RISE Academy Welcomes New Board Members
RISE Academy (seeusrise.org) recently welcomed four new board members, including Naomi Hattaway, Dr. Mark Foxall, W. Todd Wallace, and Ava Thomas. They will help guide the mission and activities of RISE in bridging the journey from incarceration back into the community via character development, employment readiness, entrepreneurship, and case management.
Hattaway is passionate about community building, diversity and accessibility in online and physical spaces, and affordable housing so folks can thrive, not just survive, in the places they call home. The founder of I Am A Triangle, an international social network, Hattaway now consults nonprofits and organizations on inclusive program design, equity and housing solutions. Dr. Foxall is a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska Omaha where he received his Ph.D. He joined the staff at the Douglas County Department of Corrections in 2000 and began serving as their director in 2011 until his retirement in 2018.
Johnson is a cogent thought leader and community-growth professional proficient in organizational leadership, team building, workforce psychology and the science of strengths-based career development. He is past global channel leader of entrepreneurship and job creation at Gallup and is current senior vice president of economic development at the Greater Omaha Chamber. Thomas is the President and Publisher of the Lincoln Journal Star and has over 25 years of experience in the industry, having worked her way up from a classified ad-taker to the president of the company. For more information about RISE Academy, visit seeusrise.org.