King Crush Thursday - The Interviews

Dr. Darren Lipscomb, Esq. is a community activist and the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at Community College of Philadelphia. He has over a decade of experience in education. The West Philadelphia native is also a product of the Philadelphia School District and an alumnus of Walter Biddle Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences.

Dr. Lipscomb has served as the Senior Vice President for Programming for the Philadelphia chapter of the nationally renowned Minds Matter college preparatory mentorship program and as past-Chairman for the Mayor's Commission on African American Males. He has also served as an intelligence analyst in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard during which he supported Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in Louisiana in 2005 and deployed to Iraq in 2009. He currently serves as a board member for the Philadelphia Parks Alliance and as Polemarch of the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Further, he is actively engaged with the Chapter's mentorship program for boys and young men in the Greater Philadelphia region.

Dr. Lipscomb holds a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership, Juris Doctor, Master's degree in Counselor Education and Bachelor's degree in Marketing.

See the video interview HERE.

Meet Philip Cunningham a visionary leader dedicated to the mission of Jamaa Health. With a passion for eliminating healthcare disparities and fostering equitable access to care, Philip co-founded Jamaa Health, the groundbreaking platform that is revolutionizing the healthcare landscape.

Driven by a deep commitment to helping as many people as possible, Philip spearheads the strategy, growth, and go-to-market initiatives at Jamaa Health. His expertise in blending corporate and non-profit experience empowers him to create a platform that connects patients with a vast network of black healthcare professionals, thereby building the largest database of its kind in the world.

Philip's remarkable career journey showcases his ability to take on challenging projects and build exceptional teams. As the principal and lead consultant at the Academy of Professional Engagement, he has honed his skills in driving team performance and facilitating transformative culture change. With his extensive experience as the Director of Consulting at Mayerson Academy, Philip established a department that delivered best-in-class adult learning experiences to diverse teams and organizations.

In addition to his invaluable contributions at Jamaa Health, Philip's strategic marketing consultancy background boasts impressive accomplishments. He has successfully led teams, launched products, and developed campaigns generating over $490M in revenue, collaborating with esteemed partners and clients such as Google, Microsoft, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Philip holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and a Master's of Business Administration in Finance and International Business, providing him with a strong foundation for driving Jamaa Health's success. Beyond his professional endeavors, he advocates for causes and organizations that support the community, exemplified by his support of an endowed scholarship at Lourdes University and his dedication to running a book club at the Marion Correctional Institute.

As a devoted father and husband, Philip's personal commitment to Jamaa Health stems from his belief that every individual deserves unbiased and qualified healthcare. Through his visionary leadership, Jamaa Health continues to make strides in eliminating healthcare disparities and ensuring that patients can find the care they need with trusted black physicians and healthcare providers.

See the video interview HERE

Dymiere Finch is a vibrant, young (28) executive hailing from Columbus, OH who holds several positions with the National Center for Urban Solutions (NCUS). Dymiere is the Executive Director over the state of Pennsylvania for NCUS, The African American Male Wellness Agency, and is also the Co-Coordinator for The Black Men’s Wellness Day. While overseeing these tasks, he is making changes in the black community throughout Pennsylvania.

See the Video Interview HERE

 Brent Johnstone: Fathers Read 365 (FR365)’s mission is to encourage fathers and/or caregivers to read daily with children in a variety of settings to develop literacy from birth. FR365 provides an early intervention method structured to increase the amount of books read and given away to preschoolers through kindergarten and create a culture of literacy. 

Since 2017, FR365 founders Brent Johnstone and Akeiff Staples have centered their work around four pillars: performing active readings and training parents to do the same at home; distributing free children’s books at events; encouraging family and community engagement; and producing original content to inform communities about the importance of literacy at a young age. Their efforts promote caregiver-child literacy activities, with an emphasis on fathers, as essential contributors to a child’s language, literacy, and cognitive development through holistic training that models active-reading strategies, provides caregivers the opportunity to practice and refine active-reading techniques, and provides families access to age-appropriate and culturally relevant reading materials. 

FathersRead365 was cofounded by Akeiff Staples and Brent Johnstone in 2017 after their history of work with youth in juvenile detention centers, social services, and schools illuminated a striking inability to function at grade level for reading and literacy. Having first met while attending Temple University and playing football, they decided to join forces in 2017 to focus their efforts at the earliest stages of child development (birth to 5 years old) and create a movement promoting the importance of reading to children daily. This video gives you a taste of what a reading experience is like when 

For the past five years, FathersRead365 has read to over 7,000 children in Philadelphia across over 300 classrooms, and distributed over 60,000 books.

See the Interview Video HERE

Nhlanhla Mavundla @nhlanhla_mav A young man from South Africa. Studied Psychology and is currently  working in South Korea. “I am passionate about issues of black consciousness and making a difference in others lives.”

See the Video Interview HERE

 Wayne Barnett- Head, External Affairs, Cordia 

Mr. Barnett is responsible for development and supporting Cordia’s thermal district and distributed energy Infrastructure businesses across North America and advancing the company’s interests. He leads initiatives that build and execute brand awareness, strengthen marketing and communications, raise corporate visibility, foster strategic partnerships, and expand relationships with policy makers, energy infrastructure industry leaders, and other influencers and stakeholders.

