayne State University’s School of Social Work Board of Visitors, Jenkins serves on the Kresge Foundation Board of Trustees and Henry Ford Hospital & Health Network Board of Trustees. A proud Detroiter, Jenkins received both her Bachelors and Master of Social Work from Wayne State University. She lives in Detroit with her husband, Carl Bentley.

Latika Mangrulkar

Latika Mangrulkar is a writer, social worker, educator, and social activist who came to America as a graduate student in 1967. Mangrulkar has worked in healthcare and is a national and international community advocate. A member of the initial social-work team for Mai Family Services, the leading agency serving the growing South-Asian population in Michigan since 1987, Mangrulkar has served on it's Board and continues to be an active supporter. Focusing on issues of Immigration Trauma, Mangrulkar addresses these life-changing concerns through workshops and as a storyteller and poet, "Creating Cultures of Peace."

Perry Ohren

Perry Ohren has been the CEO of Jewish Family Service of Metropolitan Detroit (JFS) since 2011. Prior to that Ohren worked at the Jewish Federation in Detroit, the Detroit’s Jewish Vocational Services (now Gesher Human Services), and  Wayne State University. He started his professional career at JFS in the early 1990s as a clinical social worker in a family violence intervention program. He received his MSW and BA degrees from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1984 and 1990. Ohren grew up in Cincinnati, has three young adult children, and lives in Farmington Hills with his wife Rebecca Kushner.

Carolyn Phillips

Carolyn Phillips, LMSW, CFSW, is lifelong Detroiter and School of Social Work alum. She is the president and training coordinator of Independent Networking Associates, Inc. and has over 45 years of extensive and diverse experience in consultation, supervision, training and mentoring for both local and national organizations, this led to an expertise in African Centered as well as Cultural and Ethnic Diversity Training. She has served in private practice as a mental health therapist; provided management, organizational and human resource development, exemplifying her commitment to improve the quality of life for all children and their families. Caroline believes, "When You Have Been Blessed, Pass It On" in giving back she volunteers her services by providing resource information and financial support to families and numerous community organizations and businesses.

Susan Rogers

Susan H. Rogers, LMSW, ACSW is the Director of Parare Counseling and Consulting, PLC, and was previously a school social worker.  Parare is an educational and counseling resource that works with individuals and families with developmental, intellectual and educational disabilities.  Susan was an adjunct faculty member in the Social Work graduate school of the Wayne State University.  She is a current member of the School of Social Work Board of Visitors, and is the chair of the philanthropy sub-committee. Susan is a facilitator and trainer for the Elevatus curriculum, a nationally known, trauma informed program, that is designed to teach and inform people with intellectual and developmental disabilities about sexuality education. 

Sue Townsel

Sue Townsel is a leader in community health and education. She has extensive experience in developing, implementing and evaluating programs geared towards reducing health disparities and gaps in healthcare and education. For the past ten years, she has worked in healthcare, building strategic partnerships with diverse stakeholders aimed at building sustainable and healthy communities. Townsel is committed to ameliorating health disparities and educating multicultural communities to adopt healthy lifestyles and habits. She holds a master's in social work from Wayne State University and an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University.  

Kenyetta Yarbrough 

Kenyetta 'Kitty' Yarbrough started her career in Corporate America at the age of nineteen after moving to Washington, D.C.  Her position as a Human Resources Manager for Kelly Services, Inc. turned into a career spanning over 20+ years.   Her experiences include management, administration, counseling, leadership building and community outreach. Responsibilities with family brought her back to Michigan where she received her bachelor's and master's in Social Work from Wayne State University.  Her devotion to community development, the advancement of all people, and the elimination of social and economic marginalization resonates in the work she does even today. Yarbrough currently works as the Community Engagement Manager at Grandmont Rosedale Development Corp.