June Collins Pulliam is Executive Director of Fanfare! Lutheran Music Academy. She serves on the Design Team of The Future Is Us as a community member, also representing the Nia Cultural Center as a member of its board of directors and chair of its education committee. She seeks to support and engage in efforts to remove racial barriers and inequities so that youth have opportunities to reach their fullest potential. .
Brandon Williams is the facilitator for the Youth Advisory Council of The Future Is Us. His biggest passion is encouraging every student to unlock their God-given potential and helping make Galveston a more equitable place for all students. In addition, Brandon is also the Student Ministries Director for Galveston Urban Ministries. "There's nothing better than watching students take an idea and run with it, really make it their own. They are the future, I just want to help make sure that their future is bright!" Brandon is joined in mission by his wife, TJ, and their two daughters Everby and Revel.
Shanice Blair is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master's student at Walden University and is one of the Communities of Care Co-Coordinator for the Future is US. Through this role, she ensures that the project is following Hogg Mental Health Foundation's requirements, coordinates with TFIU team on community engagement, and collaborates with partners on various projects such as the "Equity and Access for All" project with Causeway Galveston and GISD. Shanice's previous work with Galveston community members as a case manager has given her insight into what barriers and resources there are in the community. From this experience, Shanice is very motivated to make the island a place that supports and encourages ALL of its Galvestonians.
A life-long Galvestonian, Sue Johnson is the founder and director of the Nia Cultural Center in Galveston. Nia is an educational organization with activities and programs focused on education, youth development and strengthening families. It also focuses on culture and history and their impacts on the lives of children, youth and families.
Some Nia programs include Chil dren's Defense Fund Freedom School, which provides a literacy-rich summer program for children ages 5 to 18; the annual Kwanzaa celebrations; the Afri can American Read-in; and the Black History Extravaganza; Quarterly Net working Mixers, which provide oppor tunities and support for African-Amer ican-owned businesses, organizations and authors.
Johnson also provides presentations and training to promote awareness and cultural competency in service planning and delivery in the community. She holds a Master's in Business Administration from Le Tourneau University.
Toby Agnew is a Sophomore at Ball High School located in Galveston, TX and is 1 out of the 2 Youth Lead Advocates for The Future Is Us (TFIU). He also is an Artist in Music Production and Songwriting.
Toniesha Martinez is a freshman at Ball High School. She serves as a youth lead advocate for The Future Is us. In this role ,she assisted in presenting the policy brief on racial disparities affecting minority students in school. Toniesha is passionate about making the future better for youth in schools and communities
Bianca Obinyan is a dual degree MD-MPH candidate at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) School of Medicine. She serves as the Policy Task Force Coordinator for the Future is US initiative. In this role, Bianca wrote a policy brief highlighting the racial disparities in school discipline and the impact it has on minority students in the district. Bianca is passionate about uplifting youth voices in her community through service and engagement
Cindy Roberts-Gray is Principal of Third Coast R&D, Inc. She serves as leader of the Assessment team for The Future is US initiative. In this role, Cindy engaged community members in reviewing prior assessments of local factors affecting the well-being of children and youth in Galveston and compiled results of The Future is US survey of community perceptions of reasons why Black students receive more disciplinary removals from their classrooms than their peers. Cindy is passionate about using data in the discovery of ways to make it easier for people to behave well and be happy.