Mr. Barnett has over 23 years of experience in the energy infrastructure and finance sectors including taxable and tax-exempt capital markets, public finance banking, integrated facility management (IFM),

demand side energy efficiency, thermal district, combined heat & power (CHP), Microgrid and distributed energy. Most recently, Mr. Barnett had similar responsibilities for developing and implementing the business development strategy for Facility Management and Energy Services in Aramark’s Higher Education division and Constellation, An Exelon Company’s Energy Service Company (ESCO) business in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, with an emphasis on Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Mr. Barnett’s previous experience includes A Vice President for NW Financial Group within their financial advisory and underwriting business where he worked on refunding and new money issuance of approximately $1.2 billion of taxable and tax-exempt bonds for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. An Institutional Fixed-Income Sales Associate with Wells Fargo & Company’s Institutional Brokerage and Corporate Trust divisions with sales coverage responsibility for middle-market corporations and government clients including, state, local municipalities and authorities. Fixed-Income trader for SunTrust Bank Corporation where he was a member of a trading team with responsibility for trading in excess $20 billion of US Government, Municipal, Mortgage-Backed Securities, Government Agency, Money Market, and Corporate bonds. Wayne began his career as an Analyst in the global funding group with Bank of America Corporation. As an analyst, he provided analytical support in managing balance sheet liquidity and distribution of the bank’s own debt instruments to middle market corporations, money managers, and government clients in furtherance of the organization’s funding needs.

See the Video Interview HERE

 Christopher Fulton is a 26-year-old software engineer working at Google. He was born in Philadelphia. He spends a lot of time wondering how the universe and world function. He loves to skateboard, play video games, and watch movies. Recently, he has taken up playing the bass guitar as well.

See the Video Interview HERE

Robert Vincent Fuller, Sr_ 1971 graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School. Member of National Honor Society. Attended Shippensburg State College from 1971-1973. Answered call to ministry at 16 years of age while attending Zoar United Methodist Church under the Pastorate of Rev Joshua E. Licorish. Studied Basic Biblical at Phila College of Bible & Evangelistic Teacher Training at Deliverance Bible Institute. Ordained to Ministry in 1983 serving in Pastoral capacity in various churches in Philadelphia. Worked in Banking/Financial services at Corestates/PNB, Mellon Bank; & America Heritage FCU. Hobbies include fitness-weight training, playing drums, listening to music, and traveling.

WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE

AKEIFF STAPLES  is married to Anika Thompson-Staples, with whom they have 3 children (Jalen, Brice, Daley). Born and raised in South Media, Pennsylvania, Akeiff is an entrepreneur by trade. Akeiff received a bachelor's degree from Temple University in Geography & Urban Studies and brings to the table nearly two decades of social work experience engaging a wide variety of at-risk youth throughout Pennsylvania, and the state of Connecticut. Akeiff is the author of two children’s books, and has helped build over 25,000 home personal libraries in poverty-stricken areas, providing over 200,000 literacy resources to date. Growing up in a single parent household most of his life, Akeiff vowed to do whatever it took to keep his own family together - and as a result, wants the same for others in the World. Through the years, he has volunteered his time in the community speaking at nonprofits, churches, working events for Special Olympics, coaching youth athletics, and creating programs that foster personal and professional development. Akeiff is very passionate about providing individuals and families with tools in their lives to operate effectively as a unit. Akeiff has received the National Black MBA Association: Small Business of the Year Award (2012), Greater Philadelphia Innovation Award for Parent Engagement from Social Innovations Journal (2019), has been inducted into the Media Area NAACP Spirit Hall Of Fame (2023), received the Gerald Wright Fatherhood Award presented by Father's Day Rally Committee, and also selected as a KYW Newsradio GameChanger (2023).

WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE

Dr. Reynaldo Anderson currently serves as the Graduate Director and Associate Professor of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Reynaldo is currently the Executive Director and co-founder of the Black Speculative Arts Movement (BSAM), an international network of artists, intellectuals, creatives, and activists.  He is also a founding member of A.R.T. 2063, (Africans Rising Together).  He is the co-editor of the following anthologies and journals, Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro-Blackness and The Black Speculative Arts Movement: Black Futurity, Art+Design (Lexington Books, 2015, 2019), Cosmic Underground: A Grimoire of Black Speculative Discontent (Cedar Grove Publishing, 2018), Black Lives, Black Politics, Black Futures, a special issue of TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies (2018), and When is Wakanda: Afrofuturism and Dark Speculative Futurity (The Journal of Futures Studies, 2019). He is also the author of numerous articles on Africana Studies and Communication studies and helped conceive the joint BSAM and NY LIVE Arts Curating the End of the World online exhibitions (2020-2021). Reynaldo is currently a member of the curatorial council for Carnegie Hall’s Afrofuturism festival in 2022.He has presented papers in areas of communications, Africana studies, Afrofuturism, and critical theory in the US and abroad.

WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE