QGNV/FCDC/LP
Black History Community Celebration and Gala
Date: Sat, Feb 24 • 6:30 PM EST
Location: 575 Warren Street, Boston, MA 02121
Eventbrite Tickets
[email protected]
617.828.4784 (Office)
Black History Celebration - Honorees
Rosanna Contreras-Godfrey, Ph.D.
received her doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration from Boston College. Her dissertation titled: “Giving Voice to Black and Latino Males: First -Year Students’ Perceptions of the Relative Impact of Family Support and College Aspirations Factors on their Decisions to Enroll and Actual College Enrollment” gave voice to those who supported the college going decision of the study’s participants. In addition, to this research, Contreras-Godfrey has worked for more than 20 years to provide access and opportunity to students from low-income, first-generation backgrounds and students of color by assisting them in preparing and graduating from post-secondary institutions and transitioning to post-graduate programs. Rossanna is a first-generation college student who immigrated to the U.S. at a young age. She completed her master’s degree in administration and policy studies in higher education from Boston University and bachelor’s degree from Boston College.
She is the Assistant Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Middlesex Community College where she works on numerous initiatives to make post-secondary education accessible to all. Previously, she was the Director of the Learning to Learn office at Boston College. The office centers on the needs of First-Generation College students in addition to managing two federally funded programs (Student Support Services and the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program). Rossanna also held the Associate Director position for the McNair program and created key foundational components that have served the program well. She was the former director for the UMASS Boston GEAR UP and the North Shore Community College Upward Bound programs.
Vonnessa P. Goode-Knight
Raised in the neighborhoods of Dorchester, specifically the Dudley Street and Uphams Corner area, and receiving her primary education in a suburb of Massachusetts through the METCO, Inc program, Vonnessa witnessed first-hand the economic, educational, and social disparities between the two communities. As a result, she made it her personal and professional life commitment to be an active partner of the neighborhoods of Boston that have historically been marginalized while striving to be an effective and inclusive leader. She believes an essential element of being a good leader is being a great listener.~ Listening to understand and not to respond.
Both as a professional and volunteer, Vonnessa has over 20 years experience working within the non- profit sector and just under 10 years in Public Health. Of the thirty plus years, she has been in management for more than twenty years including serving as the Deputy Director and Executive Director of the Action for Boston Community Development, Inc.’s Dorchester Neighborhood Service Center and South End Neighborhood Action Program, respectively. In addition to working on the frontlines of direct service, coordinating and directing programs, managing departments, and leading community-based organizations, Vonnessa has spent the last eight years working for the Commonwealth at the Massachusetts of Public Health. Throughout most of her career, she has concentrated her efforts on building relationships and community partnerships, strategic planning,as well as program and youth development. Vonnessa is mission-driven, community-minded and committed to serving and partnering with families, and the residents of our Boston neighborhoods. Over the years, Vonnessa has worked at several prominent and historical organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity, Inc. (METCO, Inc.), Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD, Inc.) and the Freedom House, Inc., to name a few. She has also valued the importance of public service volunteering for programs and organizations like Belfour Academy, Mary McLeod Bethune Institute, Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., Pine Street Inn, American Heart Association, and Edward W. Brooke Charter School, and Boston Latin School. Vonnessa has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Northeastern University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Organizational Leadership from Simmons College School of Management. During her free time, Vonnessa enjoys spending time with family and friends, exercising, reading, watching movies with her children, travelling and coordinating special events.
Norm Stembridge
Independent Consultant (Retired)
Technology & Operations
Norm is a lifelong resident of the city of Boston. Growing up in the Roxbury neighborhood, he now resides in Dorchester. He is a graduate of the Boston Public Schools having graduated from The English High School.
Norm eventually enrolled in, at the time Norfolk State College, now Norfolk State University (NSU). Norfolk State is a Historically Black College and University in Norfolk, VA.
Norm graduated from Norfolk State with a B.A. in Economics. He enjoyed his time at NSU very much and has fond memories of his college years. Norm remains in touch with his classmates and friends from NSU.
Norm began a career in technology at the then First National Bank of Boston. Also known as Bank of Boston and later as BankBoston. The environment consisted of managing and operating large computers in large computer rooms. Norm keeps up with mainframe and other technologies and has done presentations on the subject matter.
