Toussaint Romaine, J.D. serves as an Assistant Public Defender representing indigent clients charged as Habitual Felons. He also teaches as an adjunct at UNC-Charlotte where he leads students in Constitutional Law and Mass Incarceration courses. He is actively involved in his community by serving on numerous committees, to name a few, Charlotte Human Trafficking Task Force, Chair of the Young Lawyer’s Division for the NC Advocates for Justice, and Board of Trustee for Trinity Pawling – a private All-Boys high school in New York. He hosts monthly leadership training programs at a federal prison, a local youth detention center and is creating a similar program at Turning Point Academy, CMS’ Alternative School. Toussaint is married with three children and a beagle named Caicos.
Brigadier General Charles Collier, USAF, (Ret.) has over 39 years of national security experience in both the public and private sectors building business, creating enterprise-level change and developing and implementing national-level policy. He served 38 years in the U.S. Air Force/Air National Guard where he held multiple leadership roles. He currently serves as Senior Consultant for The Spectrum Group supporting corporate, government and non-profit clients with the right tools and counsel for sustained success. General Collier received his B.S. in Psychology from Memphis State University.
![]() Gwendolyn Garnett COO Women’s Intercultural Exchange Co-Founder/CEO TAPESTRY Owner Mamalu Travel |
![]() Nancy Litton Deputy Executive Director Community Free Clinic Member Chair, Concord-Afton Sunset Rotary Club |
Crystal E. Dixon, MPH, MCHES is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro in the Department of Public Health Education. In 2009, she began working directly in the rural community at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) advocating, educating and connecting community residents to safety net programs. She has an interest in intrastructural racial barriers that impact the health outcomes of underserved communities, particularly in diabetes and breast cancer. While serving as Health Education Specialist for the Durham County Department of Public Health, her expertise in community-engaged practices aided to bridge the relational and healthcare providers and the community. Mrs.Dixon is actively involved with the Guilford Anti-Racism Alliance and is a member of the Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative.
Christie Stancil Matthews, J.D. is passionate about racial injustice issues and feels that if we as a society are to truly bridge the racial divide we must each take ownership of our own role in the division. Ms. Matthews is a business owner, and a former practicing attorney, race law professor, and cultural competence trainer. She also serves on a number of boards in the local community with racial justice and multiculturalism missions. As a law professor and trainer, she wrote articles on and challenged her students to think critically about systemic racism and other "isms" as well as to analyze their own implicit biases in order to better represent a diverse client base and challenge systemic injustice. Ms. Matthews is a graduate of Yale Law School and North Carolina Central University and resides with her family in Charlotte, NC.
Jennifer Schaal, M.D. completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Minnesota and practice gynecology until 2006. Dr. Schaal is a founding member of the Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative (GHDC). Resident research activities include the GHDC Cancer Care and Racial Equity Study, the "Respectful Prescribing" study by the UNC Center for Community and Clinical Research, and the GHDC's current Accoutability of Cancer Are through Undoing Racism and Eqiuitu study. She has delivered national and international keynotes; co-presented scientific presentations at APHA; co-authored multiple peer-reviewed publications and book chapters; and served as Community Expert for CBPR Charrettes. She is active with the Guilford Anti-Racism Alliance and as a trainer for the Racial Equity Institute.
