10 Community Leaders To Watch In 2010

Posted on 30. Dec, 2009 by admin in Community Focus

This year, we saw the difference figures on the national level could make, but what about local change agents? As we enter the new year, the Citizen found it fitting to start off 2010 highlighting community leaders, noting the accomplishments of some of the town’s up and coming heroes, both sung and unsung, who through their words and works, offer a message for hope, healing and prosperity. Some of them, you’ve heard of others are working behind the scenes but all of them are newswor thy. Shaking things up in their respective fields, from business, to law, to medicine, ar t, science and other fields, here’s who’s making news in your community. Pictured from left to right: Krystal McAllister, president and owner of Achilles Shield – The Heel Shield, Inc.; Mary K. Palmore MD, F.A.C.O.G, board cer tified physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Chairwomen of the OB/Gyne Depar tment at Advocate Trinity Hospital; Clifton Henri, freelance ar t director and photographer; LeRoy S. Weathersby, college student at the University of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana; Carolyn Griffin-Palmer, administrator and board member for the QBG Scholarship Foundation; Presbyter William Hudson, III, M. Div, pastor and founder of Prayer & Faith Outreach Ministries Deliverance Center; Roman Morrow, community leader; Maurice Rochelle, Lt. Col., Battalion Commander, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Ar tillery and wife, Marie; Naomi Davis, founder and president of Blacks in Green (BIG) and Attorney Bonita Coleman-John, candidate for 1st Judicial Subcircuit, Cook County.

Krystal McAllister

Name: Krystal McAllister
Title: President
Age: 48
Category: Business
Current Occupation: Owner of Achilles Shield – The Heel Shield, Inc.
What Makes Her Stand Out: Krystal McAllister wanted to make a stellar impression on her way to a luncheon in Chicago, but a stain on her yellow Stuart Weitzman designer dress shoes ruined her first big impression. “I scoured the City of Chicago trying to find a pair of [the] yellow shoes in my size,” McAllister said.

“When I finally found a pair – I was so excited, I didn’t wear them right away. Noooo, I saved them for a special occasion.” When she stepped from her car, McAllister said she looked at the “black stuff ” on the back of her shoes.

“I was DEVASTATED,” she added! “This was my first experience with BLACK HEEL,” a condition she said occurs when you drive without protecting the back of your shoes. “…I planned for [that experience] to be my last,” she said. But necessity is the mother of invention and McAllister said from that experience, she was inspired to create “Heel Shields” a piece of molded plastic that slides on the back of dress and casual shoes. Designed to protect shoes against scuffing, look for this “neat” invention to gain popularity in 2010.

LeRoy S. Weathersby

Name: LeRoy S. Weathersby
Title: College Student – University of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana
Age: 19
Category: Science & Technology
Current Occupation: Sophomore. College of Engineering – Computer & Electrical Engineering
What Makes Him Stand Out: He may be your next senior management leader for a major American defense contractor or industrial corporation. Weathersby is one of only seven college-bound students in Illinois to achieve a 36, the highest possible score on the ACT test. An accomplishment he achieved as a junior at Homewood- Flossmoor High School, Weathersby went on to graduate number 5 in his class out of 700 students and managed to transfer 13 AP classes from high school turning them into 60 hours of collegecredit! For college, he stayed close to home and chose the University of Illinois in Champaign where a natural progression for him was to study Engineering based on his high academic performance in both Math and Science. Right now, he remains on target maintaining an “A” average and even has time to participate as a student board member in the, “In Search of a Genius Foundation,” a not-for-profit organization that honors the life and legacy of unrecognized minority scientists, which serves as a perfect fit for Weatherby’s own interests.

Mary K. Palmore MD, F.A.C.O.G

Name: Mary K. Palmore MD, F.A.C.O.G
Title: Board certified physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chairwomen of the OB/Gyne Department at Advocate Trinity Hospital
Age: 57
Category: Health
Current Occupation: Medical Doctor
What Makes Her Stand Out: Palmore has practiced in her field for the last 27 years and has been in private practice since 2001. She’s invited medical professionals of all specialties to spend a week with her in Lesotho, a landlocked country and enclave surrounded by the Republic of South Africa, where the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics reports the life expectancy for men and women at approximately 40 years of age due to HIV/AIDS. As the plan goes, Palmore and the others anticipate using the week to provide much needed medical care in Lesotho where recent estimates from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Fact Book report that HIV/AIDS is about 23.2 percent, the third-highest rate worldwide. In 2010,watch for her to collaborate with the 18th Episcopal District, A.M.E. Church in coordinating this mission.

Carolyn Griffin-Palmer

Name: Carolyn Griffin-Palmer
Title: Administrator, Board Member for the QBG Scholarship Foundation
Age: 60
Category: Philanthropy
Current Occupation: Principal, Illinois School, Matteson School District 162
What Makes Her Stand Out: As a longtime educator in the Chicago Public Schools System and Matteson School District, Griffin-Palmer has always had a passion for young people and education. She demonstrates this commitment through her work as a board member of the Quentis Bernard Garth Scholarship Foundation created in 1995 and named after the late Quentis Bernard Garth, son of foundation chairman/founder William Garth Sr., who is also CEO of the Citizen Newspaper Group Inc. Griffin-Palmer can be found working with more than 14 committed individuals who share the same vision of raising millions of scholarship dollars to help inner-city youth go off to college. At the foundation’s headquarters on 806 E. 78th St., she interviews prospective recipients for scholarships, helps students apply for scholarships and manages to keep in contact with them throughout their college and professional careers. With help from board members like Griffin-Palmer, watch for the QBG Foundation to continue to provide more scholarship opportunities for students in need in 2010, making the dream of a college degree a reality.

