City Year Columbia board
Local community and business leaders work together to advance our mission to ensure public schools are places where all 91¶¶Ňő can thrive.
Danielle Boysen is a Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at Truist Financial, bringing extensive expertise in portfolio management and commercial banking.
With a strong background in credit risk management, Danielle previously served as a Senior Portfolio Manager, Middle Market at Comerica. Her responsibilities included financial analysis and risk assessment within the commercial banking sector.
Before joining Comerica in 2022, she was with Bank of America for 24 years and held several positions within the Commercial Bank.
Danielle graduated from the Moore School of Business at University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Finance in 1998.
Active in the community, Danielle is currently serving on the Advisory Board of City Year Columbia, Member of Community Impact Committee at United Way of the Midlands, and the Vice Chair of Communications & Engagement on the Executive Council for Women in Philanthropy / Women United. Throughout her career, Danielle has served on various councils and committees including Southern Association of Financial Empowerment, Young Professional Society, Carolina Carillon Holiday Parade, Central Carolina Community Foundation, Lexington Medical Foundation, Communities in Schools and bank employee networks and volunteer activities. Danielle continues to be an active volunteer in her community with such organizations including Harvest Hope, Habitat Humanity, Senior Resources, Transitions, and Brennen Elementary.
Danielle is a proud wife and mother of eleven-year-old Anabelle, eight-year-old Bobby and the four-year-old dog Gus (our super active fur baby).
With over 30 years of automotive industry experience, Bill brings a unique blend of retail operations insight and strategic partnership expertise to his role as VP OEM Strategy and Partnerships at Tekion. His career spans 10 years in automotive retail and 20+ years developing data-driven partnerships with OEMs, focusing on technology solutions that enhance dealer network performance and elevate consumer experiences.
Before joining Tekion, Bill served as COO at GenZ EV Charging Solutions and VP of OEM Partnerships at Reynolds and Reynolds. His extensive automotive background includes leadership roles at industry-leading organizations such as R.L. Polk (S&P Global), Experian Automotive, Maritz Research, Ally Bank, and CallSource. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University.
Bill and his wife Dawn have been married for nearly 34 years after meeting through a fun twist of fate when she left her position at American Eagle and he was hired as her replacement. They have two sons: Matthew (24), a University of South Carolina graduate who leads stadium operations for the Savannah Bananas, and Luke (20), a rising senior at USC.
His community involvement history includes multiple board positions and coaching roles in baseball, football, and basketball organizations in Lake Orion, Michigan, culminating in his 2016 induction into the Orion Chargers Baseball Club Hall of Fame. A lifelong sports enthusiast supporting the Vikings, Tigers, and Michigan, Bill has a deep passion for the automotive world, classic cars, and delivering exceptional consumer experiences.
He actively serves his community as a board member for City Year Columbia SC, supporting AmeriCorps programs that help underserved K-9 91¶¶Ňő achieve significant improvements in reading and math proficiency. CYSC supports AmeriCorps programs in grades K through 9 in Columbia SC, providing children in less-than-ideal situations with the support they need to make it through school. They see a 2x increase in reading proficiency and 3x increase in math proficiency. City Year is in 29 cities today supporting over 350 schools in 51 districts.
At his core, Bill believes it's all about people — because that's how life begins, and ultimately, how it matters most.
Marc Brown, Esq. is a native so Sumter, South Carolina and is the managing attorney with the Marc Brown Law Firm, a personal injury law firm that serves clients throughout South Carolina and Georgia. Marc attended undergrad at the University of South Carolina, and then went on to attend Emory University School of Law, where he graduated with honors.
Marc’s mother worked as an elementary school teacher for more that 35 years. His mother’s passion to help enrich the lives of young children passed down to Marc, and he now devotes his time and efforts to help children across South Carolina. One of his key goals is to raise visibility and awareness of child abuse prevention in ways that can impact fundraising and advance policies to better protect children in South Carolina. In doing this, Marc also serves as a board member of Children’s Trust of South Carolina.
Marc is married to Dr. Kiera Brown and has a son, Emmanuel—a motivated young man who is attending the University of Texas, studying biomedical engineering. As a family, Marc, Kiera, and Emmanuel enjoy spending time in the gym, traveling, and trying new restaurants.
