Our BOARD MEMBERS

Anderson Flen has prided himself as a bridge builder in his personal and professional life. He was born in Magazine Point Alabama (Africatown) and is a 1968 graduate of Mobile County Training School (MCTS). He served in leadership roles in high school: President of the Student Government his Junior and Senior years, quarterback of the 1966 MCTS State Champions undefeated football team and co-captain of the undefeated 1968 baseball team. He was also a member of the Math and Science clubs in high school, and a member of the first Upward Bound Program at Spring Hill College in the summer of 1967. His education was directly impacted by the culture and history of the descendants of the slave ship Clotilda, founders of Africatown. Anderson has played a foundational role in the formation of all the current community organizations in the Africatown Community, including the Mobile County Training School Alumni Association (MCTSAA). He was the first Alumni Association President of the reorganized MCTSAA and wrote its incorporation papers for its federal 501c-3 status. Anderson played a key role in organizing the Africatown Community Development Corporation (ACDC), which was formed out of the MCTSAA. He assisted in the formation of Africatown C.H.E.S.S. which stands for Community, Health, Education, Sustainable, and Safe. He helped initiate the Africatown Connections Blueway Project with the National Park Service (NPS), as President of the MCTSAA, signing the technical assistance grant in 2016 with NPS. He is playing a role in helping to make sure the community churches begin to have the technical, educational and communication networks in place to respond better to the community and the world with their stories. 

Anderson is enjoying retirement after serving 30 years in Public Health at the North Georgia Health District. In his role as Director of Health Promotions and Planning, Anderson excelled at collaborations with all levels of government and community organizations representing academia, business, non-profits, healthcare and religious institutions. His commitment to promoting and implementing best health practices for State and Federal government led him to play a critical role in bringing together all of the above stakeholders through an annual regional health educational conference that included 13 counties in the North Georgia region. Anderson created the conference to share and recognize outstanding best practices, and recognize the extraordinary efforts of the honorees. Because of his unending commitment to the community of Africatown, Mr. Flen is one of the three founders of the Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation upon its incorporation in 2019. 

David (Dave) Trent is the Site Director for the Airbus Americas Engineering Center in Mobile, Alabama. As the first Mobile center employee hired in 2005, Dave has been responsible for designing and driving the office’s growth from its inception to its current size of over 185 engineering and operations staff. Prior to joining Airbus, Dave held senior engineering management positions at Bombardier Aerospace, Gulfstream Aerospace, and Hiller, Inc. He has been involved in the development and delivery of aircraft cabins since 1993. Throughout his career Dave has integrated best practice management principles into his leadership roles by continually advocating for efficient process improvements; formulating robust design solutions which solicit the input of all stakeholders; demonstrating an unwavering commitment to excellence and integrity; and consciously seeking diversity in all decisions. Dave actively demonstrates Airbus’ commitment to the Mobile community through his significant civic involvement and philanthropic contributions. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center, The University of South Alabama and Tuskegee University’s College of Engineering Industrial Advisory Boards, and The University of South Alabama’s Mitchell College of Business Executive Advisory Council. He has previously served as the Chairman of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, been a member and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Southwest Alabama, a member of the Ascension Health Gulf Coast Health System board, and served as Secretary of the Alabama Aerospace Industries Association. In 2017, Dave spearheaded the creation of an Airbus Americas Endowed Scholarship for the University of South Alabama’s College of Engineering, serving the community by providing a worthy individual with quality education in a high-demand industry. Raised in Southern California, Dave received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and Masters of Business Administration degree from California State University, Fullerton. Dave and his wife Michon are parents of two daughters. About the Airbus Engineering Center in Mobile: In 2005, Airbus announced its decision to build an engineering center at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookely. An initial team of 35 opened the new building on January 3, 2007. Today, the site employs over 185 individuals specializing in cabin and cargo engineering. 

