Yvonne T. Maddox, Ph.D. Back to top

Yvonne T. Maddox, Ph.D. is President and Chief Executive Officer of the TA Thornton Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to promoting the health and wellness of underserved communities. Dr. Maddox previously served as Vice President for Research and Professor of Allied Health Sciences at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), a part of the Department of Defense, where she oversaw a robust clinical and basic science research portfolio, including infectious diseases, trauma and critical care medicine, health maintenance, post-traumatic stress, and traumatic brain injury. Prior to joining USUHS, Dr. Maddox held many leadership positions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including Acting Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Deputy Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and Acting Deputy Director of the entire NIH.

Throughout her academic and government career, Dr. Maddox has been a champion of issues related to women and children. Among her many accomplishments include leading teams of international scientists in the field of reproductive health as part of bi-lateral agreements between the U.S., India, and Africa; directing the highly recognized NIH program (the Back to Sleep Campaign) to reduce sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); creating the NIH Down Syndrome (DS) Consortium, a federal/private partnership to advance research in DS; and initiating the NIH-funded Well Prepared and Fit for Life childhood obesity reduction programs. Dr. Maddox has numerous research and public policy publications and is a recognized speaker in the area of public trust and community engagement in medical research. She serves on many advisory boards and committees, including the Federal Veteran’s Administration National Research Advisory Committee, the Federal Nutrition Research Advisory Group, and the Black AIDS Institute Scientific Advisory Committee.

Dr. Maddox has received many honors and awards, including the United States Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award (the highest honor for a career civil servant), United States Presidential Meritorious Rank Award, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Career Achievement Award, Public Health Service Special Recognition Award, DHHS Secretary’s Award, NIH Director’s Award (including one that bears her name), National Down Syndrome Society Champion of Change Award, Research Down Syndrome Foundation Light the Way Award, and Induction into the Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Hall of Fame. She is the recipient of several honorary degrees.

Dr. Maddox received her B.S. in biology from Virginia Union University, Richmond, and her Ph.D. in physiology from Georgetown University. She studied as a Visiting Scientist at the French Atomic Energy Commission, Saclay, France and graduated from the Senior Manages in Government Program of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

U.S. Representative Kweisi MfumeBack to top

U.S. Representative Kweisi Mfume (pronounced Kwah-EE-see Oom-FOO-may), proudly serves the residents of Maryland’s 7th District, which includes Baltimore, Baltimore County and Howard County.

Early years
Mfume was born, raised and educated in the city of Baltimore. He attended Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland where as an honors student he graduated magna cum laude. He later returned there to join the staff as an adjunct professor teaching courses in Political Science and Communications. He was voted the University’s 2013 Alumnus of the Year.

By the age of thirty-one he won his first election to the Baltimore City Council. During his seven years of service in local government, he chaired the City Council’s Committee on Health Policy and led the efforts to diversify city government, improve community safety, enhance business development and divest city funds from the then apartheid government of South Africa. He enrolled in and graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 1984, earning a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in International Studies.

Congress (1986-1996)
At the age of thirty-eight, he was decisively elected to the United States Congress to represent Maryland’s 7th District, a seat that he would hold for the next decade during the terms of Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr. and Clinton. As a member of the House of Representatives, Congressman Mfume was served on several committees. He served on the Banking and Financial Services Committee and held the ranking seat on the General Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. He also served as a member of the Committee on Education and helped to impact commerce and industry matters as a senior member of the Small Business Committee. While in his third term, he was chosen by the Speaker of the House to serve on the Ethics Committee and the Joint Economic Committee of the House and Senate where he was later elected Chairman.

Congressman Mfume consistently advocated landmark business and civil rights legislation. He successfully co-sponsored and helped to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, strengthened the Equal Credit Opportunity Law and co-authored and successfully amended the Civil Rights Bill of 1991 to apply its provisions to U.S. citizens working for American-based companies abroad. He also sponsored legislative initiatives banning assault weapons and establishing stalking as a federal crime.

Congressman Mfume served as both Vice-Chair and later Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was regularly designated to preside as Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives. During his fifth term in office, he was appointed by his Caucus as Vice-Chairman for Communications.

NAACP
Kweisi Mfume left his Congressional seat in 1996 to become President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAACP. During his nine years with the organization, he significantly raised the national profile of the NAACP while helping to restore its prominence among the nation’s civil rights organizations. Throughout his tenure he helped establish 75 new college-based NAACP chapters across the nation. In 2000, Mfume worked to negotiate, develop and author the first ever signed Network Television Diversity Agreements with NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. In 2003, he helped negotiate for and successfully secured the NAACP’s official United Nations’ Status as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

Return to Congress
Mfume was sworn-in into the 116th U.S. Congress on May 5, 2020, after winning a special election to fill the remainder of the term after Congressman Elijah Cummings, the incumbent representative (and his friend of 42 years), died in office in October 2019. Mfume currently serves on the House Oversight Committee and the Small Business Committee.

