Todd Jenkins
Board Member - (Chair)
Todd is a New Jersey native born in Atlantic City. Todd’s professional career includes working on Wall Street and in higher education. Todd currently serves as an international adjunct professor at New Jersey City University where he lectures in China on global business and finance topics. Additionally, he mentors youth and adults on a broad range of topics, helping them grow spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and professionally. In the financial sector, Todd’s industry background consisted of domestic and international business advisory and consulting experience in the areas of banking & capital markets, regulatory compliance, risk management, information technology, audit, and operational controls. He has held senior roles with Citigroup, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In higher education, Todd is a faculty member and administrator with significant program and operational management experience running undergraduate, noncredit, and custom executive education programs. He has held senior roles with Year Up/Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York University, and Post University. Todd holds a BS in Finance from Seton Hall University, and an MPA in Public Finance from NYU Wagner. |
Jonathan Badgley
Board Member - (Clerk)
Economist at US Department of Transportation Jonathan Badgley is a transportation economist at the US Department of Transportation's Volpe Center focusing primarily on supporting FHWA, FAA, and NHTSA with regulatory analysis, program evaluation, and modeling and forecasting. Jonathan started post-secondary education at community college in Dayton, Ohio, and views that experience as formative in his understanding of the purpose and value of higher education. Jonathan has seen much of the US up close, and has traveled internationally to Canada, Ireland, and Haiti. Jonathan has BAs in philosophy and economics and an MA in Agricultural, Developmental, and Environmental economics from Ohio State University. |
James Ham
Board Member (Partnerships and Institutional Engagement Chair)
Director of the Office of International Affairs at North Carolina Central University James Ham, former Peace Corps Country Director in South Africa and Uganda, brings over 30 years of senior executive experience in the U.S. government. His leadership spans public health, education, enterprise development, and agriculture across Africa. With strategic oversight, he advances Peace Corps missions and shapes impactful programs at the CDC. Passionate about servant leadership, James's career embodies dedication and impact. He holds a Master of Arts in International Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Middle Grades Education. Fluent in French, James is an alumnus of prestigious leadership programs at Harvard University and American University, and currently pursues a PhD in Executive Leadership at the University of Charleston, West Virginia. |
Sharoya Ham
Board Member
International Parent Coach Sharoya Ham, M.Ed. is a passionate behavior change specialist, veteran teacher, and founder of Embrace Behavior Change, LLC. She has helped hundreds of overwhelmed parents learn how to parent with calm, consistency, and confidence. She specializes in working with families whose children face educational and behavioral challenges. She is also a licensed teacher with over 25 years of experience working with at-risk students and their families. Sharoya is a native of New Jersey, USA. Her husband works in the U.S. foreign service, so over the past fifteen years, she and her family have lived in six African countries. Sharoya has a Masters in Special Education with an Applied Behavior Analysis emphasis. She holds a New Jersey State Teacher Certification in Secondary Mathematics and a graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis. |
Pearson Owens
Board Member - (Funding Chair)
Senior Program Officer with the United States Department of Education Pearson Owens has a love for international travel and cultural exchanges. He served two years in the Peace Corps in Botswana and has traveled to over thirty countries. In the Peace Corps, he served as a NGO Capacity Builder working at a home-based care organization that assisted individuals living with the HIV/AIDS virus build sustainability. In this role, he helped the organization receive grant funding, developed financial tools to keep track of the organization’s financials, and developed tools to monitor the organization’s income-generated projects. Currently, he is employed with the United States Department of Education as a senior program officer overseeing institutional grants to colleges and universities. These grants are made to assist underserved undergraduate students persist and graduate from college. He holds a MBA from Clark Atlanta University and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina. |
Ben Stewart
Board Member - (Vice Chair)
Senior Academic Advisor at Kingsborough Community College Benjamin Stewart graduated from Truman State University in 2005. While completing his BA in Music he had his first experience abroad as a McNair Scholar completing a semester at Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan. It was here that he discovered his passion for cultural exchange. It was this experience that helped him understand the significance of gaining international exposure and the meaning of cross cultural understanding. Upon finishing his degree, Benjamin moved to New York City where he went on to obtain a MBA in International Business Management from Keller Graduate School of Business and is currently finishing his second masters in Ethnomusicology at Hunter College of the City University of New York. He currently works for the Kingsborough Community College as the Sr. Academic Advisor for second year students in STEM majors.
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Rev. Venida Rodman-Jenkins
Board Member
Director of the Speicher-Rubin Women’s Center for Equity and Diversity at New Jersey City University. Rev. Rodman-Jenkins educates, advocates, supports and empowers students addressing the range of diversity initiatives at NJCU. For the better part of her professional career, she has coordinated programs, conducted educational workshops, facilitated support groups, provided crisis intervention, and offered resources to survivors of gender-based violence. Venida is an ordained minister through the North Jersey Missionary Baptist Association and an adjunct professor at New York Theological Seminary teaching Pastoral Care & Counseling. Venida has earned a B.A. in Psychology from Syracuse University and a M.Div. from New York Theological Seminary. |
Christopher Toomer
Board Member
Senior Manager at CFGI, a highly specialized financial consulting firm. Chris is currently a dedicated board member of Community Board 16 and Neighborhood Advisory Board 16. For the last 6 years he has served as a member of the National Association for Black Accountants (NABA). Chris is also an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and has been a Kappa for 9 years. There he mentors and helps with the fraternity Guide Right/Kappa League program with the objective of guiding young Black high school men, teaching them life skills and the importance of college. As a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity, Inc. Chris also participates in community service throughout the city frequently. Chris graduated from Quinnipiac University and joined Ernst & Young. Chris later transitioned to work at CFGI, an international consulting firm based out of Boston, MA and is currently a Manager at his firm. He has traveled to over 15 different countries, including France, Japan, China, Italy, Ghana and Egypt. |
Marcus G. Vilme
Board Member - LFW Fellow (2018)
Founder and Professional Coach at A.M.P. Mentalities, LLC Marcus G. Vilme graduated from Lafayette College in 2017 with a B.A. in Anthropology & Sociology and minor in Chinese. During undergrad, he engaged in numerous leadership opportunities while being a Track and Field student-athlete. This ranged from being a member and later president of the Lafayette African and Caribbean Student Association to various social justice advocacy programs.
The influence of the Asian culture, in high school (Academy of the Pacific Rim) inspired him to indulge in the culture through traveling to Asia twice and incorporating Asian principles into his business A.M.P. Mentalities, LLC, which looks to connect the body, mind, and soul through the mediums of fitness coaching, nutritional guidance, and wellness coaching and consulting. With expansive knowledge on Asian culture and travel throughout his life, Marcus always looks forward to opportunities to shift other's mentalities and engage in conversation. |
Edward Saint-Vil
Board Member
Corporate Law | Private Investment Funds | Investment Management | Associate at Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C. Edward Saint-Vil is an Associate at Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C., specializing in corporate law, private investment funds, and investment management. With extensive experience at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Edward has reviewed contracts for mergers valued up to two billion dollars and researched caselaw for litigation preparation. He has drafted resolutions for Fortune 500 company mergers and prepared documentation for clients filing for 501(c)(3) status. Edward's passion for legal excellence is evident in his meticulous research and dedication to providing high-quality legal services.
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