Advisory Board

Robert L. Brantley, MBA

Reverend Dr. Mankekolo Mahlangu-Ngcobo-Murobha, MPH, D. Min.

Delegate Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, RN, MAS

Reverend Marshall F. Prentice

Annelle B. Primm, M.D., MPH

Officers

Michael A. Torres, M.D., Chairperson and President

E. Bernard Justis, Esq., Vice Chairperson

Karen Ball, RN, Secretary/Treasurer

Board of Directors

Elder Reginald L. Booker, BA, MS, D. Min. Ed.D (ABD)

Donna Holland Barnes, Ph.D.

Tracee Bryant, MPH, CHES

Reverend Donrico Colden

Reverend Kevin Daniels, LGSW, Ed.D., D. Min.

Reverend James J. Fuller, D. Min.

Melva I. Green, M.D.

Yvette A. Luster, BA

Linda E. Rose, Ph.D., RN

Johnnie W. Smith Jr. , Ph.D.

Elder Tony Torain, MS, JD

Robert L. Brantley, MBA

Robert L. Brantley holds a B.S. degree in Business & Economics from Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois; an MBA degree in Finance & Urban Affairs from the Northwestern University Graduate School of Management in Chicago, Illinois; and an honorary doctorate degree in Christian/Biblical counseling from the Philadelphia Bible College in Baltimore, Maryland. Bob Brantley has done post-graduate study in Non-Formal Education at the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago; and in Development Economics at Howard University in Washington, DC. Bob is nearing the final stages toward a Ph.D. degree in Church Administration at Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. Brantley is a Certified Christian Conciliator by the Institute for Christian Conciliation in Billings, Montana. More...

Reverend Dr. Mankekolo Mahlangu-Ngcobo-Murobha, MPH, D. Min.

Rev. Dr. Mankekolo Mahlangu-Ngcobo is a native of South Africa.  She is the first black South African woman to receive a Doctor of Ministry degree. She is the Founder and Pastor of Kalafong A.M.E. Mission Church in Baltimore. Kalafong is a word in three Southern languages which means, "A Healing Place." In addition, she is a Mentor for Doctor of Ministry candidates with concentration in "The Black Church and Public Health" and, adjunct professor in Ethics at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

While she was in South Africa, she taught at Seoding Elementary School. She also trained as a nurse and midwife at Baragwanath Hospital. She attended the University of the North to study towards a diploma in Nursing Education. Her education was interrupted by political activism around Steven Biko's death. More...

Delegate

Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, RN, MAS

Member of House of Delegates since January 11, 1995. Deputy Majority Whip, 2003-. Member, Health and Government Operations Committee, 2003- (health facilities, equipment & products subcommittee, 2003-04; long-term care subcommittee, 2003-04; public health subcommittee, 2003-05; insurance subcommittee, 2005-; chair, minority health disparities committee, 2004-); Joint Committee on Health Care Delivery and Financing, 1995-; Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, 2003-. Member, Environmental Matters Committee, 1995-2003 (health & public utilities subcommittee, 1995-99; health subcommittee, 1999-2003); Joint Legislative Task Force on Organ and Tissue Donations, 1997-98. Former member, Liaison Work Group, Baltimore City Delegation. Secretary, Baltimore County Delegation, 2003-. Member, Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland (formerly Maryland Legislative Black Caucus), 1995- (1st vice-chair, 2000-02; chair, health care committee, 2000; chair, legislative review committee, 2001-; member, More...

Reverend

Marshall F. Prentice

Pastor Prentice accepted the Lord to be his personal Savior in 1969. Just two years later he was called by our Lord to preach the gospel. He was licensed and ordained by the Victory Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, under the leadership of Dr. Lehman D. Bates.

Pastor Prentice graduated from Geneva College, having majored in Elementary Education and Theology. He received his Masters Degree in Counseling Education from the University of Pittsburgh and his Masters of Divinity Degree from Virginia University School of Theology.

He first served as Pastor of the First Antioch Baptist Church of Greensburgh, Pennsylvania for a seven year term. Since September 1985 he has served as Pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Under his leadership the membership has grown spiritually and in number and ministries have been added that have had a tremendous impact on the surrounding community.

