HOMEBoard & Staff
The North Gulfport Community Land Trust Board of Directors is similar to many Community Land Trust Boards in that 1/3 of the members represent the leaseholders, 1/3 represent the North Gulfport community and 1/3 represent the community at large. This system promotes a diverse management style and keeps different sectors of the community involved.
North Gulfport Community Land Trust
Board of Directors 2007
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Rose Johnson President and Member Rose was born and raised, and lives in North Gulfport. She grew up in a community where "a village raised a child". Rose has been a community activist for decades, fighting environmental racism and environmental justice issues throughout the state of Mississippi. She has battled and halted the filling of many nearby wetlands; a process that inherently causes flooding in downstream communities like North Gulfport and Turkey Creek. After halting the fill of a nearby 500-acre wetland she was soon approached by, and became the first African American Chair of the Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club. Rose decided to take this fight to another level and create the North Gulfport Community Land Trust in an effort to further preserve her community. Rose loves the people of her community, she calls them her extended family. She enjoys going to church, helping others, reading and spending time with her grandchildren. She believes that the land in the African American communities should be protected at all cost. |
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M.O. Lawrence Treasurer and Member M.O. Lawrence, lll (Buck) has had a passion for the environment for over 30 years. He, and his wife- Regina, enjoys backpacking, kayaking, and just about all outdoor activities. "People think I'm crazy, but I really enjoy doing 'volunteer vacations' with the American Hiking Society building trails." He was a founder of the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain and served as its first president. A concern for the destruction of Turkey Creek led him to many Corps of Engineer's hearings. From these, he became involved with the North Gulfport Community Land Trust. |
| Jolie Machado Secretary and Member Jolie Spiers Machado works with Enterprise Corporation of the Delta/Hope Community Credit Union, one of the nation's leading Community Development Financial Institutions. As a program officer with ECD/HOPE, Jolie concentrates on community outreach and advocates for such issues as economic justice and affordable housing. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi in Print Journalism with a minor in Art History. In addition to serving the North Gulfport Community Land Trust, Jolie is also a board member of the Steps Coalition and Coastal Women for Change. |
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Rev. Phillip McSwain Member Reverend Phillip McSwain is the son of Reverend C.D. McSwain and the late Girtha McSwain. He is married to Debra McSwain and the proud father of five children, Sabrina, Phillip Jr., Elijah, Joshua and Jonathan. He is a 1977 graduate of New Augusta High School, and Jones County Junior College where he received an Associate Degree and Technology and an Associate Degree in Arts. He later received a Bachelor of Theology Degree from the Mississippi Baptist Theological Seminary. He was called to the Greater Mt. Olive Baptist Church in 2004 where he currently serves as pastor in North Gulfport. He presently serves as President of the Sunday School and BTU Congress of the Third Sweet Pilgrim Association in New Augusta and Chairperson for the Educational Scholarship for the Shiloh District Association. |
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Lattie Grubbs Member Lattie is married to J. Arthur Grubbs Sr. and has been married for 49 years. She is the mother of three children, Vicki, Meledy and J. Arthur Jr., with four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Lattie is a member of the Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church under the caring leadership of Reverend Phillip McSwain and has been a member there for many years. Besides her love for her church, she also loves her community and has been active in the North Gulfport community for a number of years, having worked with the Fire Department, Civic Club, PTA and the Credit Union. Lattie is retired. She worked as a seamstress at Maybelle's Dress Manufactory for 21 years. |
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Lillie Bender Member Born in Pascagoula MS and graduated High School from Carver High School; attended Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN as an English major and completed degree requirements for a Bacheloor of Sience Degree from William Carey University. She has two adult children and four grandchildren. She is a member of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Gulfport, MS.; She enjoys reading, clothing design, interior decorating and movies. Her employment history includes both private and public sector employment as follows; National Broadcasting Company, South Central Bell, Gulf Coast Community Action Agency, Biloxi Housing Authority and presently serves as Mississippi Operations Director for Unity Homes in Gulfport, MS. |
| Howard Page Member |
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Derrick Evans Member Derrick is the Founder and Executive Director of Turkey Creek Community Initiatives (TCCI) and is a sixth-generation native of Turkey Creek, a Mississippi Gulf Coast community settled by his freed African-American ancestors in 1866. Mr. Evans received his bachelor's and master's degrees in History, Black Studies and Secondary Curriculum and Instruction at Boston College and has taught civil rights history at the school since 1991. To combat a litany of threats to environmental quality, cultural continuity, and community survival, Mr. Evans founded TCCI in 2003 to "conserve, restore and utilize" the diminishing cultural and ecological resources of the Turkey Creek community and watershed. Since Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, Mr. Evans and TCCI have provided relief for survivors, facilitated community-based recovery planning, and broadly advocated for a more just and sustainable future for coastal Mississippi's most vulnerable communities. |
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Jeff Bounds Member Jeffrey Bounds is a founding member of the Mississippi Renewal Coalition, a grassroots group established after Katrina to promote the adoption of modern anti-sprawl planning methods across the Coast, so that the rebuilding process will result in safer communities better adapted to coexisting with and preserving the Gulf Coast's natural environment. Bounds, a native of Gulfport, received four degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including the Sc.D. in 1999, and has lived and worked in Boston as a consulting engineer for many years. He currently consults as an interdisciplinary stochastics engineer. He is presently serving as a SmartCode planning consultant for several cities across the Coast. |
North Gulfport Community Land Trust
Staff 2007
We would never be able to accomplish all we have though if it weren't for the many volunteers who work tirelessly for this organization.
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Jason Mackenzie Executive Director Jason is originally from Phoenix, Arizona and has lived throughout the United States and Latin America working on community development activities. Jason holds a BS in Forest Management and a Master's degree in Community and Regional Planning. |
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Veronica Lewis Community Outreach Coordinator Veronica Lewis is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with a Bachelors Degree in Community Education. Veronica has a background in community organizing where she successfully built block clubs in a low income community. Veronica hosted Lead Free Family Festivals throughout Milwaukee inner city communities working with the City of Milwaukee Health Department to have kids less than 6 years of age tested for lead poison. She worked with the youth in her community by forming clean teams and also helped a number of teens get back in school to receive their HSED or GED and some even went to college. |