Ester de Aguiar joined the Mobile International Festival in 1985, while still attending the University of South Alabama where she earned a degree in international studies. After graduation she moved to Washington D.C. and worked at the International Monetary Fund, later moved to Atlanta and took a new direction in the field of aeronautics, she attended flight school at Kennesaw State University, while working for an aviation consulting firm where she was responsible for international marketing and trade shows such as the Paris Air Show, and in 1996 she started her own aviation business and moved back to Mobile, AL. Ester’s passion for teaching and serving the community led her to volunteer for several schools, churches, and philanthropic groups such as Rotary, for over 21 years, Ester has taught her native language Portuguese, Spanish, and visual arts. In Addition, Ester always incorporated world culture to her curriculum, each year students enjoyed a small international festival in the classroom. Ester is passionate about inspiring students of all ages, her enthusiasm and love for the Mobile International Festival’s mission and vision for a better world through education and understanding of our beautiful world and its people is truly a cause close to her heart. Currently, Ester serves as the Board Secretary for Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation and is active in several projects in the field of arts and culture. Ester has two daughters, Isabela and Maya; both girls were brought up in the festival and will continue representing Brazil on her behalf as she continues her role as the Executive Director.

William L. Green is a retired executive specialized in process improvement and automation of logistic and distribution processes and systems. William is a native of Mobile, AL, specifically Africatown section located 3 miles north of the city center. The first 4 years of his life, he lived in the “New Quarters” section of Africatown. The “New Quarters” were so named as a euphemism for “New Slave Quarters”. William is a third-generation descendant (great grandson) of Osia and Innie Keeby, both occupants of the Clotilda, documented as the last ship to bring Africans to these shores in 1860 for the sole purpose of enslavement. William was a graduate of the historic Mobile County Training High School and a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. He was one of the first African Americans to receive a scholarship offer from Auburn University, AL. However, he chose to attend Lincoln University, PA. He received his undergraduate degree from The Lincoln University, PA, the first degree granting Black college/university in America. While at Lincoln, he joined Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Beta Chapter. After undergraduate, he was accepted at Yale in Public Health and University of Chicago for MBA. He chose to continue his education on a fellowship to Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. His areas of concentration were Operation Research, Transportation and Industrial Relations. He began his professional career at Xerox Corporation in Rochester, NY. His increasing responsibilities were for multinational systems that supported service engineering and parts configuration for office products in USA, Canada, Europe and Japan. His responsibilities required international travel. He transferred to Dallas, TX to support the establishment of facilities for Xerox’s movement into personal computers and word processors. He then moved on to General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) in Dallas. He led his division, Information Services, in the merger of GTE with Bell Atlantic Company to form Verizon Corporation. He retired from Verizon after 20 combined years of service with GTE and Verizon. He served on the boards of Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation of America, Dallas Chapter; Bracane Company (Clinical Research) and Africatown Heritage and Preservation Foundation. He is a member of the Clotilda Descendants Association. William is married to Dorothy Boga-Green. They currently reside in Plano, Texas.

Greg Stephens is the Immediate Past President of the 100 Black Men of Upstate South Carolina, a chapter of the 100 Black Men of America, where he served as president for the past 6 years. “What They See Is What They’ll Be.” He is currently employed by Michelin Tire Corporation as the Strategic Key Account Manager for the US and Canada business development for lease tire accounts. He has served in various leadership position over his 30+ years with Michelin. Prior to the lease tire role, he served as the Government Sales Manager for the Eastern half of the US. Greg Stephens also served as the Director of Michelin Supplier Diversity and Small Business Development for US and Canada. In addition to his many roles at Michelin, He has served on the Board of Directors for the Carolina Minority Suppliers Development Council and the South Carolina Native American Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the African American Leadership Group and regularly participates in United Way and Goodwill financial and leadership projects.

Greg Stephens is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point New York where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He proudly served as a Captain in the United States Army where earned his coveted Ranger Tab and Airborne wings before becoming a member of corporate America. He was born in Mobile, Alabama, attended Mobile County Training School before graduating from Vigor High School. He is married to Sheryl Johnson Stephens who also attended Mobile County Training School. They have two adult sons.