Clifton Henri

Name: Clifton Henri
Title: Photographer, Art Director
Age: 30
Category: Art
Current Occupation: Freelance art director and photographer
What Makes Him Stand Out: Inspired by history, collective and personal, Clifton Henri is a storyteller. This photographer and art director, born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, “tell[s] tales that not only entice the imagination, but that touch the heart and engage the mind.” His work, influenced by the Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights Movement and by artists James VanDerZee, Gordon Parks and Roy DeCarava, have helped him “discover and define [his] style.” His award-winning photographs “convey tales of personal growth, social concerns, and everyday moments which empower, inspire and humble the spirit.” Henri has exhibited in galleries and juried art shows across the nation. Look for him in 2010 as he participates in the Museum of Science and Industry’s upcoming exhibit, “Black Creativity 2010.”

Presbyter William Hudson, III, M. Div

Name: Presbyter William Hudson, III, M. Div
Title: P astor and Founder of Prayer & Faith Outreach Ministries Deliverance Center
Age: 35
Category: Religion
Current Occupation: Pastor and Founder of Prayer & Faith Outreach Ministries Deliverance Center
What Makes Him Stand Out: While he has gained recognition for his starring role as “Rev. Johnny” on the hit TV sitcom, “Amen,” Hudson decided his purpose was better served in the pulpit. As pastor of Prayer & Faith Outreach Ministries of Chicago for the past 20 years, he received the call of God when he was three and became an ordained minister of the Gospel at 12. When he was eight, Hudson gathered some of his friends together and began a church. As the crowd increased in size, members of the church moved into his parents’ garage and from there, into their basement. In December, 1990, he began his pastoral ministry at Prayer & Faith Outreach Ministries Deliverance Center on a full-time basis. Under his leadership as pastor, he has been instrumental in assisting families with food and helping former substance abusers get back on track. Now, at 35, he’s training and mentoring new pastors and church leaders. Selected by Archbishop Roy E. Brown, Chief Prelate of Pilgrim Assemblies International, watch for Hudson when he will be appointed to the office of Bishop in July, 2010.

Roman Morrow

Name: Roman Morrow
Title: Community Leader
Age: 32
Category: Activism
Current Occupation: Newsroom archivist at ABC7News.
What Makes Him Stand Out: In an area where the struggle continues to transform a blighted community into a thriving venue for economic development, Roman Morrow may be found pitching in to help clean up the neighborhood.

Whether it’s helping out seniors or hosting a wellness fair, he believes in “keeping the community first.” From securing converter boxes and smoke detectors for senior citizens, to organizing a team of volunteers to clean up the neighborhood, Morrow still finds time to promote local artists within the Chicago Public Schools system thereby raising the level of self-esteem for aspiring artists. A life-long resident of Austin, watch for him to continue to spearhead other community projects in 2010.

Maurice Rochelle, LTC

Name: Maurice Rochelle, LTC
Title: Lt. Col., Battalion Commander, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Artillery
Age: 47
Current Occupation: Full-time Brigade Logistics Officer
Category: Military
What Makes Him Stand Out: About a month after Barack Obama was sworn in as the first Black President of the United States, Lt. Col Maurice Rochelle made history himself. As the first African-American Commander for the 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Artillery, he describes his accomplishment as a “milestone” in long line of achievements where Blacks are being placed in key roles. Recently, Rochelle received the Lt. Col. James O’Rouke Sr. USO Service Salute Award for his community involvement and military achievements and like so many other soldiers, risks his life everyday to serve his country. This coming May, he’s scheduled for deployment to Egypt where the probability of serving is based on the need for troops to fulfill the mission.

Naomi Davis

Name: Naomi Davis
Title: Founder of BIG™ (Blacks in Green)
Age: 54
Current Occupation: Founder and President of Blacks in Green (BIG)
Category: Environment
What Makes Her Stand Out: An urban theorist, attorney, entrepreneur, and founder of BIG™ (Blacks in Green), Davis is the granddaughter of Mississippi sharecroppers. Her commitment to community activism and growth is a result of her heritage, a history of survival. “BIG™ was born to remind generations of our great cultural legacy – which is our stewardship of the land – and to reinvent that legacy in the age of climate change…Its platform is informed and inspired by America’s great Underground Railroad story – which teaches the need for selfhelp alongside the need for allies across the bounds of race and class. Its mission is to link, leverage, and lead through a new breed of environmentalists who will invent, invest, manufacture and merchandise their communities into ‘walkable,’ self-reliant, mixed-income villages,” she said.

Davis has received Lt. Governor Pat Quinn’s 2007 Environmental Hero Award, the 2008 Chicago Magazine Green Award, and the 2009 Jewel-Osco Environmental Stewardship Award for her continued work in green community economic development. Watch for BIG and the movement to go green, to grow bigger in 2010.

Bonita Coleman-John

Name: Bonita Coleman-John
Title: Attorney
Age: 44
Current Occupation: Candidate for 1st Judicial Subcircuit, Cook County
Category: Law
What Makes Her Stand Out: Chalking it up to lots of prayers, hard work and support from a group of great people who have helped her along the way, Bonita Coleman-John, a candidate for the 1st Judicial Subcircuit in Cook County, has been practicing law for more than 17 years. Over the course of her legal career, she has represented everyone from single mothers to neglected children to dads who want to be involved with their children to small businesses owners and churches. Dedicated to working for and helping the average person with legal challenges ordinary people face, persistence is paying off. Running for the position of judge the second time around, she’ the sole candidate in the race after successfully challenging one opponent’s signatures and after three other opponents dropped out. In February, 2010, watch for her to go unopposed in the Democratic Primary and also in the general election in November where there are no Republican primary candidates. Feeling “blessed” to be in this position Coleman-John says she’ll bring her “legal knowledge, skill[s] and compassion to the bench.”