Founding President

Live the Life Ministries, Inc.

Richard Albertson is the Founding President of Live the Life, a statewide, faith based non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening marriages and families. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, Live the Life has regional offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Panama City, FL.

Richard is Board Chair and co-Founder of the National Alliance for Relationship and Marriage Education. He authored NARME’s charter in 2010, and it has been adopted by community leaders and practitioners from 28 states to date.

Two Governors have appointed Richard to multiple statewide positions, including the Florida Commission on Marriage and Family Support, the Florida Commission on Responsible Fatherhood, and the Florida Faith-Based Advisory Council. Richard was elected chair of all three entities. He also served as Board member of the National Abstinence Education Association, which was rebranded as Ascend.

Since Live the Life launched in 1998, the divorce rate in Leon County has dropped 48%, more than double the drop in the Florida divorce rate during the same time. After Live the Life launched its Community Marriage Initiative in Jacksonville, FL in 2015, two Independent Research studies, one from Florida State University and another from the University of Virginia, documented a 24% reduction in the divorce rate in Duval County. Brad Wilcox, lead researcher for one of these studies, stated “As family scholars, we have rarely seen changes of this size in family trends over such a short period of time. Although it is possible that some other factor besides COFI’s intervention also helped, we think this is unlikely.”

While Live the Life and its collaborative partners do not take all the credit for this significant drop, we are typically the only non-profit organization focused on strengthening marriages and families and reducing the divorce rate in the communities we serve. Since 2004, Live the Life’s Hope Weekends have saved more than 80% of troubled marriages. Since 2011, Live the Life’s Community Marriage Initiatives have produced more than 120,000 graduates in relationship and marriage education programs.

Richard has authored multiple curricula for healthy relationships such as: Start Smart, a comprehensive premarital program, Family Frontiers, Power of US, and Champions, a curriculum for High School Boys. He also co-authored the Adventures in Marriage curriculum with Dr. Lori H. Gordon. Adventures in Marriage has been provided in 31 states and 15 countries to date

Director of Strategy and Communications

EdRedesign Lab

I am Director of Strategy and Communications at EdRedesign covering strategy, communications, and development. Prior to joining EdRedesign in 2022, I was a Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow from 2020-21. Previously, I had a 36-year career in corporate law, focusing on capital markets, public company M&A, and boardroom governance and counsel. Most recently, I was a senior partner at Proskauer, where my management roles included practice group leadership, new business intake, and risk management. I serve on the Board and volunteer with Read Ahead (Chair from 2019-23), a reading-based mentoring organization serving NYC public elementary school children. I also serve on the board of The Trevor Project, the largest suicide prevention and mental health organization serving LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S., and as a founding member of the LGBTQ+ Advocacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.

Director of Community Transformation

Stand Together

Daron is referred to as a “social entrepreneur,” having started multiple successful social ventures; Bonton Honey Company, The Market at Bonton Farms, Bonton Farms Coffee House, Bonton Farmers Market, The Preservatory, and CityBuild Housing. Of all his ventures, the most notable, though, is Bonton Farms, one of the largest urban farms in the United States nestled in a once-forgotten neighborhood in South Dallas.

Daron is also a perpetual visionary and re-inventor of what’s possible. Bonton Farms is so much more than a farm, it is the catalyst that is creating systemic change necessary so the residents of Bonton and others from marginalized neighborhoods all over the country can fully realize the full potential created in them.

President

Congress for the New Urbanism

Mallory B.E. Baches, AICP LEED-AP CNU-A is the President of the Congress for the New Urbanism. Celebrated for her previous practice as an urban designer, Mallory brings twenty-five years of international work in urban planning and community development to her role as well as a wealth of experience in nonprofit leadership, having served as a staff member, a special advisor, and on the governing boards of organizations making an impact through urban change.

Mallory is accredited with the American Planning Association (AICP), the U.S. Green Building Council (LEED), and the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU-A). Her knowledge of urbanism was first developed at the University of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture, including a year spent at the Rome Studies Program. She earned an MSc in Sustainable Urban Development from the University of Oxford, which is delivered in partnership with the Prince's Foundation for Building Community. Her original research dissertation on the intersection of historic preservation and social sustainability received honorable distinction and was included in CNU’s New Urban Research selection in 2019.