Mrs. Ruth Taylor Ballard, a nursing pioneer in the Jim Crow south, is a 1953 graduate of Mobile County Training (High) School of Plateau, Alabama. Ms. Ballard is one of seven children whose parents instilled in her and her siblings, the value of an education. Ms. Ballard made history by becoming one of nineteen blacks to graduate from the first Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Program offered by Mobile County Public School System in 1955. Prior to this time, an African American who wanted to study nursing had to travel to places like Selma, Montgomery, and Tuskegee. Few had the means or the ability to do so, and those who did were denied admitting privileges at all but one of Mobile’s hospitals. Ms. Ballard earned her Registered Nurse (RN) certification continue to practice nursing for over 40 years. Ms. Ballard worked in a number of nursing environments throughout her profession She began her career at Providence Hospital and cap stoned her nursing career as a psychiatric nurse at Searcy Hospital in Mount Vernon, Alabama where she excelled and found her niche.

Ms. Ballard is a trusted, well-known, and respected leader in the Africatown Community. She is an active member of historic Union Baptist Church and supports many community events related to Africatown including the Annual Youth Kite Making Project, various community recognitions, educational programs, and historical celebrations. She is an active member of Mobile County Training School Alumni Association where she serves as membership chairperson. She is on the Board of Directors for the Africatown environmental and community organization, C.H.E.S.S.

As part of her ongoing desire that all people move towards healing, Ms. Ballard participated in the “August 2019 Day of Healing & Bell Ringing”, commemorating 400 years since the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the first permanent English Colony in North America. As part of the ceremony, Ms. Ballard had the honor of releasing 110 butterflies, representing the number of enslaved persons who were illegally shipped to Mobile on the Clotilda. Because of her unending commitment to the community of Africatown, Ms. Ballard is one of the three founders of the Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation upon its incorporation in 2019. 

Ramsey Sprague was born in Houma, Louisiana and raised in Arlington, Texas. Ramsey moved to Mobile, Alabama in 2013 after being inspired by the resolve of residents of the historic Africatown community to fight against the interests of polluting developers in forming their Mobile Environmental Justice Action Coalition (MEJAC) organization with the mission to engage and organize with Mobile’s most threatened communities in order to defend the inalienable rights to clean air, water, soil, health, and safety; to promote environmental justice; and to take direct action when government fails to do so, ensuring community self-determination. Ramsey gladly volunteered with MEJAC for a few years before taking on their current role as volunteer Board President for MEJAC as the challenges facing Black, Indigenous, and low-income residents across the Mobile area became more clear. They also serve Mobilian and Alabamian communities as the Chair of the Mobile AL NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Committee and as a Co-Chair of the Moving Forward Network’s Southeast Regional Network.

As a Native-identified environmental community organizer, Ramsey's faith drives their resolve to help develop a more just and safer economy for the benefit of future generations and to honor the wisdom of all traditional caretakers of our lands.

Joycelyn Davis began her long career in education as a preschool teacher at Bishop State Community College and is currently employed as a paraprofessional at Saraland City Schools. A fierce advocate for children, Joycelyn believes in the power of community to create a safe and healthy environment in which children can thrive. She is also actively involved in the community, devoted to her work with Africatown C.H.E.S.S (Clean, Healthy, Safe, Educated, Sustainable), an agency dedicated to the preservation and future prosperity of Africatown. Joycelyn is also the co-founder and Vice-President of the Clotilda Descendants Association and organizer of the Spirit of Our Ancestors Festival, a day set aside where descendants of the Clotilda celebrate their heritage. Joycelyn inspires others through her community work, reminding us all that we can be the change we wish to see in the world. 

Bill Lightfoot is an educator, advisor, and social entrepreneur who has founded or advised several social ventures in the US, Europe, and Africa. He has a passion for mentoring other social entrepreneurs, helping connect them with people who have complementary skills, and a similar passion for their mission. Bill has served as a Dean at several Universities in the U.S. and Europe; as an executive and owner of firms in the US, Finland, Monaco, and Tanzania; and as professor and educator who has delivered lectures or taught at Universities and Colleges in over 20 countries, to students from over 100. He has also served on a number of for profit and not for profit boards, helping to found a Food Bank, a community based non-profit that focused on closing the summer learning gap with children living in poverty, and a homebuilding initiative that trained people living in poverty how to develop their own local economy. 

