CoChairs
Fran Frazier & Dr. Frederic Bertley
"our girls are mostly traumatized by the issues that are going on in their homes, in their communities, as well as in their schools"
Fran Fraizer
The Commission was chartered to first participate in fact-finding and education to learn more about the current quality of life for Black girls in Columbus and Central Ohio. As such, the role of the Commission during its first year was to understand and reflect on information shared by subject matter experts, key community stakeholders, and Black girls themselves, while at this time not significantly adding to or synthesizing the data. The Commission’s initial conclusions and insights based on what was learned in Year 1 are detailed in his report, along with recommendations to guide the pending Year 2 of the Commission’s work.
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The Commission currently consists of the following community leaders from various disciplines who came together to assess factors that impact the quality of life (QOL) for Black girls in Columbus and Central Ohio:
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Dr. Frederic Bertley, Center of Science and Industry (COSI), Commission Co-Chair
Fran Frazier, Rise Sister Rise, Commission Co-Chair
Reverend Timothy Ahrens, First Congressional Church
Sergeant Lindsey Alli, Columbus Division of Police
Linda Brown, The Links Incorporated, Columbus Chapter
Crystal Causey, Coalition of 100 Black Women
Clyemnestra Clarke, First Church of God
LaShanda Coleman, National Pan-Hellenic Council of Columbus
Michael Corey, Human Service Chamber of Franklin County
Lisa Courtice, PhD., United Way of Central Ohio
Mary Cusick, Founding member, formerly represented The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio
Kevin Dixon, Ph.D., Franklin County ADAMH Board
Honorable Elizabeth Gill, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Division, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas
Alesia Gillison, Columbus City Schools
Tom Grote, Grote & Turner
Mia Hairston, Nationwide Mutual Insurance
Kim Hooper, Walmart
LC Johnson, YWCA
DeShauna Lee, J.D., Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Jennifer Peterson, Easton, Steiner + Associates
Mysheika Roberts, M.D., Columbus Public Health
Toshia Safford, The Center for Healthy Families
Wendy Smooth, Ph.D., The Ohio State University
Charles Spinning, Franklin County Children Services
Ben Tyson, Founding member formerly of Easton, Steiner + Associates
Paiden Williams, Rise Sister Rise, Black Girls Think Tank
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Meetings of the Commission were held monthly for the first six months spanning August 2018 through January 2019, and then on a quarterly basis through Summer 2019. This report summarizes the Year 1 processes, recommendations, and proposed Year 2 actions developed by the Commission to help ensure successful futures and the attainment of a high quality of life for Black girls in Columbus and Central Ohio.