Board Members

Phillis Filer is a native Floridian who has lived in Gainesville since August 1974. She received
her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Florida and Masters in Library Science from
Florida State University.  She is currently Public Services Administrator in charge of the Branch
Libraries for the Alachua County Library District. She has been employed with the Alachua
County Library District for 43 plus years. Phillis is a member of numerous civic and community
organizations, including the Alachua-Central District Lay Organization and the East Conference Lay Organization of the AME Church, Florida Library Association, and Springhill Neighborhood Association. She is the recipient of the Anvil Award and the Hall of Fame Award from the 11th Episcopal District Lay Organization. She is a member of Mount Olive AME. Church where she serves in varying capacities. Her interests and hobbies include collecting African American figurines, reading, traveling, and mentoring young people.

Vivian Filer is a long-time resident of Gainesville, Florida.  Her professional career includes
employment at Shands Teaching Hospital as both a Nursing Assistant and a Registered Nurse
and at Santa Fe College as a professor of nursing.  Vivian has served on a remarkably diverse
number of committees, boards, and auxiliaries often as chair or president.  She is also co-
founder of the Springhill Neighborhood Association, and the Greater Gainesville Black Nurses
Association. In her present role, she is founder and Chair of the Board of the Cotton Club
Museum and Cultural Center. Vivian’s leadership role started and flourished at Mt. Olive
AME Church where she has served all her adult life. Vivian enjoys singing with her sisters in the a’ capella trio known as the Washington Sisters and entertaining audiences of all age with her story telling skill.  She is the widow of Delano Filer Sr. and the mother of two sons, four
grandsons and two granddaughters.

Malcolm Kiner currently serves as the Vice President of Real Estate Development for the
Gainesville Housing Authority. He comes back to Gainesville after serving as an Urban
Development Manager with the City of Tampa where he acted in the capacity of the West
Tampa – Drew Park Community Redevelopment Manager for 3 years.  Kiner is a 2008 alum of
the National Urban Fellows Program that develops professionals to be leaders and change
agents in the public and nonprofit sectors.   He received his Master’s in Public Administration in August 2008 from Bernard M. Baruch College School of Public Affairs and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida.
 

Kiner is active in his church and community, volunteering as a mentor, and working as a
volunteer with nonprofit organizations.

Deloris Rentz is a retired educator who taught in the public schools of Pinellas and Alachua
Counties for more than thirty years. She currently serves as a community research coordinator
with Dr. Carolyn Tucker’s Health-Smart Program through the Health Disparities Research and
Intervention Program at the University of Florida. She is a member of the Gainesville (FL)
Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, where she has served as parliamentarian, financial
secretary, VP for programs, and VP for membership. She is a member of the board for Caring
and Sharing Learning School, a charter school in Gainesville, and attends Open Door Ministries in Gainesville where she serves as director of several ministries. She is the recipient of several community awards. Her interests and hobbies include the theater, collecting African American art and artifacts, and mentoring children and young adults.

Dr. Allison is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She attended Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts and then Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She completed specialty training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Wayne State Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Allison has practiced medicine in Chicago, Phoenix, Arizona and Durham, North Carolina. She retired when she moved to Gainesville in 2020.

Dr. Allison is active in many volunteer activities. She is a Docent for the Harn Museum on the University of Florida’s campus. Realizing the importance of the next generation, she is a mentor for Take Stock in Children. She is also a member of the League of Women Voters. Dr. Allison’s interests include African Art and mid-twentieth century African-American art. She is an avid reader as well. She is the mother of three and the grandmother of one.

Sherry DuPree is a retired professor, author, archivist and curator who was born and
raised in North Carolina. She has served as a reference librarian and professor at Bethune
Cookman University, the University of Florida and Santa Fe College. DuPree has used her skills to interview, gather and preserve African American Holiness-Pentecostal history with the largest collection at the Library of Congress Manuscript Division. She enjoyed two terms on the Matheson Historical Museum Board of Directors and has lived in Gainesville since 1977 with her husband, Herb -- raising three sons.

Evelyn Foxx is passionate about addressing racial discrimination and political, social,
and economic inequity and injustice to ensure the rights of all people.  Evelyn joined the
Alachua County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) 22 years ago when she moved to Gainesville.  Today, she serves as
president of that organization, a position she has held since 2010.
 
Evelyn has used the power and prestige of the NAACP to support many causes and
address many issues, including the school to prison pipeline and racial discrimination
and mistreatment by local businesses and government officials.
 
Evelyn has served as a member of the City of Gainesville Parks and Recreation Board
and was a founding member and chair of the Digital Divide Committee where she led
the push to open computer labs in east Gainesville.  She served as Chairwoman of the
Gainesville Housing Authority and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Girls
Place, Inc.
 
Evelyn has been named the Alachua County Democrat of the Year and has received
the Santa Fe College Women of Distinction Award and the Florida State Conference
NAACP Award.

