Our Board of Directors:

REV. WILLARD BASS, JR.

Willard is Director/Organizer of one of Crossroads’ regional organizing partners, the Institute for Dismantling Racism (IDR) in Winston-Salem NC, and is also a Crossroads Organizer/Trainer Apprentice. He is Assistant Pastor of Outreach, Green Street United Methodist Church. Willard is engaged in a broad range of civic and church activities focused on building and enhancing community and dismantling racism. He and Shirley Lewis Bass, his wife of more than 33 years, have three children.

JYAPHIA CHRISTOS-RODGERS

Jyaphia lives in New Orleans and has worked 20+ years with community-based programs, including co-founding the Center for Ethical Living & Social Justice Renewal (CELSJR, a Unitarian Universalist-based nonprofit that runs the Post-Katrina Rebirth Volunteer Center); and with the Food Justice Movement. As an antiracism Organizer/Trainer, Jyaphia works with Crossroads and groups in the UUA, and belongs to European Dissent, a collective of antiracist white people associated with People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond.

DERRICK C. DAWSON

Derrick is a member of the AntiRacism Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, and served as its Co-Chair for three years. He is the Training Manager at the Chicago law firm of Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg in Chicago, and is a graduate student and teaching assistant in English Composition at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Derrick was also a broadcaster and journalist in the United States Navy, where he served for eight years on ships in Asia and the Pacific.

THE REV. DR. WILLIAM J. GARDINER

In addition to serving on Crossroads’ Board, Bill is an antiracism consultant in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Bill was the UUA’s Director for Antiracism and Social Justice Empowerment Programs in the Department for Faith in Action in Boston from 1990 through 2004. Prior to that, Bill served as a parish minister in Washington DC, Nashville TN and Philadelphia PA.

THE REV. LEDLIE LAUGHLIN

Ledlie is an Episcopal priest currently serving as Rector of St. Peter’s church in Philadelphia. He has been committed to the work of racial justice and involved in community organizing throughout his urban ministry in Jersey City and Paterson NJ, Washington DC and Norwalk CT. Ledlie co-chairs the Diocesan Antiracism Team charged with dismantling institutional racism within the Diocese of Pennsylvania, is a member of the Standing Committee (the governing board of his diocese), and serves as a chaplain at Graterford Maximum Security Prison.

REV. DR. B. JO ANN MUNDY

Jo Ann is an organizer, facilitator and board member at ERAC/Ce (Eliminating Racism and Claiming/ Celebrating Equality) in Kalamazoo MI, a regional organizing partner. A founder and mentor of the NIA Project, she encourages celebration of identity, purpose and sisterhood in adolescent women of color. She is solo pastor of First Baptist Church, Three Rivers; on the board of World Fare (fair trade store); and a founding member of the Three Rivers Area Faith Community where she completed her doctoral thesis: Sacred Action to Claim an Anti-Racist Identity in the Faith Community of Three Rivers MI.

IVÁN PÉREZ

Born in Puerto Rico, I was raised and reside in Chicago. I am the proud husband of Victoria Alvarez (a civil engineer from Colombia) and father of Nicolás. I am co-chair, organizer and trainer for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Metropolitan Chicago Synod Antiracism Team. I have gained insight into social responsibility, justice and creativity and seek to positively impact the evolution of our society and of our hopeful witness to the world. I am a project analyst in the financial services industry. I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture from the Harrington College of Design and a Master of Management from North Park University.

JANIS A. PRYOR

Janis has worked in politics and media for over 30 years. She is a member of the Trinity-Boston Antiracism Team. Prior to producing and hosting Commonwealth Journal (a syndicated public affairs program from WUMB-FM public radio at UMass-Boston) she worked at Boston’s three affiliate television stations as a producer and Editorial Director. She received an Emmy nomination for a composite entry that included the first on-location editorials in the broadcast area. In 1984 Janis produced an award-winning series of three one-hour documentaries on Jesse Jackson as presidential candidate and political leader. She currently sits on the board of The John E. Mack Institute.

CARMEN L. VALENZUELA

Carmen is a coordinator of the Minnesota Collaborative AntiRacism Initiative (MCARI), a long-time regional partner with Crossroads. Born and raised in Arizona, she lived in Minneapolis for over 25 years and recently returned home. Carmen has a variety of management and training experience in both corporate and nonprofit sectors. Active in MCARI since its inception in 1993, she has a long history of activism in ecumenical church and community organizations that have worked to cross the boundaries of gender, class and race. She is a 1995 graduate of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in New Brighton MN.