Board of Directors

World Literacy Initiative, Inc.
The Board of Directors

	Margaret Collier. Chairperson. Margaret is a founding member of the board, a past Secretary for it, and continues presently to serve in the appointed position of Chief of Overseas Operations. Margaret is the CEO of SummitRidge Hospital in Gwinnett, Georgia and makes her home in Atlanta. Margaret has completed all but her dissertation for Ph. D. in Organizational Psychology at Auburn University and she is a member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. An active surveyor for CARF - the national accrediting agency, Margaret is also a member of Rotary International. She and her husband Chris make their home in Atlanta and have two grown sons.
	Nicholas A. Lotito, J. D. Nick is a founding member of the board of directors and a past Chairperson. Nick is a successful attorney in private practice in Atlanta, GA. for the law firm of Davis, Zipperman, Kirshenbaum and Lotito. He is a past President of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a member of the State Bar Association of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association, The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1000 Lawyers for Justice and the Lamar Inn of Court. Nick is author of a number of papers published in the Georgia State Bar Journal and other sources. Nick enjoys a variety of personal pursuits including playing golf on a regular basis.
	Kevin G. Perry - Kevin was named the Teacher of the Year for St. Lucie County Schools in 1994 and was also selected as one of the Five Finalists for Teacher of the Year for the State of Florida. He has been a district recruiter of teachers for St. Lucie County since 1992 and has received numerous Educational Lamp Awards of Excellence. In 1997, Mr. Perry was appointed as Principal of the Ft. Pierce Magnet School of the Arts. His schools have consistently been a Florida 5 Star Award School and was often recognized as an “A” school by the State of Florida. Mr. Perry received the 2004 Principal Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership. He is currently Area Assistant Superintendent of St. Lucie County Public Schools. Mr. Perry makes his home in Port St. Lucie, FL.
	greg Gerhard – Greg serves as the Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors and a past Vice President for Sun-Trust Bank, who is now with the Southeastern Council of Foundations as Director of Grantmaker Education & Strategic Partnerships. Greg is a graduate of the State University of New York College at Oswego, N.Y. Greg is otherwise also very active in the non-profit community, serving on several Atlanta non-profit organizations' advisory boards. Greg and his wife Lauren live in Decatur, GA.
	The Rev. Dr. Johnny Yao Akoto. Dr. Johnny was born and raised in Ghana and is a founding member of the board. A past Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for World Literacy Initiative, Johnny has won the Presidential Award, Ethos in Integrity at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta and was awarded the African Student Making a Distinguished Contribution in Research and/or Community Activism in Pan-Africanism in 1992. He also received the Mona and Richard Millikan International Student Award for Distinguished Services.
	Charles Dewald, Board member emeritus. Charles has retired from active board duty and assumed the position of Board Member Emeritus effective in February 2011. Charles is a founding member of the board and served previously as Chairperson and Secretary. Active in the North Decatur Presbyterian Church where he is an ordained Elder, Charles came to World Literacy Initiative after retiring from a thirty-four year career with ACCO-Babcock, Inc. where he was Vice President of Material Handling Group/General manager of Integrated Handling Systems Division. Besides being a Registered Professional Engineer and a Sr. Member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Charles is a graduate of Georgia Tech and has been an amateur glider pilot as well.
no picture available at this time	Kim Butts. Kim is extensively experienced as a quality process improvement coordinator in a variety of MH/MR/SA facilities and programs. Kim is a dedicated Professional Nurse with a 20-year record of helping organizations attain exceptional standards in providing quality care to its patients and clientele. She has a proven ability to build positive relationships with patients, families, physicians and other medical professionals. Kim is solidly credentialed and diversely experienced. Her comprehensive managerial experience includes a strong background in psychiatric/mental health, hospice, process quality management and standards compliance. Kim is currently the Director of Nursing at Crescent Pines Hospital in Stockbridge.
	samara Cummins. Samara is the board's Secretary. She is currently the Director of Affiliate Sales for ION Media Networks in Atlanta and has held a variety of senior level positions in media including Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Black Family Channel, Senior District Manager for the International Channel (Atlanta), the Southeast Regional Manager of Sales & Marketing for Access TV, Regional Director (SE) for Digital Music Express, and she was a Promotions Executive in the U.K. for Vogue Magazine. Samara also has been active in domestic, humanitarian, non-profit endeavors including The National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications that educates, advocates and empowers multi-ethnic diversity in the telecommunications industry, Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), the oldest and largest organization serving women professionals in cable telecommunications, and Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) that provides education, recognition and networking opportunities for cable companies and content providers.
	Charlotte w. stone-Black. Charlotte recently retired from twenty-three year career as a classroom teacher. Initially certified in Language Arts, Reading and Social Studies, she later received her English Spoken as Other Language (ESOL) endorsement and found her niche in an extraordinarily rewarding area. Charlotte is originally from Savannah, Georgia, and completed her undergraduate studies at Georgia State University. Later, she completed her graduate work at Kennesaw State University. Charlotte currently divides time between Lake Spivey and Atlanta and is married to an attorney who practices law in Jonesboro. Charlotte and her husband have three children and eight grandchildren.
	Willie E. Gary has been touted by Forbes Magazine as one of the "Top 50 Attorneys in the United States" and Ebony magazine has identified him as one of the "100 Most Influential Black Americans". Besides being the exceptionally successful attorney from Stuart, FL that these and others have written about, Willie E. Gary is also widely known for his support of higher education and as a motivational speaker. Mr. Gary is known in legal circles as "The Giant-Killer" by winning law-suits against some of America's most well known corporate 'giants', on behalf of his clients through his law firm, Gary, Williams, Parenti, Finney, Lewis, McManus, Watson & Sperando, P.L. He and his wife Gloria live in Stuart, FL and have four adult sons: Kenneth, Sekou, Ali and Kobie. Learn more about Mr Gary by clicking here.
	INACTIVE STATUS DEANA GARNER Deana is on inactive status as part of an approved sabbatical from her duties on the board. Scheduled to end by the end of 2010, we hope to see her back by then. In the meantime, we know that World Literacy Initiative is in her thoughts and prayers as she is in ours.

The Board of Directors meets on a quarterly basis or when called to do so either by the Chairperson or by a quorum of the board. It meets at 918 Ponce de Leon Avenue, N.E. Atlanta, GA 30306.
World Literacy Initiative (tax ID EIN: 58-2545583) was incorporated on 25 May 2000.