Wisconsins 51 Most Influential Black Leaders for 2023, Part 5 | Madison365
This is the fifth of a five-part series. Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here and Part Four is here.
Dr. Preston Cherry is the founder & president of Concurrent Financial Planning, head of the financial planning program, and director of the Charles Schwab Center for Personal Financial Planning at the UW – Green Bay. Preston specializes in empowering individuals to share stories that inform their financial resources and life’s design to achieve financial wellness and freedom that cultivates life wholeness. Preston has over 15 years of financial services and academic experience, including financial planning and investment management, published research in top journals, such as Personality and Individual Differences and Journal of Personal Finance, and extensive leadership in the planning profession. His current research surrounds personality traits and financial uncertainty risks, and specializes in financial psychology. Preston has been cited by the New York Times, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and Yahoo Finance. He is an Investopedia 100 Top Financial Advisor, 2022 ThinkAdvisor LUMINARY Finalist, WealthManagement.com Ten to Watch in 2023, President of the Financial Therapy Association, practitioner editor of the award-winning Journal of Financial Planning, and Board Member of the FinServ Foundation.
Samuel E. Liebert currently serves as the Wisconsin State Director for All Voting is Local (AVL), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to dismantling barriers to the ballot box for historically disenfranchised groups. In this capacity, he spearheads initiatives to ensure free, fair, and safe elections, advocating for voter registration without fear of unjust removal, secure ballot casting, and the accurate counting of every vote. Collaborating with coalition partners, Liebert strategically leverages collective power to safeguard the fundamental right to vote. He spent much of his career in local government both in an elected capacity, serving six years on the Janesville City Council and in administrative roles in Sussex, Shorewood Hills, Monroe and Madison. He worked as White House Liaison to the Department of Agriculture under President Obama after working as a field organizer on the Obama campaign. He earned a bachelor’s degree from UW-Whitewater and a master’s from UW-Milwaukee.
Charm Der is a DEI manager of diversity and inclusion at Prevea Health in Green Bay, a role she took on just recently after a stint in a similar role at Sargento. strategist and social impact advocate with over a decade of experience. Charm also serves as the Diversity & Inclusion Director of Sheboygan-area SHRM, as a member of the Board of Directors for Generations Intergenerational Center in Plymouth, WI, a Board Advisor to Above & Beyond Children’s Museum in Sheboygan, and as a member of the Sheboygan LGBTQ+ Alliance. She holds a master’s degree in Education and obtained her Diversity & Inclusion certificate from Cornell University. She serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Director of the Sheboygan area Society for Human Resource Management chapter.
James Bond is the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. Appointed in January 2023, he became the first openly LGBTQ+ person to lead one of Wisconsin’s cabinet agencies. Bond joined DVA in 2010 and served as the administrator of the Divisions of Veterans Benefits and Veteran Services before being appointed deputy secretary in 2019. Prior to his time with DVA, Bond was employed at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development as deputy division administrator in the Divisions of Employment and Training and Family Supports and as bureau director of management services in the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. He served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from 1983-88. After receiving an Honorable Discharge from the Marine Corps, Bond returned to Wisconsin, enrolled at UW-Madison, and earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees. Bond has over three decades of service – service to his country, the State of Wisconsin, and fellow veterans and has dedicated himself to helping others in his professional career opportunities.
Rebecca Cooks is hospitality & student enrichment manager at Upper House, a Madison organization that aims to curate experiences of Christian thinking, being, and doing in the University of Wisconsin community through programs and hospitality. Rebecca has worked at Upper House for six years, joining in 2018 after two years at High Point Church. She is a 2016 graduate of UW-Madison, where she was a member of the Varsity Band.
Corey Marionneaux is founder and CEO of the Black Men Coalition of Dane County, an organization that connects people with jobs after periods of homelessness, incarceration and other difficulties. In addition, BMC provides transportation to/from work and financial literacy, including assisting with opening bank accounts, budgeting and credit repair. Marionneaux has also organized a free summer baseball league for Madison youth for the past two years.
Dr. Roanne Osborne is Vice President of Medical Management at Quartz Health Solutions, serving more than 350,000 members. Dr. Osborne has practiced Family Medicine for over 20 years and held leadership positions in the clinical and payor space over the past 10 years. She has been a Clinical Associate Professor at Brown University in the Department of Family Medicine and has been a Family Medicine advocate to both State legislature for Rhode Island as well as in Washington DC. Dr. Osborne has worked with underserved populations at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and at Duffy Health Center, Massachusetts (Healthcare for the homeless clinic site). She is the immediate Past President of the Dane County Medical Society (Wisconsin), has been President of the Rhode Island Chapter of Family Physicians and has been Co-Chair for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Advisory Panel on Outreach and Education (APOE). She also volunteers with the Madison Metropolitan (WI) Chapter of the Links Incorporated. Dr. Osborne received her Medical Degree from the University of the West Indies, Trinidad, completed her Family Medicine training at the Residency Program in Family and Social Medicine (RPSM) at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York and earned her Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from George Washington University, Washington DC. She is Board Certified in both Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine and is a Certified Physician Executive.
Tiffany Malone is a real estate agent with the Alvarado Group and co-founder of OWN IT: Building Black Wealth, a program that assists Black families become homeowners. Her varied career includes working in insurance for American Family Insurance and Allstate Insurance for several years, and at the state of Wisconsin in Social Security and disability for eight years. She is also on the board of the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin, which recognized her with the Good Neighbor Award in 2022. She graduated from Upper Iowa University with a bachelors in human services and a minor in criminal justice.
Raynetta Hill is executive director of the King Drive Business Improvement District in Milwaukee. Prior to joining the BID, Ray led Wisconsin’s fundraising, property portfolio and wraparound services for CommonBond Communities. She also served as operations manager for a private real estate firm, National Management, overseeing a substantial residential portfolio of multifamily units throughout the state of WI. Ray is not new to the BID nor Bronzeville district, she served as Associate Director for the Historic Business Improvement District No. 8 from 2016–2018 where she focused on revitalization efforts within the commercial corridor while building high level engagement with resident groups, businesses and stakeholders. Ray is a 2016 Associates in Commercial Real Estate Graduate, African American Leadership Program Cohort 10 alumna, Wisconsin Women’s Policy Institute 2018-2019 fellow and is a graduate of Concordia University with Associates of Applied Science degree in Criminal Justice. She serves on numerous boards and is involved in several committees related to local community service and economic impact. In 2019 Ray was appointed by Governor Evers to serve on the Wisconsin Housing Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) and elected Vice Chair by the board in 2021. She is one of the 2021 Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 under 40 awardees and was also awarded the 2021 Young Pioneer by the African American Chamber of Commerce.
Kecia King is a member of the school board in Platteville, just appointed earlier this year. She has previously served as a fourth grade teacher at Westview Elementary School there. She started her career in the US Air Force, ultimately rising to superintendent of personnel programs with Space Command. Her service also allowed her to earn a master’s degree in elementary education at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
Who’d we miss? Email us at news@madison365.org to let us know who should be on the list next year!
Source: Wisconsins 51 Most Influential Black Leaders for 2023, Part 5 | Madison365