![]() Meghan Davis is the voice of Interracial Americans. Meghan is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and is a biotechnology instructor at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. She previously worked as a Research Technologist at Johns Hopkins University where she assisted in the development of a novel cancer vaccine for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, in addition to studying other types of immunotherapeutic strategies to treat cancer patients. Outside of work, Meghan enjoys volunteering with the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation and is the treasurer for The Kumara Center for Spiritual Awareness. She is constantly working on expanding her consciousness and functioning in the world from a heart-centered place. |
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![]() Rev. Malu Fairley-Collins is the voice of LBGTQ Americans. Rev. Fairley-Collins serves as the Director of Spiritual Care and Education for Carolinas Palliative Care & Hospice Group. She is a board-certified chaplain, an Associate Certified Pastoral Educator, and serves as the co-pastor of Wedgewood Church. She is passionate about creating and sustaining faith-filled relationships that are grounded in the awareness of self and other's social location & intersectionality, and which seek to live out love as social justice. She is passionate about empowering herself and others to embrace the truths of their spirituality, sexuality, and ethnicity. She is happily married to Briana Fairley-Collins and co-parents a vivacious tween-age son. |
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![]() Gustavo Gallo is the voice of Latin American male Americans. Gustavo arrived in the U.S. in 1994. Working as a Sr. Compounder with Ei-A Pharmaceutical SolutionWorks and previously as Sr. Operations Supervisor for Beiersdorf. Gustavo is known throughout the community as a responsible, honest, hardworking, and conscientious man. He is passionate about the Latino American community, children, education, the environment, health, human rights, and social services. He gives catechism classes, is part of spiritual retreats in Saint James The Greater Catholic Church, and represents the Church for V Encuentro of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. |
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![]() Zinat Hassanpour is the voice of Muslin Americans. Zinat earned her Master of Science in Microbiology from the University of Ahwaz in Iran. She has been living in the U.S. since 1986 and began teaching at Cabarrus College of Health Sciences in 2001. Ms. Hassanpour teaches numerous courses in Biology and is the Associate of Science Program Chair. Her extensive background in research includes toxicological studies of the liver at Medical University of South Carolina - Charleston, cell biology and genetics at Emory University, and DNA studies at Applied Genetics Laboratories. Zinat and her husband Dr. Benrashid have been married 35 years and they have three wonderful children. Zinat loves cooking, being outdoors and meeting new people. |
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![]() Kenneth Miller is the voice of African Americans. Kenneth is a Pastor at Tabernacle of Judah Christian Ministries in Concord. He is a 2017 Cum Laude graduate from Cabarrus College of Health Sciences and is studying to take his test to become a Certified Medical Assistant. While attending the college, he was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society and featured in the Student Spotlight. Kenneth is married to the love of his life, Tara Nicole Miller (who just so happens to be Caucasian), and has one child who just turned 14 years old and has borderline autism. Kenneth spends most of his time diligently serving the Lord, and enjoys spending quality time with his wife and son. |
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![]() Rebekah grew up in Concord and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. She attended George Washington University Law School and works as an attorney with the Immigration Project,a non-profit organization providing immigration legal assistance to immigrants residing in Illinois. She passionately represents immigrant victims of domestic violence and unaccompanied alien children fleeing violence and extreme poverty in their home countries. She represents clients in Immigration Court and before the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.She is a faculty affiliate of the Univ. of Illinois’ Women & Gender in Global Perspectives Program and a recipient of the University’s International Women’s Day Award. |
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![]() Aurora Swain is the voice of Latin American women. Aurora graduated from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education with a degree in Industrial Engineering. Since moving to the U.S. in 2005, she began social work in the nonprofit sector and focused on empowering at-risk families with young children. Aurora co-founded Families First in 2014 as a response to overwhelming needs in the Hispanic community with more moms working, going back to school, divorces, homes affected by addiction and mental health, and poverty. Her organization provides early childhood education and help to parents. She enjoys her family, including her children Cameron and Luca, reading, art, traveling and staying active in her community. |
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![]() Tri joined Carolinas HealthCare System in 2005 and serves as Assistant Vice President in Administration at CHS NorthEast. He is very involved in local hospital planning and community partnerships, and oversees multiple departments including behavioral health, wound care, bariatric surgery, language services, spiritual care and guest services. Prior to CHS, Tri was Director of Operations with SouthEast Pain Care, and served as an Army Combat Medic. Tri received his Master’s in HealthCare Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. In his spare time, he is an adjunct for Southern New Hampshire University and enjoys time with his wife Jennifer and three little girls; Lily, Annie, and Kayla. |
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