Patricia Davis Ford is retired from AT&T with over four decades of leadership and project management (PMP) experience. She previously served as AT&T South Carolina State Government Program/Project Manager. Also, she served as an adjunct professor (online & and on-campus), the Lead Faculty Area Chair for the School of Business Management at the University of Phoenix, and an adjunct professor at South University. She enjoys mentoring 91¶¶Ňő toward their educational goals and working with adults as they strive to continue their education and meet lifelong goals.
Patricia is a graduate of Benedict College. She holds a dual master’s degree in computer research information systems management and management from Webster University and an Education Specialist degree (EdS) from Northcentral University (Global Training & Development). She attained two national certifications in Project Management Professional (PMP) and International TEFL/TESOL (Teach English as second language). Also, she is a graduate of Leadership Columbia and United Way Blueprint for Leadership.
Patricia has served on various boards including Harvest Hope, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, SC Small Business, and volunteer activities. She actively participates in community services through organizations like Junior Achievement of Greater South Carolina, James R Clark Memorial Sickle Cell Foundation, Vince Ford Foundation, United Way Women in Philanthropy, and more. She is a member of Brookland Baptist Church. She is a Golden Life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and a life member of the NAACP. Also, she is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) International Honor Society in Education, and Project Management Institute (National and SC Midlands chapter). She received the Columbia Urban League Guild Tower Leadership Award, the National Council of Negro Women Living the Legacy Award, and several AT&T Pinnacle Awards.
Patricia was married to the late Henry “Vince” Vincent Ford for 42 years. They have one son, one daughter, and three grandchildren. Patricia is a believer in taking personal responsibility for continuing your education. She knows it does not take long for skills and knowledge to get outdated in a fast-changing world. Lifelong learning is how to remain healthy and competitive in the workplace. Her hobbies include reading, traveling, enjoying her family, and music. She believes that it is important to do good and share with others for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Dr. Damara Hightower Mitchell has held progressively responsible leadership roles in K-16 settings including teacher and administrator; Education Associate for Educator Preparation at the South Carolina State Department of Education; Assistant Professor and Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Accreditation at Claflin University; academic administrator in the Office of the Provost as the lead for the assessment of the SACSCOC Quality Enhancement Plan at the University of South Carolina-Columbia and its four regional campuses; and most recently as the Dean of Education, Health and Human Services and Associate Professor at her undergraduate alma mater, Benedict College.
A few highlights from her time as Dean include the restoration of National Recognition of the Elementary Education Program; Reaffirmation of CAEP/NCATE Accreditation, President of the South Carolina Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, Fulbright Hays Scholar in Cameroon and Ghana, Women of Distinction Honoree by the Kemetic Institute for Health and Human Development; and recipient of the Advocate for African American Students Award from the Center for the Education and Equity of African American Students for leading the transformation of the Benedict College educator preparation curriculum to leverage African Diaspora Literacy to bolster student success.
Having earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Education from Benedict College, a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Supervision-K-12 from the University of Southern Mississippi, a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of South Carolina; and studying education internationally as an ESL teacher in Holon, Israel, and as an International Perspectives in Higher Education Delegate in Dublin, Galway, and Limerick Ireland, Dr. Hightower Mitchell is clear her purpose is to help others create the lives they desire through education. Her scholarship and publications center on educational equity and access for underrepresented populations with an emphasis on first-generation 91¶¶Ňő, African Diaspora Literacy, and the intersectionality of being a mother and educator.
While grateful for the 360-degree view of education her career has afforded, Damara’s greatest joy is found in those moments spent simply as Damara Mitchell, Roger’s wife, and Drake’s “mom boss.”
Tommy Johnson is Vice President of Colliers International | South Carolina. He has been with Colliers since 2003 with a primary focus on office properties. His principal concentration is representing landlords of multi-tenant office buildings. He also consults with and represents clients requiring assistance with the buying, leasing and selling of office properties.
Tommy is a Lifetime Member of the Central Carolina REALTORS® Association’s Circle of Excellence recognition program. In 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014 he was recognized by Colliers | South Carolina for superior achievement in the office specialty group and received the 2011 Colliers | South Carolina Transaction of the Year Award. He has been recognized annually amongst the market’s brokerage community with the CoStar Power Broker Award for high transactional volume. In 2018, he became a shareholder of Colliers International in South Carolina. In 2018, he received the Colliers | South Carolina Production Award for being a Top 10 Producer.
Past involvements include his local neighborhood association and serving as the facilities committee chair for St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Columbia, SC. He is a past president for the Midlands Chapter of the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and graduated from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Columbia program in 2008. He is very inspired by people helping others enjoy success in life through service.