Mallory served as the inaugural CNU-A Fellow at the University of Miami School of Architecture. She was named a member of the 2013 Next Urban Vanguard class by Next City and is a former board member and President of the Association for Community Design, a former Vice Chair of the PLACE Initiative, and is a member the Urban Guild. She has been profiled on the Design Feast series Designer Quest(ionnaire) and on Next City. She is a contributing author to Smart Cities Policies and Financing: Approaches and Solutions (Elsevier). Her urban design work has been featured by Next City, and she speaks and writes on architecture, planning, and urban sustainability.

Principal

Community Steward Solutions

With over two decades of experience in urban economic development and place management, M. Blaise Backer brings a unique combination of neighborhood-level and citywide expertise to commercial district development. As former Deputy Commissioner of Neighborhood Development at NYC Department of Small Business Services, he oversaw the nation's largest network of Business Improvement Districts while transforming how the city supports commercial corridors through innovative
grant programs, data collection tools, and capacity-building initiatives. His ten-year leadership of the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership demonstrated the transformative potential of community-driven economic development, where he successfully formed and operated a BID while implementing comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategies. This blend of experiences—from grassroots organizing to citywide systems change—informs his current work helping communities build stronger, more resilient commercial districts through strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and innovative public-private partnerships.

Executive Director Faith and Finance

Neighborhood Economics

Leroy Barber has dedicated 35 years living and working towards what Dr. King called “the beloved community.”

Leroy starts projects that shape society. In 1989, burdened by the plight of Philadelphia’s homeless, he and his wife, Donna, founded Restoration Ministries to serve homeless families and children living on the streets. In 1994 he became Director of Internship Programs at Cornerstone Christian Academy. Leroy was licensed and ordained at Mt Zion Baptist Church where he served as Youth Director with Donna. In 1997 he joined FCS Urban Ministries in Atlanta, GA working with the Atlanta Youth Project to serve as the founding Executive Director of Atlanta Youth Academies, a private elementary school providing quality Christian education for low-income families in the inner city. Leroy also helped found DOOR Atlanta, Community Life Church, South Atlanta Marketplace, and Community Grounds Coffee shop in Atlanta, as well as Green My Hood and The Voices Project. Leroy is an innovator, entrepreneur and lover of the arts. Leroy has a Masters Degree in Divinity and D. Min.

Leroy has worked Internationally as Executive Director of Word Made Flesh and organization concentrating on Community Development in 9 countries. Leroy has done training and coaching on issues of race and justice with Universities, Denominational leaders, and various Non- profits, Missions organizations, and Churches

Leroy is currently the Executive Director of Neighborhood Economics. Leroy is the Co-Founder of the Voices Project and Adjunct professor at Multnomah University. Rev. Barber has served on the boards of The Simple Way, Missio Alliance, The Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), and the Former Board Chair of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA).

He is the author of four books:
• New Neighbor: An Invitation to Join Beloved Community (2008, Mission Year)
• Everyday Missions: How Ordinary People Can Change the World (2012, Intervarsity Press)
• Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White: Who’s More Precious In His Sight? with Velma Maia Thomas, 2014, Faith Words/Hachette Book Group)
• Embrace: God’s Radical Shalom For A Divided World (2016, Intervarsity Press)

Leroy currently lives in Atlanta GA, and has been married to Donna for the past 37 years. Together they have six children.

Co-Founder and Executive Director

The Neighboring Movement

Adam Barlow-Thompson began his career as a local pastor in a suburban setting. In this role, he experimented with social entrepreneurship and community building and uncovered a call to express these values outside traditional church structures in a neighborhood setting. In 2015, Adam co-founded The Neighboring Movement with his wife, Ashley, and their neighbors. Together, they connect neighbors in the SoCe (So-See) Neighborhood of Wichita, Kansas, and train others in Asset Based Community Development. The Neighboring Movement has grown to a national network of community builders, including faith-based and non-religious contexts. In addition to his role as Executive Director at The Neighboring Movement, Adam continues to work bi-vocationally as a trainer, speaker, and consultant, focusing on communication and healthy conflict. He has co-authored several resources, tools, and workshops, which all work to understand and connect the power of people within community. In his free time, Adam enjoys sitting on his front porch with his son Prescott, his wife Ashley, and his banjo.

