Founding Director

President

Treasurer and
Executor of the EK Estate

Janice J. Knight-Mooney retired after dedicating 27 years to the Army Finance and Accounting Service. Knight-Mooney is currently a case manager for community action of Greater Indianapolis.

Members

Rochelle Babiker, former Federal Employee and day care provider for youth ages newborn to 18 years old. Rochelle works with developmentally challenged youth and has strong organizational skills and is actively involved in women's groups and prison ministries.

Luther E. Bowens, Jr. is Chief Executive Officer of Bowens Management/ Alis Records (Gospel productions). An advocate of youth, Bowens is responsible for developing and sponsoring youth programs and groups. He is employed by a large school system as System Administration Manager/ Network Analyst.

Norbert Krapf, poet, directed the Poetry Center of Long Island University for 18 years and taught English on the University level for 37 years. He has published 19 books, won numerous awards, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2002.

Clete Ladd, educator and poet, is founder of Men Allied for Leadership Empowerment (MALE) and Rites of Passage. An educational consultant, Ladd has published various articles as well as African American Male Rites of Passage, Volumes One and Two, Inside Ancient Egypt, and The Barbershop.

Mary McClain is a consultant/Small Business Management. McClain holds a B.A. from Indiana University in Business Management/Marketing and attend the IU School of Philanthropy. McClain's hobbies include performing: acting, singing, dancing. McClain is also the coordinator for the Gospel play, "The Rock Cries."

Brian Robinson, performing artist, is a pharmacy technician.   He is an alumnus of the Asante Children's Theatre and is on the board of directors for Fathers and Families Resource Services, Inc. Robinson also works diligently with the 100 Black Men.

Khabir Shareef, national storyteller and actor, has performed for numerous national organizations, schools, libraries, museums, and others throughout the Midwest. The founder of the Griot Drum Ensemble, a four-member West African-American percussion group, Khabir the Storyteller presents traditional African and American folktales and first-person presentations. Shareef believes "communities are built and maintained through the medium of storytelling - people come to know who they are through shared stories, old and new."

Ken Skeleton has over 25 years in visual communications, community networking, photography and web site content management. Actively involved in and knowledgeable of the Indianapolis community, Skeleton currently is published or the Indy Outlook - An Online Community News Source.

Advisory Board

Cassandra L. Donald, poet, is senior manager at an international express mailing company.

J.L. Kato, poet, has a degree in journalism and a certificate in film studies. An award winning poet, he has also reviewed movies, books, and recordings. Kato hosts open mics and is a volunteer for the Family Support Center and various libraries in the city.

Karen Kovacik is Director of Creative Writing at IUPUI. She is the recipient of a number of awards, including a guest fellowship at the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Creative Writing, an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Fellowship, and a Fulbright Research Grant to Poland. Her latest book of poems is Metropolis Burning (Cleveland State, 2005), and earlier collections include Beyond the Velvet Curtain (Kent State, 1999) and Nixon and I (Kent State, 1998). At the age of 40, she also began to experiment with writing fiction, and her poems and stories have appeared in Salmagundi, Chelsea, Glimmer Train, Massachusetts Review, and Indiana Review.