Tommy graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserves. During his educational career he accomplished higher education goals with the receipt of MBA and MEERM master degrees from the University of South Carolina.
Steve Jones is the Senior Vice President of Field & Market Development for Colonial Life in Columbia, SC. Steve has over 20 years of experience in the Health Insurance and Supplemental Benefits industry. Steve spent six years as the President of Cigna Supplemental Benefits in Austin, TX. Steve has also served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Aetna’s Senior Supplemental Insurance business in Brentwood, TN. Steve joined Colonial Life in 2023 and has responsibility for overseeing national support of Colonial Life’s sales force as well as distribution strategy and partnerships, employee enrollment support, and overall business planning and strategic market growth.
Steve earned his master’s degree in business administration from Wake Forest University in North Carolina and bachelor’s degree in managerial economics from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. Steve lives in Columbia, SC with his wife, Sarah, and their three children
Avril T. Lail, alumni representative and AmeriCorps member support, brings more than 20 years of experience working with children and 91¶¶Ňő of all ages in a variety of settings, including multiple locations and leadership roles within Boys & Girls Clubs of the Crescent Region. She is a Licensed Master Social Worker in South Carolina currently serving as practicum placement manager in the College of Social Work at the University of South Carolina. Avril joined USC in 2020 as a health care social worker in Student Health Services as part of a multi-disciplined and coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to case management experience, Avril is skilled in program development, data management, staff and volunteer coordination, accreditation procedures, communications, and grant writing and reporting.
Avril earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Columbia College and a master’s degree in social work from the University of South Carolina. Avril’s experiences as a corps member at John P. Thomas Elementary School and directing Camp City Year were what motivated her to pursue her social work degrees.
Bryanta “Bre” Booker-Maxwell was recently appointed to serve in the Biden-Harris Administration as an Advance Coordinator with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She is a former Senior Associate at Mosaic Communications, a digital communications, and media buying consulting firm based in Washington, DC. She has most recently been Principal and CEO of Indigo Consulting, an advocacy, consulting, and community relations firm. Bre was Political Director for Jaime Harrison’s U.S. Senate campaign and has worked for Majority Whip, Congressman James E. Clyburn. She is the Vice President of Political and Outreach for 46 Hope Rd, a local organization in South Carolina working to engage the disengaged and to help people of color become registered voters; is a Democratic National Committeewoman from South Carolina; and serves on the Board of Richland County Sheriff Office Citizen Advisory Committee. She is a graduate of Leadership Columbia and has been honored by Columbia Business Monthly as a “Best and Brightest 35 and under,” South Carolina Black Pages “Top 20 Under 40,” and 2016 South Carolina Democratic Party “Young Democrat of the Year.” Bre is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. Bre is a sought-after political commentator and regularly appears on various networks such as FOX News, MSNBC, Al Jazeera TV, the Former Black News Channel, and NewsMax. Committed to making change in South Carolina’s political process, Bre co-founded Taking Root, an organization focused on the political and educational enhancement of young girls in South Carolina. She also served on the Democratic National Committee Youth Council, fighting for the issues critical to young voters. Growing up in rural South Carolina, Bre learned from her mother the importance of voting in elections to create change in the community. That lesson stayed with her as she began her studies at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, SC. She led numerous voter registration drives within the community and participated in Student Government. Upon graduation, Bre went on to volunteer on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Bre holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a pre-law concentration from South Carolina State University and a Master of Public Administration from Walden University. She is widely known for her practical, commonsense approach to political strategy, issue advocacy, and civic engagement. As a southern girl with a competitive spirit, Bre has an unwavering commitment to creating positive change in the political process.
As director of media relations and video communications for Dominion Energy, Rhonda Maree O’Banion leads a team of communications professionals to provide award-winning media strategy and execution in South Carolina as well as first-class video services across the company’s footprint in support of its commitment to providing reliable, affordable and
increasingly clean energy that powers its customers every day. O’Banion’s communications career spans three decades. For the past 16 years, her strategic, collaborative leadership has been front and center in media relations for highly visible and often controversial issues in the electric and natural gas industry. This includes operational, regulatory, governmental and legal affairs; emergency and crisis events; environmental matters; customer service topics; philanthropy and community outreach; as well as other issues and initiatives that impact customers, communities, employees and other stakeholders.