President & CEO

Main Street America

Erin Barnes is President & CEO of Main Street America, a national nonprofit that leads an inclusive, impact-driven movement dedicated to creating vibrant commercial corridors in big cities, small towns and everything in between. For 15 years, Erin was co-founder and CEO of ioby, a national nonprofit focused on resident-led neighborhood change. She has worked as a journalist, writer, and community organizer.
President & Mrs. Obama selected Erin to be an inaugural Obama Foundation Fellow in 2018, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded Erin the Jane Jacobs Medal in 2012. Erin holds a B.A. in English and American Studies from the University of Virginia and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University. Erin previously served on the boards of the Bronx and Manhattan Land Trusts, EcoDistricts, and Resource Media. Erin lives with her family in Brooklyn, NY, just off Myrtle Avenue.

Senior Fellow

Center for Community Investment

Gretchen Beesing is a dynamic executive leader with extensive experience in community economic development, nonprofit management, and coalition-building. As the Principal of Yes/And Strategies LLC, she provides consulting services focused on community wealth building and cooperative economic development. She is also currently a Senior Fellow with the Center for Community Investment (CCI), where she focuses on community land ownership.

Prior to launching her consulting practice, Gretchen served as the CEO of Catalyst Miami, where she significantly expanded the organization’s programs, including spearheading Florida's first universal children's savings program, Future Bound Miami. With a background in social work and public policy advocacy, Gretchen has led initiatives in financial empowerment, climate justice, and community-controlled wealth-building programs. A sought-after public speaker and facilitator, Gretchen has presented at numerous national conferences. Her leadership extends to board service and fellowships with organizations such as CCI, PolicyLink and the Federal Reserve Board. Gretchen is a licensed clinical social worker.

Chief Executive Officer

Spartanburg Academic Movement

Russell W. Booker is the CEO of the Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) in Spartanburg, SC, and a dedicated leader in education and community service with over 30 years of experience. Formerly the Superintendent of Spartanburg County School District Seven, Dr. Booker now spearheads SAM’s efforts to lead Movement 2030, an ambitious initiative designed to guide thousands of children in Spartanburg County toward upward mobility.

In addition to his work with SAM, he chairs the StriveTogether Board of Directors and serves on several other boards, including Purpose Built Communities, the Mary Black Foundation, and Strategic Spartanburg. He is also a trustee for Wingate University and the Spartanburg Regional Hospital Foundation.

Dr. Booker’s impact has been widely recognized, earning him honors such as the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Humanitarian Award, South Carolina Superintendent of the Year, and the prestigious Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian accolade. He was also named OneSpartanburg Inc.'s 2023 Neville Holcombe Distinguished Citizen.

Holding a B.S. in Education from Wingate University and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of South Carolina, Dr. Booker has also been awarded two honorary doctorates. He remains deeply committed to his hometown of Spartanburg, SC, where his contributions continue to make a lasting difference.

Lead Pastor

Lawndale Christian Community Church

Jonathan Brooks is a lifelong resident of Chicago, IL and currently serves as Lead Pastor at Lawndale Christian Community Church in the North Lawndale neighborhood. He previously served as pastor of Canaan Community Church in the West Englewood neighborhood for fifteen years. He has been an educator on many different levels and is a firm believer in both individuals and institutions investing in their local communities. Jonathan has a deep desire to impress this virtue on the students and young people in his congregation, classroom and community.

Pastah J, as he is affectionately called, is a sought-after speaker, writer, artist, community developer and activist. He has contributed to numerous blogs, articles and books and is the author of the book Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods published by Intervarsity Press.

Jonathan has a Bachelor of Architecture from Tuskegee University, Master of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University, as well as a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Northern Seminary with an emphasis in Christian Community Development. He is married to Micheál Newman-Brooks and has two beautiful children.

