Board Members

  • Barbara Bullard

    President and CEO
    Employer: Managing Member, B-Bullard LLC

  • Carlyle Leach

    Chairman
    Employer: Haxy Ventures

  • Shirley Foster

    Board Member
    (Relative/Namesake of Shirley Chisholm)
    Employer: Memorial Sloan Kettering

  • Angela Yee

    Board Member
    Employer: Celebrity Host, iHeart Media, Inc.

  • Cheryl Davis

    Board Member
    Employer: General Counsel, The Authors Guild

  • Miko Branch

    Board Member
    Employer: Co-Founder, Miss Jessies, LLC

  • Shaireen Rasheed, PhD

    Board Member
    Employer: Professor, Long Island University, New York

  • Photo of Paul Beckles

    Paul Beckles

    Board Member

    Employer: Head of Marketing, Nike Inc.

  • Beverly Jones-Lawrence

    Honorary Board Member

  • William R. Howard

    Honorary Board Member

  • William E. Howard

    Honorary Board Member

More about us…

  • Barbara Bullard is a creative entrepreneur, publicist, writer, producer, and keynote speaker who develops programming including Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) initiatives at the United Nations to multi-media campaigns. This commitment to inspire through storytelling manifests through her offerings to solidify the legacies of social revolutionaries. As the author, with quotes from renowned global luminaries, "RE LEASE + BE COME", a book written by Barbara seeks to restore the integrity of the human spirit through art, words, and resources for healing emotional wounds. Barbara was invited to speak at The Library of Congress, as an entrepreneur and President of the Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute on behalf of the legacy of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first woman and African American to seek nomination for President of the United States of America. She also produced the historic visit of the Congressional Black Caucus to Brooklyn in tribute to Shirley Chisholm. Barbara, a Salzburg Fellow, will be participating in Salzberg, Austria on Civic and Civil Education: Identity, Belonging and Education in the 21st Century.

  • Carlyle Leach has created and assumed leadership positions in his businesses, as an educator, and during his service at the city, state, and federal levels of government. His career and personal life have been devoted to the achievement of social, political, and economic justice for all people.

  • Named after Shirley Chisholm, Shirley Foster's father and Shirley Chisholm's mother were siblings. Shirley Foster was born in Barbados but emigrated to the United States. Shirley Foster has worked for Memorial Sloan Kettering for over 23 years and serves as a Senior Administrator.

  • Award-winning media personality Angela Yee currently hosts her own nationally syndicated iHeartMedia radio show “Way Up with Angela Yee” as well as her highly rated relationship and sex podcast “Lip Service.” On “Way Up,” she gives the impactful celebrity interviews that she’s known for in addition to connecting with listeners on hot and timely topics. “I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement to have this once in a lifetime opportunity to create a brand-new show,” says Angela. “I’m dedicated to making the new program exciting, thoughtful, provocative, and most importantly, a safe haven for even more of us to grow and learn while having fun.” The new radio endeavor arrives on the heels of Yee’s 12-year run as co-host on Power 105.1’s wildly popular morning show “The Breakfast Club,” for which the trio was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2020. Read more…

  • Cheryl Davis is a practicing attorney in Manhattan and is the General Counsel of the Authors Guild. She is the Vice President of Theater Resources Unlimited, a producers’ networking organization, and is the outside Counsel for the League of Professional Theater Women. She is an award winning playwright and TV writer, and is a freelance writer for Law and Order: SVU.

  • Miko Branch is the Co-Founder and CEO of Miss Jessie's, the Award Winning Hair Care Brand. She is also a Pioneer, National Best-Selling Author, Philanthropist, Proud Mother & Sister to Titi Branch. Miko and her Co-Founder and sister Titi, revolutionized the hair care industry by being the first to develop original and groundbreaking hair products designed to enhance and enrich every type of textured curly hair for people of every ethnic background. They named their brand after their fiercely independent grandmother – Miss Jessie.

  • Shaireen is a professor of Philosophy, Education and Diversity/Social Justice at Long Island University in New York.

    She is the award recipient of 3 Fulbrights to Austria, Jordan and Pakistan where she conducted research on issues of race, pedagogy and migration as it affects students and displaced communities.

    She was a Salzburg Global fellow and as part of her work is working on democracy, youth and civic engagement.

    She has been a visiting professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany from 2020-2023 as well as a visiting professor at the University of Salzburg, University of Lisbon, Harvard Divinity School, New York University and the Columbia Law School.

    She has published and lectured extensively on issues related to race, gender/sexuality, Islamophobia, liberalism, colonialism, right wing populism and democracy, critical race theory, and all aspects of creating inclusive pedagogies in the classroom.

    She co-authored a special issue in the Studies in Philosophy and Education Journal, “Deconstructing Privilege in the Classroom: Teaching as a Racialized Activity.”

    She has a published book titled, An Existentialist Curriculum of Action: Creating a Language of Freedom and Possibility.” exploring the role of the arts and aesthetic education as an existentialist pedagogy.

    She also serves as an educational consultant to educators, school district activists and researchers to develop professional development programs to create inclusive pedagogies and best practices for diverse students.

    She has served on the board of the Nassau County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) working on issues of discrimination related to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education.

    She received her M. Phil and PhD at Columbia University in Philosophy and her Masters degree in Philosophy from The New School. She has a Bachelor in Philosophy (Honors) from SUNY Stony Brook.

  • Hailing from St George, Barbados, Paul Beckles is an award-winning executive in the sports and entertainment industry.

    His proven success in brand strategy and marketing innovation, coupled with his passion for sport has established Paul as a driving force in successfully creating and driving marketing strategies for high-profile athletes and brands in North America and across the globe.

    Currently he heads up the marketing team responsible for strategy, planning and execution of brand initiatives in New York City at Nike Inc. He has held various other roles during his time at Nike such as leading marketing for signature athlete brands such as Ja Morant, Devin Booker, KevinDurant, and others, lead league marketing for the NBA/WNBA Partnerships, and Converse Basketball marketing globally.

    His purpose is to use the power of sport to help make the world a better place and is committed to having a positive impact on the culture and communities that are the driving force behind these industries.

  • Beverly Jones-Lawrence served as an active member of the Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute for decades. Her Aunt Margarite Johnson a close friend of Shirley Chisholm and the first President of the Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute for many years recruited Ms. Lawrence to the organization. Aunt Margarite would always say, "Do not join any organization because of your friends, always join for the cause".

  • At the young age of 23, the legendary political figure Wesley McD. Holder asked William (Bill) R. Howard (1943 – 2018) to be the Finance Chair for the Shirley Chisholm congressional campaign. William became a party to history when Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress breaking a color and gender barrier, which subsequently lead to him working on Shirley Chisholm’s groundbreaking presidential campaign. William always maintained that his personal relationship with Shirley Chisholm opened many doors. This relationship allowed him to meet Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, and the entire US Supreme Court, and in his own words “anybody who was anybody in Washington, DC.”

  • William E. Howard (1968 – 2020), son of William (Bill) R. Howard, Finance Chair and Longtime Friend of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, served as Construction Executive for Turner Construction. In his spare time, he sponsored the Project Win Summer Basketball Tournament and many community projects. He was about Brooklyn. Godson to the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, William continued the legacies that have came before him.

    Artist Credit: KEEBS Laurent she/her