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Every organization is only as strong as the people who lead it. The Board of Directors of Northwest Jacksonville CDC includes residents, local business owners and people with other connections to this community. According to our bylaws, a majority of our Board must live or work in Northwest Jacksonville. NJCDC's Board of Directors is responsible for crafting and implementing strategic plans, maintaining a financially strong and fiscally responsible organization, and building support for NJCDC in our community.
The Board is helpful in their work by a small but dedicated staff that takes on the Board's charge and makes it a reality on a day-to-day basis. Collectively, NJCDC's staff has over forty years of experience in housing development, project management, financial management, and organizational development. With their help, NJCDC has grown from a one-person shop with a budget of less than 100,000 to a six-person organization that generates over $1.5 million in activity every year.
BOARD MEMBERS |
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Odessa Townsend - President: Ms. Townsend is a retired Human Resources Director who spent twenty years with the Jacobson's Company and was a buyer for federated stores. She is also a member of Bethel Baptist Institutional Church. | |
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Aileen Williams-Gibbs - Vice President & Founding Member:
Mrs. Williams-Gibbs serves as Board Chair of Northewst Jacksonville Community Development Corporation (NJCDC) since its inception in 2001. She is a native of Jacksonville, Florida and grew up in NJCDC's target neighborhood. Mrs. Williams-Gibbs is an employee of Shands Jacksonville (26 years) (a teaching hospital associated with the University of Florida) and is the Co-owner/Operator of L.A.G. Consultants, specializing in personal/professional growth and development. She attended Florida Community College where she earned an AA degree in Psychology. She enjoys reading, writing, sports and motivating and inspiring others. | |
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William Atkinson - Treasurer :
Mr. William Atkinson worked for the Federal Criminal Investigator for the U.S. Treasury Department for many years. He was also the Director of Civil Rights for the U.S. Forest Service. | |
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Bridget Nelson-Adams - Secretary: Ms. Nelson is a licensed Mortgage Broker and the Office Manager at Englewood High School. | |
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Mary Eaves - Founding Board Member:
Ms. Mary Eaves is currently a member and Vice President of the Board of Directors for Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corporation. Ms. Eaves is a Jacksonville native who grew up in the 29th and Chase Neighborhood area on West 20th Street near Abbott Street, off of Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy. She retired from a career in nursing, as a Nursing Education Consultant for the State of Florida and from Bethune Cookman College, where she was an instructor and administrator for the Nursing Program. | |
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Willie Alexander - Board Member:
Mr. Alexander is a retired pharmacist who resides in the neighborhood. He has a great interest in working to raise the condition of the 29th and Chase Neighborhood.
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Linda L. Wagner - Board Member: Linda L. Wagner, RN, MPH, CPHQ. Miss Wagner serves as Director of Performance Improvement for Shands of Jacksonville. |
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Audrey Gibson - Board Member:
Ms. Gibson is serving in the Florida State Legislature in her second two-year term, representing a district including NJCDC’s service area. Prior to her work as a state legislator, she worked for both the Jacksonville Job Corps and Urban Ministries of Springfield. |
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Clanzerria Brown - Founding Board Member:
Ms. Brown grew up in the 29th and Chase neighborhood. Currently, she is a caseworker with Shands Jacksonville, and brings experience in working to develop partnerships with other community institutions. Ms. Brown is the daughter of a long-time community activist (Clanzel Brown—Clanzel Brown Community Center is located just north of NJCDC’s target area on Golfair Boulevard), and continues this tradition with her involvement in the community. | |
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