You can learn more at pastahj.com

President

T. Rowe Price Foundation and T. Rowe Price Charitable

John Brothers currently serves as the President of the T. Rowe Price Foundation and President of T. Rowe Price Charitable, with $750M in combined assets. Dr. Brothers comes to T. Rowe Price from Quidoo, an international consulting firm he started and led for over nearly two decades, merging the firm in 2016.

During Dr. Brothers' tenure at T. Rowe Price, he is responsible for leading a long list of innovative and influential efforts including the creation of the Elevation Awards, DesignFest, Civic Innovators, Moonshot, Baltimore One Book, and the State of the Sector Report, among many others. Dr. Brothers has served in lead roles toward the creation of nationally recognized efforts like the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund and the Baltimore Squeegee Collaborative. Under Dr. Brothers' leadership, T. Rowe Price has become widely recognized as a global leader in several areas including trust-based social good, partnership, evaluation, governance and how companies build authentic relationships in local communities.

Prior to his work with T. Rowe Price, Dr. Brothers served as a management and social policy professor for over a decade at NYU and Rutgers and served as a Visiting Fellow at the Hauser Center at Harvard. He is currently serving as an Honorary Professor of Practice at Queen University in Belfast, Northern Ireland and assisted in the development of the China Global Philanthropy Institute in Beijing.

Dr. Brothers has been a writer with the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Nonprofit Quarterly and the Huffington Post and is an author of several books. He has been interviewed, referenced, or quoted in dozens of local, national and international media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal. Dr. Brothers has spoken to tens of thousands on nonprofit and philanthropic effectiveness.

Dr. Brothers began his work serving in the local community, inspired by growing up in deep poverty, serving as a community organizer and family case manager in urban neighborhoods in the Midwest to leadership positions, including CEO, with local and national organizations on the East Coast. Dr. Brothers is proud that this work leaves a legacy of innovative efforts that still serves every day a wide network of children and families, including homeless women and children receiving emergency services in Northern Virginia, to after-school programs for children in the housing projects in South Brooklyn to transitional housing options for immigrant families in Boston who are suffering from domestic violence.

Senior Fellow

American Enterprise Institute

Tim Carney is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, senior columnist at the Washington Examiner, and the author of four books.
In 2019, Carney released Alienated America: How Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse, and in 2024, Carney released Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than it Needs to Be.

Tim and his wife Katie raise six children in Northern Virginia.

CEO

Majora Carter Group LLC

Majora Carter is a real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, MacArthur Fellow, Peabody Award winning broadcaster and lecturer at Princeton University. She’s responsible for the creation and successful implementation of numerous economic development, technology, green-infrastructure projects, policies and job training & placement systems. Her quote is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture: "Nobody should have to move out of their neighborhood to live in a better one” a version of which is the subtitle of her national bestselling book, Reclaiming Your Community.

Executive Director

RSA US

Alexa leads the RSA US - overseeing research, Fellowship, and thought leadership development across key U.S. cities and regions on topics related to inclusive growth, universal basic income, economic democracy, social connections, the future of work, and creativity and education. She is helping to accelerate cross-city and regional collaboration and grow a distributed network of Fellows for collective impact.

An economic historian and ethnographer by background, Alexa is a leading speaker and expert on subculture and innovation from unlikely places. She is the co-author of the Misfit Economy (Simon & Schuster 2015), a book that explores underground and informal innovation. She is passionate about formalizing insights and learning from social change practitioners and has contributed to theory that has pushed for the application of open source thinking in the social sector.

Previously, Alexa led Wisdom Hackers, an incubator for philosophical inquiry and co-founded the League of Intrapreneurs, a movement to create change from within incumbent systems and big organizations. Alexa has previously held positions heading up research and learning at Ashoka working with leading foundations and social entrepreneurs and as a consultant at SustainAbility Ltd working with Fortune 500 companies.

Alexa has written and appeared in Fast Company, Forbes, Wired, Dazed and Confused, VICE, Harvard Business Review, The New York Times and MTV. She is a regular commentator on topics related to economic transition, misfit subculture, social innovation and technology angst. She received her BA from Brown University and a MSc. from Oxford University.

Alexa is based in western Massachusetts. She has a love of hermits and Walden Pond and is regularly wrangling her twin toddlers.