Annelle B. Primm, M.D., MPH

Annelle B. Primm, M.D., MPH is a partner of Health Disparities Solutions, LLC.  She currently serves as Director of Minority and National Affairs for the American Psychiatric Association and is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  From 1993 until 2004, she served as the medical director of the Johns Hopkins Community Psychiatry Program, a community mental health center, where she has developed and overseen a variety of mental health services for adults. 

Dr. Primm is a graduate of Harvard-Radcliffe College and Howard University College of Medicine.  She completed her residency in Psychiatry, fellowship in Social and Community Psychiatry, and Masters of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins. A board certified psychiatrist, Dr. Primm maintains a small private practice in Baltimore, Maryland.  More...

Dr. Michael A. Torres, M.D.

Dr. Torres obtained his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Rochester in 1984. He graduated from Hahnemann University Medical School in 1990 with distinction in Psychiatry. In the same year he was ordained within the Church of God in Christ by Bishop Ozro Thurston Jones, Jr. He completed specialty training in Psychiatry at the University of Maryland in June of 1994. Dr. Torres achieved certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1998. He has gained clinical and administrative experience in academic settings, the Veterans Administration, state inpatient facilities, public and private outpatient agencies, and faith-based programs.

Dr. Torres’ primary area of interest is the interface between mental health and spirituality. Through educational, research and clinical activities he has attempted to build bridges between the faith community and the mental health system. He has stirred the faith community to be more aware of mental health issues, and the mental health system to better understand and address spiritual issues. More...

E. Bernard Justis, Esq.

E. Bernard Justis is a Senior Assistant General Counsel with The Rouse Company, a publicly traded company that develops, manages and operates shopping centers, mixed use projects and office buildings, and develops residential communities.  Currently, Mr. Justis is legal counsel to the company’s shopping centers in Florida, New Jersey and New York.  He is also primarily responsible for management of insured litigation, provides counsel to the security director for the company’s projects, and is an active member of the company’s risk management team. 

Prior to joining The Rouse Company, Mr. Justis practiced law as a member of the creditor’s rights and loan workout group of the law firm of Semmes, Bowen and Semmes.  Mr. Justis is a 1984 graduate of the University of Rochester where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology.  He is also a 1987 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and a 1986 member of its National Moot Court Team.  Mr. Justis frequently lectures on security, risk management, contracts, commercial leasing, and bankruptcy topics, both at his company’s portfolio-wide conferences and at outside conferences.

Karen Ball, RN

Karen Ball, RN, is a member of Hope Christian Church in Bowie, Maryland.  She has been a nurse for thirty four years at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and currently works as a nurse therapist in the outpatient mental health clinic. She was trained at the  Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Donna Holland Barnes, Ph.D.

Donna Holland Barnes, Ph.D. is a Research Associate and Professor at Howard University’s Psychiatry Department in Washington, D.C. where she teaches suicide risk management to residents and third year medical students. She also conducts research on families who have lost someone to suicide.  She is currently the recipient of a $225,000 campus grant for suicide prevention from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  Barnes is co-founder and President of the National Organization for People of Color against Suicide (NOPCAS) and a founding member of the National Council for Suicide Prevention (NCSP). She has served on several national and local committees that pertained to suicidal behavior and appears on radio talk shows and in national magazines frequently on the subject of suicide.  Dr. Barnes is this year’s (2006) awardee for the Eli Lilly Welcome Back Award for her distinguished work in communities of color.

Elder Reginald L Booker, BA, MS, D. Min. Ed.D (ABD)

Dr. Reginald L. Booker was born September 26, 1954 in Durham, North Carolina.  His parents moved to the Chicago area when he was 3 years old, where he stayed until he joined the military in 1979.  During this period he graduated from high school, started college and married the love of his life, Evangelist Barbara Ann Booker.  After joining the military, he and his wife left Chicago.  During his Army career, he rose from the rank of private to major, working as a medic, pilot, instructor and hospital administrator. In his last assignment, he was the Chief Administrator for the Department of Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.  He recently retired from the U.S. Army after 20 years of service.  He now works as the Deputy Health Officer of the Howard County Health Department located in Columbia, Maryland.  He also serves on  the Board for several community organizations: the Howard County Red Cross, the Community Action Council, and the Mental Health Advisory Board.   More...

