Melody Joiner
President
A dedicated and compassionate Human Services Professional with more than 18 years of progressive, wide-range experience. This expands over a series of social services committed to improving the quality of life of individuals in need and helping organizations perform at an optimal level. She is known to possess the knowledge and skillset that gives allowance to understand people, both as individuals and within groups; having a knowledge of varied factors in human behavior. She is familiar with human development, how culture and society impact behavior and the influence of economic structures on human behavior. An individual who is adaptable to any environment and possesses the capacity to fill a variety of roles all of which are designed to create optimal patterns for the people and organizations relevant to the world of human services.
Larika Johnson
Secretary
With over 24 years of experience in the health care field and an emphasis in customer service and billing. She has a record of attaining and exceeding company goals through detailed, focused and innovative problem solving. As an experienced professional she has developed creative strategies that have promoted leadership and outstanding results. She has worked with Aurora to enhance their employee incentive program. Larika is the mother of 3 daughters and is currently working to become a foster parent to help enhance the lives of youth in the foster care system. Due to her many proven accomplishments, Larika’s experience will only prove to enhance the mission and vision of Butterflyz LLC.
NeBritt Herring
Vice-president
A leader in education for 20+ years; demonstrating unyielding passion and drive that positively impacts Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). She uniquely offers well-rounded and multi-faceted experience in middle and high school education as an Assistant Principal In-Charge. NeBritt is known for cultivating an environment that motivates students to succeed academically and personally. She excels in supervising staff and managing day-to-day operations of an urban middle and high school. She also holds high expectations and accountability of self her staff to exceed top standards in student achievement. NeBritt is the proud mother of a 16-year old Rufus King IB High School student and is heavily involved in her church and surrounding community. She is a 22-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Larina Hightower
Board Member
Originally from Kankakee, Illinois moved to Milwaukee in 1993. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Educational Policy and Community Studies. She later went on to receive a Master’s of Science in Exceptional Education. Larina taught in Milwaukee Public Schools for 15 years as a special education teacher. In this field she has learned that the parents of the students she taught needed to be empowered and have access to necessary resources. This started a journey to empower mothers with the hopes of affecting the entire family. She is co-founder of Caring for the Community where she works with pregnant women and mothers to ensure they have access to resources in the community. She is the co-owner of Home away From Home Living Center a facility that houses youth in out of home care. Most recently she has founded Building Youth Assessment Center an emergency shelter for youth in out of home care. Larina states that her mission in life is to enhance the lives of the families she works with.
Baboonie Tatum
Board Member
Affectionately known as Bobbi by her friends and family has lived in Milwaukee all of her Life. She is a product of Milwaukee Public Schools and earned her Bachelors Degree from Mount Mary College. She has always indulged herself in the needs of her community through volunteering, housing youth in foster care and actively participating in her children’s school. She started Caring for the Community in 2011 to assist mothers with obtaining necessary resources needed for their families. Caring for the Community is a non- profit organization whose mission is to ensure that pregnant girls and women have access to the resources in their community to ensure their family will have a successful outcome. She serves as the Program Manager at Home Away From Home Living Center a facility that houses youth in out of home care. Most recently she has opened Rise and Grind Café with a mission to be a community hub where customers can get a good meal and be connected to resources within the community.
Susan Gadacz, MA
Board Member
Ms. Gadacz has over 35 years’ experience in health and human services at the national, state, county, and local nonprofit levels. This experience has involved mental health and substance use disorders (SUD), community health centers, economic support, workforce development, child welfare, maternal and child health, and Medicaid. Ms. Gadacz worked for the State of Wisconsin and as a county provider of behavioral health and economic support services in Wisconsin and her home state of Indiana. Her areas of expertise include trauma-informed care, women-specific and family-centered SUD treatment, severe mental illness, Medicaid home- and community-based waivers, problem-solving drug courts, as well as systems of care and strategic planning. As the first president of the Women’s Services Network (WSN) of the National Association of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), Ms. Gadacz oversaw publication of Guidance to States: Treatment Standards for Women with Substance Use Disorders to address the unique needs of women with SUD and their children. She seeks the opinions of individuals with lived experience as credible messengers in developing programming, policy, and evaluation strategies.
Ms. De Shell Parker
Board Member
De Shell Parker currently serves as Director of Youth Justice for Milwaukee County’s Children,
Youth and Family Services (CYFS) – which is the Children’s Service Area of the Department of
Health & Human Services (DHHS). Prior to this role, she oversaw the Quality Management area
of CYFS.
Her comprehensive experience includes development, implementation, and sustainment of the
CYFS Quality Management area, along with the realization and advancement of Continuous
Quality Improvement (CQI) processes, policies, procedures, and strategic planning for several
public and private organizations. She served as a Systems Review Leader in conjunction with
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Peabody Research Institute, Georgetown Public Policy
Institute, and remains an ongoing coach and advocate for system change.
She is recognized as a national expert in youth justice reform, having facilitated webinars with
the Urban Institute Justice Center and Council of State Governments Justice Center on topics
relating to Implementation of Evidence Based Practices in Youth Justice. She has worked in
partnership with the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice in justice
transformation projects, including the facilitation of workshops and training institutes. De Shell
has also been a panel member for productions by the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP) and the Milwaukee Public Broadcast Station (PBS).
De Shell is deeply committed to the young people in the community she serves, where she was
also born and raised. She began her career with public serving entities in the Milwaukee area,
providing an array of services from case management to mentoring, to training and supervision.
She often refers to the youth in the community as “our babies,” which she believes should not
only motivate us toward better outcomes but should anchor and unite us all in the fight to
improve the lives of “our babies.” While De Shell no longer works directly with the young people,
she continues to work and fight for them.
De Shell is a product of Milwaukee Public Schools, holds a Master of Science Degree in
Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College and a second Master’s of
Social Work Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is also a Certified Advanced
Practice Social Worker in the State of Wisconsin and an internationally accredited Life Coach,
with specialty coaching designations in spirituality, executive and emotional intelligence. She is
currently pursuing certification as a yoga instructor.
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