Ms. Chasity Ash Back to top

Ms. Chasity Ash is the Zone 1 Supervisory for the Regional Office of Small Business Utilization. Chasity acts as the Supervisor for GSA Regions 4, 5, 7, & 9 with a team of 10 employees across the 25 states. Chasity serves as the liaison/advisor for the Regional Administrator, Regional Commissioners and Acquisition Management Officials about the Procurement Preference Program.

Prior to working for GSA, Chasity began her career with the federal government as a Contracting Specialist Intern with Department of Defense in 2004. After 7 years as a Warranted Contracting Officer (Level 3 Certified), she took a 10-month developmental assignment with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She spent 3 years as the VA Southeast Region Small Business Manager before join GSA in March 2014.

Chasity was born in Lakeland, FL and moved to Atlanta in 1997 to attended Morris Brown College where she obtained her BA in Mass Media Arts with a Concentration in Public Relations through dual enrollment at Clark Atlanta University. She obtained her Master Degree in Organizational Management in 2004.

She serves a member of the Hands on Atlanta Planning Committee, Board member for the Cobb County Literacy Council, Executive Board Member for The Orchid Project, One 2 One Education, and Small Business Co Chair for National Contract Management Association (NCMA Atlanta Chapter). She is the proud mother of one very active 15yr old son.

Ms. Teresa BillsBack to top

Ms. Teresa Y. Bills is a Project Manager for special projects within the Division of Partnership Investments and Agreements (DPIA) located in ORA Office of Partnerships (OP), Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ms. Bills serves organizationally as an expert in developing, monitoring, implementing, and evaluating current or projected complex, interrelated, regulatory inspection contracts and/or grants with state, local, territorial and Tribal (SLTT) food and drug control agencies. She has also held various managerial positions within OP related to inspections of specified firms, industries, and laboratory examinations of consumer products subject to FDA’s jurisdiction.

Ms. Bills joined FDA in 2009 as an FDA investigator in the New Orleans District Office (NOL-DO) and later served as the State Liaison (SL) and Emergency Response Coordinator, where she oversaw the FDA/State Human and Animal Food contract programs and managed disaster and health outbreaks, respectively. Prior to joining FDA, Ms. Bills served as an Assistant Commissioner for the State of Tennessee and was responsible for acquisitions and contracts statewide. She received a Master of Education in Administration & Supervision and Bachelor of Science in Biology from a HBCU, Tennessee State University. Before joining Federal and State civil service, Teresa managed a Center of Excellence in Pediatric Nephrology focused on recombinant DNA technology for renal physiological studies at Vanderbilt University.

Mr. Elliott KittelBack to top

Mr. Elliott Kittel (he, him, his) is a Staff Scientist at the HHS FDA CVM Office of Research (OR) in the Division of Applied Veterinary Research, supporting projects related to aquaculture. Mr. Kittel was born in the Philippines and raised throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Mr. Kittel is a proud alumnus of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), having completed his BSc. in Aquaculture and Fisheries Sciences in 2010. UAPB is a HBCU land-grant university with an emphasis on agricultural science programs. Mr. Kittel completed his graduate studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, obtaining a MSc. degree in Animal Science. Prior to joining OR, Mr. Kittel worked as a Biologist for the Spokane Tribe of Indians in Washington State, where his duties included advocacy for the protection of the Tribes natural resources. Mr. Kittel formerly served on the American Fisheries Society (AFS) Western Division Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Committee, which assisted with developing the first AFS Meetings Codes of Conduct. At OR, Mr. Kittel currently serves on the OR DE&I Team, which was formed to foster DE&I principles at OR through trainings, group discussions, and newsletters. Mr. Kittel has led an OR Diversity Discussion, two FDA CVM Kitchen Table Talks, and is passionate about DE&I in the workplace and at home.

Ms. Marion V. AllenBack to top

Ms. Marion Allen serves as the Project Manager for the Fresh Produce Branch, Policy and Produce Safety Network teams. In this capacity, Ms. Allen manages, and coordinates programs and activities related to compliance and implementation of the Produce Safety Rule.

Ms. Allen’s broad knowledge and experience as an FDA Field Investigator and Compliance Officer encapsulates her understanding and application of FDA’s food and drug laws. Ms. Allen has over 30 years of experience in food safety and food defense. She has conducted numerous food safety and food defense domestic and international workshops in collaboration with industry and government. Ms. Allen was instrumental in the development of Food Defense Training Tools and Food Defense Assignments to include HHS and FDA National Political Conventions and the Presidential Inauguration Exercises.

Ms. Allen has a B.S. in Community Health Education from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL and completed graduate studies in Public Health Administration. Ms. Allen is a proud parent of a HBCU Alum from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

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