Board Member
Wilbert Butler, Jr.
Wilbert Butler, Jr. is a native of Havana and 1973 graduate of Havana Northside High. He is an associate professor in the Science and Mathematics Division at Tallahassee Community College (TCC) and presently chairs the Havana Community Development Corporation, Inc. board. Dr. Butler received his BS in Zoology from the University of Florida, his MS in Molecular Biology from Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University, and his Ph.D. in Science Education from Florida State University. He has been a biology teacher at the high school, community college, and university levels, including stints as a science educator at Florida A&M University and Bainbridge Community College.
In 2009, Dr. Butler was awarded the Innovation Generation grant as the principal investigator through TCC. The grant was awarded by the Motorola Foundation to provide help in science instructions and supplies for Havana Elementary School (HES). During the 2009-2010 school term, he was voted volunteer of the year as a result of his effort to bring science to HES. From 2008 to present, Dr. Butler has conducted professional development activities for science teachers and students engaging in activities and discussions to aid students' understanding of science concepts at Havana Elementary, West Gadsden High and East Gadsden High Schools. Additionally, he has acted as the principal and co-principal investigator of the STEM Star program funded by a $460,000 grant awarded by the National Science Foundation to Tallahassee Community College from 2006 to 2017. Contact: wbj17@hotmail.com or (850) 251.0436
Shirley Bryant
Shirley Bryant is a 1972 graduate of Havana Northside High School. She is a retired Law Enforcement Officer of 33 years with the City of Tallahassee Police Department.
While employed at TPD she served in multiple positions: Executive Secretary, Parking Enforcement Technician; Community Service Officer and the Drug Screening Policy Processor for Taxicab and Transportation drivers and companies in Tallahassee and the Director of the Tallahassee Police Rejoice Singers Gospel Choir under the leadership of Walt McNeil, Chief of Police 1990-2014.
Shirley has received a plethora of awards and kudos while employed with the City of Tallahassee Police Department to include the Jack A "Jack" Madigan Committee of 99 Good Citizen Award for initiating CPR and successfully resuscitating and saving an Infant life after the infant was removed from a burning vehicle on September 12, 1989; 2002 Rejoice Singers Director Outstanding Commitment Award; 2005 Rejoice Singers Outstanding Leadership Award; 2009 Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons Ministry Golden Star Award; 2007 Tallahassee Branch NAACP Black Achievers Award and the 2007 City of Tallahassee Police Department Going Beyond the Call Award.
Shirley is the former owner of Encore Unisex Hair Salon and Encore Fine Hats & Accessories of Tallahassee, Florida. She is currently enrolled with the Billionaire Sisterhood Consultant Academy where she is seeking a Certificate of Completion in Independent Dispatch, Freight and Brokerage. She served as the President for the Havana Northside High School Class of 1972 for 10 years and now is the Vice President. Additionally, she serves as HCDC Director of Events Planning and coordinates all special fundraising activities for HCDC since 2009.
Daisy Byrd
Daisy Byrd is a 1971 graduate of Havana High School which is the only class that graduated from HHS as a result of integration. She attended Lively Vo-Technical School after high school where she studied nursing and graduated in 1972.
Ms. Bird retired as a licensed practical nurse II from Tallahassee Regional Medical Center (TMH) after 37.5 yearsof service. Additionally, she is a member of the TMH Retirement group.
Since retiring, she has remained active through public service opportunities ranging from serving as a bereavement counselor to serving as a poll worker for local elections.
Catherine Chandler
Catherine Chandler was valedictorian of the Northside High Class of 1968. She continued her education at Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University majoring in Clothing and Retail. After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree, she was designated as a certified public manager through a program at Florida State University. She has held numerous positions over the years with increasing levels of responsibility and managerial authority: bookkeeper with Lewis State Bank; management positions at the Florida Departments of Labor, Children and Families and Juvenile Justice and the Florida Commission on Offender Review. Most recently she has served as a Consultant with the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Ms. Chandler has received recognition for her volunteer services, academic abilities as a member of the National Honor Society and was given a monetary award for her recommendations on saving the State of Florida money on its payroll process. In the community, she has held the position of PTA president, School Advisory Council chairperson and District County Council president at both Havana Elementary and East Gadsden High School.
Otto Colston
Mr. Colston is a 1968 graduate of Northside High school and worked as a city letter carrier for the United States Postal Service for 40 years. He spent 2 years as a Specialist Fourth Class in the Army and was awarded the Purple Heart for combat injuries sustained in Vietnam. Mr. Colston spends his leisure time as a league bowler which he has done for the past 30 plus years.
Allene Jackson-Milton
Ms. Jackson-Milton is a graduate of the Class of 1978, Havana Northside High School. She graduated with an Associate in Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Tallahassee Community College
Allene Jackson-Milton is the first African American female to retire as a Lieutenant with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement / Capitol Police.
Since retiring she spends her time developing and selling affinity soaps and manufacturing personal household cleansing products.
Antonio Jefferson
Antonio Jefferson currently serves as City Manager of the City of Gretna Florida, a position he has held since 2006, and is a 1984 graduate of Northside High School.