During the early to mid-2000s Norm was part of mergers with Fleet Bank and eventually Bank of America. After many enjoyable years working in banking and technology, Norm retired from Bank of America in December of 2016. Currently Norm is the Secretary of the Zoning Board of Appeal for the City of Boston.
For the last twenty years Norm has volunteered to work with the Roxbury neighborhood and the City of Boston. In the mid-2000s the neighborhood and the city came up with the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan. This was and is a plan to promote positive economic development in the neighborhood. The plan has focused on reclaiming large, long abandoned parcels of land from the days of urban renewal, displacement, and abandoned highway construction policies. The policies that created these conditions began in the 1940s. The physical damage was done to Roxbury in the 1960s.
In 2004 Norm was selected by former Mayor Thomas M. Menino to sit on the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee. As of today, he still serves as Co-Chair of the committee. From then until now the committee and the city have overseen the commitment of approximately $520M in development dollars in the
Roxbury neighborhood. There is also more development on the board.
In 2019 Norm joined the Boston Network Users Group (BNUG). In late 2020 Norm began working with the group’s President, Adam Frost. Norm, Adam, and others from Move up Global (MUG) have worked to teach teachers in the Musanze District of, Rwanda computer skills. Norm has enjoyed this experience very much. He looks forward to when the teachers can teach these skills to their students. Norm is also a member of MUG’s Board of Directors.
Cindy Diggs
Cindy Diggs, Founder of UMMF & Peace Boston (1995 and 2005 respectively)In 1995, the genre of Hip Hop music was still relatively young and centered almost entirely around its birthplace of New York City with a growing presence in Los Angeles. Just under 200miles to the north of New York, Boston, Massachusetts was heavily influenced by the music scene in the nation’s largest city. Although Boston had no commercial radio station with a rap format, the sounds on the streets of inner-city enclaves like Roxbury and Mattapan vibrated with the same beats that drowned out the clubs and airwaves in Brooklyn and The Bronx.
Not surprisingly, young, aspiring rappers in Boston sought out their own careers but generally lacked the cohesiveness of their counterparts in New York and Los Angeles. More often than not, local emcees found themselves challenging each other with far too often violent culminations. It was during this time that the U.M.M.F. (an acronym for Us Making Moves Forever) organization was born in the mind and heart of its founder Cindy Diggs.
Cindy Diggs, a peace-driven visionary who grew up in Roxbury, created the family-like alliance to educate its broad membership on the business of music. She pioneered innovative music conferences dubbed “Can We Talk 2U?” which afforded first-hand advice via panels that featured iconic hip hop veterans such as the late Jam Master Jay of the legendary group Run DMC and Wendy Day, Founder of the Rap Coalition. Cindy’s vision for U.M.M.F. served other purposes both by design and need. The organization acted as an umbrella for many who sought guidance as well as those who were prone to violent confrontation in the city’s gang-infested ghettos.
By 2000, Cindy’s focus was directed to creating the Hip Hop 4 Health campaign which encouraged inner-city youth to utilize Boston’s school health centers. That groundbreaking project won the American Public Health Association Award, a high honor in the Health Industry. Cindy Diggs even took her political voice to Washington, D.C. when she organized the Hip Hop bus to the historic Million Family March in October 2005.
Following the trip to the nation’s capital, in December 2005, Cindy initiated the Start Peace tee shirt to promote the work of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute which offers a beacon of hope fort hose who suffer from the loss of loved ones to homicide. The tee shirt’s concept became the foundation for Peace Boston. This collective of youth, youth workers, and the Hip Hop community worked tirelessly to organize events such as basketball tournaments, fashion shows, dances, and even a highly acclaimed play called “Hip Hop 9.1.1.” which was based on Cindy’s life work. Peace Boston events were financed by fundraisers that Cindy, herself, planned and produced and offered an alternative to violence for countless young people in the city’s most blighted communities.
The Peace Collaborative, a city-wide expansion of Peace Boston founded by Cindy Diggs and the Zulu Nation’s Queen Vivian, was created in September 2013. Twenty-two peace, youth, and faith-based organizations aligned with the Peace Collaborative to furnish a calendar of events across Boston which serves as an alternative to the city’s violent streets.