She serves on Dominion Energy’s Community Investment Board and its Engagement and Inclusion Council. As a member of the company’s former Social Justice Review Committee, she worked with colleagues to review
grant applications that addressed the effect of systemic racism on African Americans. Additionally, her team played a key role in the communications for one of the largest single donations to a nonprofit in Dominion Energy’s history – $2.5 million to the International African American Museum, which opened in Charleston in 2023.
In addition to an early background in nonprofit public relations, O’Banion has worked as an adjunct instructor and is a past president of the International Association of Business Communicators, South Carolina Chapter. Throughout her career, she has received recognition for excellence in the energy industry and communications profession. She is a Leadership Energy Carolinas graduate and a member of the American Association of Blacks in Energy. She was honored during YWCA of Greater Charleston’s 2021 “What Women Bring” event and was among women recognized by 101.3 The Big DM, one of South Carolina’s top-rated radio stations, during Women’s History Month 2022. That same year, she was the first to be featured as an “African American
Employee on the Move” in the inaugural newsletter for Dominion Energy’s African American Resource Group Southeast Chapter.
A Lowcountry native, O’Banion grew up in Walterboro, South Carolina. She is a cum laude graduate of the University of South Carolina-Aiken where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and speech communication, and where one of her most memorable experiences was being selected to introduce Dr. Maya Angelou at a special event. She holds a master’s degree in mass communication from the University of South Carolina, home of the undefeated 2024 women’s basketball national champions.
Heather Singleton has worked with public and private nonprofit organizations for over 15 years. Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, she graduated with a political science degree from USC, in 2010 and has since called the Midlands home.
Heather has worked in public service and corporate sectors, with focuses on brand strategy, facilitation, and fund development. She is currently the Principal Consultant of Strategic Public Relations Consulting, a consultancy that supports businesses, nonprofits, and political organizations with internal and external communications needs.
Heather is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. She also serves as a board member of the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council and the Midlands chapter of the American Advertising Federation, a member of the Central Carolina Community Foundation Scholarship Committee, and volunteers with her church. Heather enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.
Michael Stover is a member of the SC Commercial, Appellate, Consumer, and Employment Litigation Team at Nelson Mullins. He focuses his practice in the areas of appellate practice and strategy, general business litigation, consumer financial services litigation, insurance coverage and bad faith litigation.
Michael served 1999-2017 with the United State Marine Corps Reserve, Logistics & Supply Chain Management. He led and managed logistics operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom as well as multinational exercises in Australia, Latvia, Morocco, Senegal, and Germany. He served as logistics chief and foreign military advisor for three deployments to the Republic of Georgia.
Jimmy Valentine is a Director of Product and Market Development at Colonial Life. In his current role, he works on the development and upkeep of Colonial Life Products by partnering with departments across the enterprise.
Prior to his current role, Jimmy was a Professional Development Program Associate with three rotations. His three rotations were Enrollment Strategy Manager at Colonial Life, Claims Supervisor at Starmount (Baton Rouge, LA), and Disability Benefits Specialist at Unum IDI (Worcester, MA).
Outside of work, due to growing up in Florida and attending the University of Florida, Jimmy is an avid Florida Gator basketball and football fan. He also likes to workout at the gym, read, spend time with his wife, play video games, and explore all the local restaurants wherever he is living.
Chris has been a member of the City Year advisory board since 2016, serving as the Ripples of Hope Gala chair in 2017 and 2018, spearheading the inaugural Red Jacket Society in 2017 while during the same year the Columbia site received the National Award for “Best of City Year”. She served as the advisory board chair from 2019 to 2020.
Chris recently retired from her executive role at the Central Electric Power Cooperative where she transformed over 2,000 MW of the energy portfolio through diversification and prioritizing a clean energy transition for the long-term future of the South Carolina Electric Cooperatives. Chris now leads RWC, an energy and leadership consulting firm that serves clients globally through strategic advisory and leadership support services. Her career background includes design engineering, construction and operation of Power Plants, utility resource planning, contracts and audit, mergers and acquisitions as well as pharmaceutical manufacturing and engineering. She holds degrees from Vanderbilt University in Civil Engineering and Economics while earning All-American honors as the captain of the Vanderbilt Women’s golf team and eventually going on to play on the LPGA tour and compete on the Golf Channel’s Big Break. Her career accolades include 2022 SC Women in Business Award, 2019 Columbia Regional Business Report’s Woman of Influence and the State’s 20 under 40. Chris splits time between Blythewood, SC and NYC with her husband, Jason and two Wolfe cubs.