Mr. Jefferson began his career in public service in 1983 when he joined United States Army Reserve. In November 1984, Mr. Jefferson left the Army Reserves and joined the United States Marine Corp where he served on active and reserve duty. During his tenure in the Marine Corps he served as an Infantryman, Training Chief, and Administration Chief. After his active duty service concluded in 1988, Mr. Jefferson began a career in law enforcement and served the citizens of the state of Florida as a Correctional Officer (rising to the rank of Sergeant) with the Florida Department of Corrections, a Deputy Sheriff, Investigator, and Sergeant with the Leon County Sheriff's Department, Law Enforcement Investigator with the Florida State Fire Marshall's Office, and, subsequently, Police Chief of the City of Gretna Police Department.
Mr. Jefferson received a Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration from Barry University and a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Phoenix. He is a member of the: International City/County Management Association, the Florida City & County Management Association, and serves on the board of directors for Opportunity Florida, Gadsden County Economic Development Council, Big Bend Minority Chamber of Commerce, Big Bend Habitat for Humanity, and the Havana Community Development Council.
Harold Knowles
Harold Knowles is the managing shareholder in Knowles and Randolph, the oldest African-American owned law firm in continuous existence in Florida. He assumes responsibility for the firm's real estate, probate, bond finance and local government law practices.
Mr. Knowles is a product of the public school system of Leon County, Florida, where he, along with two other black students, integrated its schools in 1963. Following graduation from Leon High School he enrolled in Florida State University and subsequently in the Florida State University College of Law, where he was a recipient of the Herbert H. Lehman Foundation Scholarship for three (3) years. Upon completion of his legal training and receipt of his Juris Doctorate he was employed as an Assistant Attorney General by the Florida Department of Legal Affairs.
In 1974 he opened his law practice and has been engaged in the private practice of law since. He serves and has served as the City Attorney for the City of Gretna, Florida for over 40 years.
He has served two terms on the Second Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission and one term on the Florida Bar Grievance Committee for the Second Circuit.
His numerous civic affiliations (both current and past) include serving on the Board of Directors of Capital City Bank, membership on the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center Authority, the Tallahassee Downtown Improvement Authority and the Northwest Florida Black Business Investment Corporation Board. In 1999 he was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to serve on the State of Florida Lottery Commission; in 2001, he was appointed by Governor Bush to serve on the Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission and, subsequently, to the Board of Trustees of Florida State University, where he served for eight (8) years. In 2010, Mr. Knowles was appointed by Florida's then Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to the Board of Governors of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, one of the largest property and casualty insurance companies in the nation and the largest property insurer in Florida.
Donna L. Salters
Donna L. Salters, is a 1979 graduate of Northside High School, Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology (Minor in Public Administration) and an Associate's Degree from Tallahassee Community College. Ms. Salters is currently employed at Florida A & M University as a Business Development Training & Education Specialist in the Office of the Cooperative Extension.
As the Operations Manager & Consultant for the Division of Real Estate and Government Analysis she served as supervisor for several licensing boards regarding license issuance and regulation. Ms. Salters served as research associate at Florida State University, Center for Leadership & Civic Education Florida Learn & Serve Program where she worked on the grant awards committee for service learning projects. She later served as membership officer for several not-for-profit organizations that focused on child abuse prevention, parent education and political action for children.
She is the owner of DLS Enterprises of Havana, LLC which specializes in product development, overseas production/manufacturing, licensing and sales for collegiate products including those for sororities, fraternities and practice Real Estate with the Tallahassee Board of Realtors.
With more than 25 years of experience in program development, small business education, financial management, business plan writing, and as a consultant, she has been successful in helping hundreds of clients write business plans and obtain licenses to start or expand a business. She is a Certified Network for Teaching Entrepreneurs (NFTE) Instructor Realtor helping families with the home buying, selling or real estate investing. She is currently a member of the Tallahassee, Florida and National Board of Realtors, and serves on the Havana Community Development Corporation Board of Directors and Havana Main Street Board of Directors; and Havana History & Heritage Society (Havana Shade Tobacco Museum). Contact donnasalters@yahoo.com or 850.284.3622
Cynthia Seaborn-Jenkins
Dr. Cynthia Seaborn-Jenkins is a researcher and behavioral specialist with a concentrating on chronic disease and the association of food education and genomics - family history.
Dr. Seaborn-Jenkins holds a Master's degree in Public Administration, and a Doctorate in Public Health. Her areas of concentration are cancer, diabetes and nutrition and food preparation education as well as gardening - sustainable living skills. She also holds a certificates in Diabetes Self-Management Education, Chronic Disease Self-Management Education, food and nutrition education and the FAMU Master Gardener small farmers education.
She has extensive knowledge of Aquaponics, Hydroponics, Micro-greens, crop rotation and basic hemp production education. Dr. Seaborn has a certificate and banking and financing and she does a number of board education trainings for nonprofit organizations.
Dr. Seaborn- Jenkins is also a program evaluation and program consultation who sits on a number of nonprofit organization's board, including the Gadsden County Health Council. She has been working in the Gadsden County community for over 30 years.
Kimberly Williams
Kimberly Williams is President & CEO of RussTech Language Services, Inc. (www.russtechinc.com) A full-service company specializing in advance communications support in more than 40 languages and dialects.
After 10 years in management, she acquired ownership of RussTech in 2019. RussTech is now celebrating 28 years of interpreting and translation services, supporting international activities between the United States and other foreign language speaking countries where necessary. It also maintains contracts with state and local governments, non-profits, schools and universities serving immigrant populations with limited English proficiency.
All of those experiences prepared her for consulting with businesses and training professionals in the areas of consensus and team building, organization, corporate planning, bridge building and community outreach.