March 2015 marked the twenty-year anniversary of U.M.M.F. and the event was commemorated by a highly anticipated reunion gala. Cindy Diggs and co-founders of the organization were acknowledged, and photos and videos chronicled the two decades since Boston’s first hip hop collective was born. Cindy Diggs has unselfishly dedicated her life to saving the lives of others through her work and is affectionately called ‘Mother Hip Hop’ by those who know and love her. She has received praise from top politicians in her home city and state and accolades from a community that loves her. Cindy Diggs personifies the terms peace, love and unity and embodies the dreams of civil rights leaders who came before her.
Kimberly Cornner
Kimberly Cornner is the founder and CEO of Kimmie Stylz Hair Products. Her products are designed to detangle, moisturize, and hydrate Loc’s and natural kinky curly hair for manageable, healthier, and stronger hair growth. Her social impact includes education on proper hair care to understanding how hair care positively impacts individuals’ self-esteem, confidence, health, community dynamics, and cultural understanding
Kimberly received her Associate degree in Applied Science from Jefferson State Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Walden University. She has also expanded her knowledge in Information technology as a Certified Security Plus Specialist.
Kimberly decided to create her own hair care product line to offer to all her clients. She came up with the name Kimmie Stylz, to reflect her childhood nickname and her passion as a natural hairstylist.
Kimberly began her career in Molecular Biology as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. After working five years in her career Kimberly began to feel she was not living her passion. After the birth of her second child, she made an extremely hard decision not to return to the laboratory and to “Step out on faith,” to pursue her entrepreneurial dream in the hair care industry, in no time, she grew a large clientele in the Birmingham area. She wanted to create products with ingredients that she knew worked well on natural hair. Creating a formula with no harsh ingredients that promotes hair growth and healthier scalp. The hair care line was created from the passion of wanting to help her clients achieve a healthy hair care regimen.
Kimmie Stylz is Certified WBE/ WOSB/ MWBE / CompTIA Security+, to expand her education for natural hair care, Kimberly studied at the J Jireh’s Natural Hairstyling School, the Western Micro Business Accelerator of Birmingham, and The University of Alabama. She is also a proud Alumni of Renaissance Roots program and Goldman Sachs inaugural One Million Black Women- Black in Business Program where she was chosen from an applicant pool of 2000 Black women entrepreneurs from across the United States. Kimmie Stylz brand and products have been featured on billboards in Alabama, recognized in I Push magazine as a Top Black Owner in the Business Directory, highlighted on WBRC Fox 6 news and ABC 33/40. Her products has been featured on Amazon, and in six (6) local beauty supply stores in Alabama as well as online @ Kimmiestylz.com
As a first-generation entrepreneur and CEO, Kimberly is a role model and mentor for aspiring stylists in the natural hair care industry helping them pursue their goals of entrepreneurship.
Cherose Walker
Cherose Walker is a dedicated educational leader, currently serving as the Principal at Bridge Boston Charter School in Roxbury, MA. With a steadfast commitment to fostering academic excellence and cultivating a positive school culture, Cherose plays a pivotal role in shaping the educational experience of students and staff alike.
Cherose’s academic journey is characterized by a passion for both educational theory and practical application. She holds a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree in Prevention Science and Practice from Harvard University, where she gained valuable insights into implementing evidence-based strategies to support student well-being and success.
Complementing her expertise in education, Cherose also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a Marketing Concentration from Suffolk University in Boston. This interdisciplinary background equips her with a strategic mindset and leadership skills to effectively manage the multifaceted aspects of school administration.
Furthermore, Cherose holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Economics and African-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her commitment to addressing systemic inequities and promoting cultural understanding within educational settings is deeply rooted in her academic pursuits and personal values.
Outside of her role at Bridge Boston Charter School, Cherose is actively involved in community service and advocacy. She currently serves as a Board Member at the Pathway Initiative a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underrepresented and underserved youth of color pursuing careers in the medical field. Through her involvement with the Pathway Initiative Cherose is committed to breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for future generations of diverse medical professionals.
With her unwavering dedication to educational excellence, equity, and community service, Cherose Walker continues to make a meaningful impact on the lives of students and communities, inspiring positive change and empowerment for all.