Tracee Bryant, MPH CHES

Ms. Bryant serves as the Executive Director of the Black Mental Health Alliance for Education and Consultation, Inc. (BMHA) in Baltimore, Maryland. The primary mission of the non-profit organization is to provide and promote a holistic, culturally relevant approach to the development and maintenance of optimal mental health for African Americans and other people of color.  She serves on the Governor’s Women’s Health Promotion Council, Maryland Coalition for Children, Youth and Families Board of Directors, Institute for Mental Health Ministry, Inc. Board of Directors, Maryland Health Partners Advisory Board, State of Maryland Advisory Council on Mental Hygiene, and is a member of the American Public Health Association.  More...

Reverend Donrico Colden

No biography available at this time.

Reverend Kevin Daniels, LGSW, Ed.D., D. Min.

Dr. Kevin Daniels holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University, a Master of Science degree in Social Work (Clinical Counseling/Administration) from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and a Doctor of Education in Urban Leadership from Morgan State University and a Doctor of Ministry in Theology and Public Health at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. In addition, he has received Certification in Advanced Studies in Addictions Counseling from Johns Hopkins University and Certification in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University. 

Dr. Daniels serves the community as Pastor and Licensed Graduate Social Worker. He is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Baltimore City Community College and was recently appointed by the Baltimore City Police Commissioner’s Office as Chaplain for the Western District. He is also part of the Baltimore City Nuclear Counseling Team in association with Baltimore Mental Health Systems, Inc. Dr. Daniels formerly served as the National Director of Ministries for Alpha Nu Omega Christian Fraternity, Inc. More...

Reverend James Fuller,

D. Min.

For twenty-eight years, Dr. James J. Fuller has served in the gospel ministry; twenty-five them as pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church.  Much of his focus in ministry has been on youth and young adults, affording them enriched educational and life experiences. Not only has Dr. Fuller supported youth of the church, he has worked as counselor in the Classic Upward Bound Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He was able to provide guidance and encouragement to many first-generation, college-bound students.

Dr. Fuller's own educational pursuits earned him three degrees. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Morgan State College (now University), and his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Howard University.  More...

Dr. Melva Green, M.D.

Dr. Melva Green graduated from Meharry Medical College with honors in 1999. She

subsequently completed an internship in Pediatrics at the Children’s National Medical

Center in Washington, D.C. followed by residency training in Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins. 

Upon residency completion, Dr. Green completed a one year postdoctoral research 

fellowship in Health Disparities funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation at Morgan State

University. Amidst this training program she produced "Mood Indigo 101: The 

Unexpected Faces of Depression", a 15 minute educational videotape which depicts 

depression amongst African-American students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 

More...

Yvette Luster, BA

Yvette Luster is a native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she has developed a diverse background in human services, healthcare, law and program development. Since 1994, Ms. Luster’s experience has shown that incorporating spirituality with all human dealings is very effective. She has held positions as a paralegal, a nurse (detoxification & medical-surgical), welfare- to -work case manager, children’s mental health case manager, drop out prevention counselor, hospice liaison, hospice director of marketing and program development coordinator. In searching for the commonality, in the populations served, she realized it was related to mental health issues. More...

Linda E. Rose, Ph.D., RN

Biography not available at this time.

Johnnie W. Smith Jr., Ph.D.

Johnnie is president of J. W. Smith & Associates, an international leadership, and organization development consulting firm. He is also a general partner of MSV Consulting, which administers large-scale leadership development initiatives. His has over 30 years of leadership and organization development consulting experience.

Johnnie’s practice theme is accountability and includes leadership counseling, development & coaching, team development, complex system change, organization startup, the integration of minorities and women into senior positions, management of differences and the personal & professional development of organization consultants.  More...

Elder Tony Torain, MS, JD

A native of Mebane, North Carolina, Tony William Torain, is the founding pastor of The Good Shepherd Church of God In Christ and the Dean of Students at the University of Baltimore School of Law. 

He has been a resident of the greater Baltimore metropolitan area since 1981 when he matriculated at the University of Maryland School of Law.  He is a 1975 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature.  In 1978 he graduated from the Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary with the Master of Theological Studies degree in New Testament and 1980 he completed the requirements for the Masters of Arts in African-American Literature at Boston University.  A joint degree student in law and social work, he earned the Juris Doctor in 1984 and the Master of Social Work in 1985.  More...