Wesley Wilson, Ed.D., (President and Executive Director) graduated from Morgan State University in 1954, then entered the Army as a 2d Lieutenant. After 20 years as an Army aviator he retired with the rank of Lt. Colonel. He holds three graduate degrees, including a doctorate from W&M. He is Certified as an Industry Arbitrator. He is a recognized Civil War historian. He served as chair of the Newport News School Board and the Gloucester Economic Development Authority. He is a tireless advocate for preserving African American history in Gloucester and has received numerous military and civilian awards.
Ronnie Cohen, Esq. (Vice President) is a Professor Emerita of Business Law at Christopher Newport University She was the Director of the Luter School of Business from 2012-2015. She has published numerous scholarly articles in business law and critical legal studies. She served three terms on the Gloucester County School Board. She is a licensed attorney in Virginia and provides pro bono services to several non-profit organizations in Gloucester.
Ranel (Randy) Johnson, BS, MS, (Secretary) has been a resident of Gloucester, Virginia for 19 years. He is retired after 31 years of public service and 15 years as a small business owner. He has volunteered thousands of hours for community activities including parks and recreation softball, basketball, Boys and Girls Club, Sheriff’s office auxiliary.
Reverend E. Randolph (Randy) Graham, MBA, MDiv, (Treasurer) is the pastor of The First United Baptist Church in Gloucester, VA. He is a native of King William County, Virginia. Reverend Graham retired in 2016 from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as the manager of financial systems. He has led internal audit seminars for the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) throughout North America, Africa and the Caribbean. He is a Certified Information Systems Auditor and a former Adjunct Professor at Virginia University of Lynchburg.
Michael Blakey, Ph.D., is the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Anthropology Professor of American Studies at William and Mary where he also serves as director of the Institute for Historical Biology and the Remembering Slavery, Resistance, and Freedom Project. Dr. Blakey was the Scientific Director of the New York African Burial Ground Project and has published numerous articles about the project. He is an internationally recognized scholar of the interface of human biology and culture, more specifically, the social history of theories that connect biology, “nature,” social inequality, and behavior; the articulation between human biology, racial ideology, and public policy; the political economy of health in industrial society; the bioarchaeology of the African Diaspora; and the ethics and epistemology of publicly engaged research.
Kay Coles-James is President of The Heritage Foundation. She is also the founder of The Gloucester Institute, an organization that trains and nurtures college-age leaders in the African American community. She served as Dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and was a member of the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors. She has held numerous high-level positions in government including Associate Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources.
Brent Heath is a native of Gloucester. He is a naturalist, author, photographer, speaker, a daffodil hybridizer and a gardener. He and his wife, Becky, own Brent & Becky’s Bulbs in Gloucester, where they have over eight acres of educational, Chesapeake Bay friendly gardens. Brent has won many awards from various organizations in the horticultural industry. He shares his love and knowledge of all things natural in the world as an active community volunteer.
Henry (Hank) Hucles retired from NASA Langley as a contractor for Sierra Lobo. He was a senior engineer “Facilities Operation Specialist” who worked on, designed and maintained electrical systems at NASA wind tunnels, compression station and steam plant. He taught 4th year electrical apprentices at New Horizon and Adult education classes on the National Electrical Codes.
Brenda Mack is the at large member of the Gloucester School Board. She is a retired teacher. Ms. Mack’s family history goes back hundreds of years in Gloucester. Her great-great-grandfather, Gabriel Carter, was enslaved on a Gloucester, Virginia plantation. After the Civil War, Gabriel Carter and his brother-in-law purchased that plantation. Ms. Mack has volunteered for numerous educational organizations in Michigan, where she lived until moving to Virginia upon her retirement.
James Newton, BS, MS, is a retired educator who taught for 34 years in Gloucester County Public Schools and as an adjunct professor at Rappahannock Community College. He served in the United States Marine Corps and is president of Newton’s Corporation, Inc. and Newton’s Construction Company. James is a member of the NAACP, the Masonic Lodge and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
Sue Perrin is a native of Gloucester County. She is a landscape designer and a former small business owner. Ms. Perrin is an active community volunteer, including work with the Community Foundation, and Friends of the Ware Neck Store.
Roberta Ray (Bobby), M.Ed., retired after 31 years of teaching elementary school in Gloucester County, where she was a reading specialist. She is a member of the TC Walker Preservation Alliance, and the Gloucester Chapter of the NAACP. Ms. Ray volunteers with the Samaritan Group and the Sanders Foundation.
Bambi Thompson, Ed.D., retired as principal of TC Walker Elementary School in Gloucester, VA. She was instrumental in establishing T.C. Walker Day in 2000, which brings together former students of Gloucester Training School and T.C. Walker School. She is a member of the Mathews County School Board and a Principal Coach in the Office of School Quality at the Virginia Department of Education.