He has an electrical engineering degree from Bucknell, an MBA from UNC Chapel Hill, and a PhD from Capella University. He currently resides in North Carolina with his partner and his snarky dog - Tanner where he is coaching and also working on several global education initiatives. He is most proud of his two amazing daughters - Stephanie and Shannon.

He was compelled to join the board at the AHPF by his mentor and friend Anderson Flen, with whom he co-founded several different community-based initiatives during their time together in Gainesville, Georgia.

“People and Communities Matter” CEO, Beverly Scott and Associates, LLC Founder, Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure, Inc.

Beverly A. Scott, PhD is the CEO of Beverly Scott Associates where she advocates for sustainable, equity-centered infrastructure, and provides infrastructure-focused executive management consulting, specializing in “people-readiness” and advancing practical approaches and solutions to challenging situations that advance equity and inclusion and help achieve positive outcomes for all people and communities.  In 2018, she founded Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure, Inc. (“iyai+”), a national non-profit dedicated to inspiring, educating, and actively engaging today’s youth to be tomorrow’s “community builders” – with a focus on vulnerable youth and under-represented groups in the infrastructure sectors – including women and people of color.

Her career in the public transportation industry spans forty years, including four appointments as CEO/General Manager – Boston (MBTA), Atlanta (MARTA), Sacramento (SRTD), and Rhode Island (RIPTA).  A past Chair, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), she is nationally recognized for her “equity-centered” leadership, commitment to quality, integrity, and courage.  Within the public transit industry she has been a strong, consistent voice for workforce development, and achieving better outcomes for “all” people and communities.

She is a frequent speaker, serves on several national Boards, and has received numerous national and local awards.  In 2011, she was appointed by President Obama to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC); and re-appointed by President Biden.  She currently serves as the California State Treasurer’s appointee to the California High Speed Rail Authority Peer Review Committee; a Transportation Author for the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment Report (NCA5) which is the final review stage, and also serves on the Sustainability Advisory Council, Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

Dr. Scott received the Sharon Banks Humanitarian Leadership Award in Transportation for her advocacy on behalf of public transit users and workers, and for her tireless efforts to improve the lives of others.  She was also named a “Transportation Innovator of Change” by President Barack Obama.  She is a past Chair of the Rail-Volution Board of Directors and currently serves on the boards of the American Public Transportation Association, Jobs To Move America, and Equiticity.  A past Founding Board member of the International Transportation Learning Center (a national labor-management consortium), she currently serves in an advisory capacity as a Senior Fellow.

Dr. Scott holds a doctorate in political science from Howard University; and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Fisk University (Phi Beta Kappa; magna cum laude). Finally, and to her -- most importantly – she is blessed to have a wonderful family that she both “loves” and “likes” as people.

Ephrem Kitoyi was born and raised in Benin, formerly the Kingdom of Dahomey. His journey in African-American history and heritage preservation began with a Master of Arts in African-American Civilizations from the University of Abomey Calavi, the oldest and largest university in Benin. His passion for the subject led him to immigrate to the United States in 2012, where he lived in the historic neighborhoods of Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, immersing himself in their vibrant cultural tapestry. In search for cultural linkage between African Americans and Benin, Ephrem has embarked on extensive visits to national historical landmarks, including the Whitney Plantation, Monticello, Mount Vernon, Harriet Tubman Home for Aged & Indigent Negroes, and various Civil War and cultural sites. His search revealed his shared history with the Africatown community in Mobile, Alabama. In 2020, he founded Carrefour Benin to promote Beninese culture and facilitate collaboration between Benin, its diaspora related to the slave trade, and its contemporary diaspora by connecting the history and vibrant culture created by African-Americans to the rich history and culture of Benin and Africa Ephrem is very active in the African Diaspora in the United States, advising the National Benin Diaspora on strategy, legal and conflict resolution issues.

As an entrepreneur in New York City, he has built, supported, managed, and advised small businesses in Brooklyn in the hospitality industry. His latest business plan won the 2020 PowerUp award at the Brooklyn Public Library and was featured in the Brooklyn Eagle. He currently lives in the Washington, D.C., area.