Dr. McDade Gordon is Professor Emerita, Geography and African Studies,
University of Florida. She is an affiliate faculty member in the Center for the Arts,
Migration, and Entrepreneurship (CAME) in the College of Arts and serves on the UF
African American Studies Advisory Committee. She is a founding director of the African
and African American Studies Historical Society, Inc., a member of the Alachua County
African American History Task Force, Past-President of the Retired Faculty of the
University of Florida, and Secretary of the United Nations Association Gainesville
Chapter.
She received her Bachelor of Arts from Texas Southern University; Master of
Community & Regional Planning, and Ph.D.from University of Texas at Austin. She was
a Visiting Scholar at the University of Ghana 2012-2014. Her current research focus is
on the Global African Diaspora. She is a Fulbright Scholar and a founding member of
the African Studies Association of Africa
(ASAA). 
​
Dr. McDade Gordon has traveled throughout Africa pursuing her research and teaching
interests; and has also visited the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Canada, and the
Caribbean. She is married to Dr. Jacob U. Gordon, and they share a blended family of
six children and three grandchildren.

Dr. Mingo is a retired educator with 30 plus years of experience teaching, counseling,
advising, and preparing young adults for success in secondary and postsecondary
educational institutions. In his retirement years, he is still helping students and
parents to learn strategies and success behaviors that aid in their educational
pursuits. His interests include traveling domestically and internationally, attending and
supporting the AME Church, advocating for Florida A&M University(FAMU), gardening,
officiating track and field events, learning foreign languages, and exercising, eating well,
and living well.

Katherine Peck received her Bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a Master’s in Business Administration from Yale University School of Management.  For most of her career, Katherine worked in healthcare administration.  She was the Associate Dean of Financial Services for the University of Florida College of Medicine, the Executive Associate Dean of Administration and Financial Services for the Indiana University School of Medicine and the COO of the University of Virginia School of Medicine.  From 2010 to 2011, Katherine was the National Chair of the Group on Business Affairs of the American Association of Medical Colleges.  Upon retirement from the University of Virginia, Katherine, with her husband, returned to Gainesville to be near her daughter and son-in-law.  Katherine is currently on the finance committee of the Charlottesville Free Clinic and is a Board member of the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center.  Katherine joined the Board of Alachua Habitat for Humanity due to her strong belief that affordable housing is a right for everyone.

Dr. Jon Reiskind was born and grew up on Staten Island, New York.  He received his A.B. from
Amherst College and PhD from Harvard University in Biology, studying spider evolution,
behavior, and ecology. He is a former president of the American Archeological Society. He has lived in Gainesville for almost 50 years and is a retired UF faculty member. He was former
president of the local faculty union and chair of the Alachua County Democratic Party (2004 to
2012).  He currently co-chairs the Community Coalition for Older Adults and is on the boards of the Institute for Learning in Retirement, the Alachua County Library Foundation, and the Retired Faculty of the University of Florida. He is the father of two children and grandfather of five.

Otis Stover is a lifelong resident of Gainesville who grew up next door to the Cotton Club in
Gainesville’s Springhill neighborhood. He is a graduate of Santa Fe College, a retired
corrections professional, and a criminal justice educator. He is an avid history buff, especially
African American history. Currently, he is vice president of the Lincoln High School Alumni
Association and a member of the board of trustees for Mt. Olive AME Church.

Dr. Perkins was born and raised in Florida. She earned a Master’s degree in Education
from Francis Marion University, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Florida
State University, and a PhD in Humanities. She is a former classroom teacher and
Teach For America corps member, with extensive experience in culturally relevant
pedagogy, literacy advocacy, and community-based education. Dr. Perkins currently
works in the nonprofit sector and serves as a consultant for grassroots and community
organizations focused on education equity, mental health, reentry services, and
economic justice. She is a project leader with the University of Florida Grass Scholars
program, where her work centers on African American history, language, and cultural
preservation. Dr. Perkins has lived and worked in Gainesville for many years and is
deeply committed to preserving Black history and uplifting East Gainesville communities
through education, storytelling, and public humanities work.

Jacquelyn Collins is a wife, mother, and grandmother of one granddaughter. She is a
lifelong resident of Gainesville, Florida, and grew up near Joseph Williams Elementary
School on 7 th Ave. Jacquelyn is a 1968 graduate of Lincoln High School, “Big Red
Fighting Terriers,” and graduated in 1973 from Santa Fe Community College with an AA
degree. Jacquelyn is a retired Administrative Assistant from the department of
Anesthesiology at the Shands Teaching Hospital for 30 years. And an almost 11-year
retiree of the Alachua County Public Schools.

Jacquelyn continues to volunteer at several schools in the county. She has been
awarded “Volunteer of the Year” for two (2) consecutive years. She has also served as
a Mentor at M.K. Rawlings Elementary School for several years. She is an active
member of the Lincoln High School Alumni Association, and the Alachua County
Chapter of The Charmettes, Inc., where she currently serves as Chaplain. She
continues to serve on the board of directors for the Christian Family Services (CFS) that
assists babies, mothers, and families in crisis.

Dr. Haywood is a native Floridian from West Palm Beach with 15 years of experience
directing community engagement programs at nonprofit media organizations in Atlanta,
Georgia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has served on numerous governance
boards, including those of Radio Free Georgia, the Alliance for Community Media, the
People’s Media Record, Media Burn, and the People’s Media Fund. His interest in
museum work was deeply inspired by his early-career experience in the National
Museum Fellows Program at the Atlanta History Center.
In 2024, Dr. Haywood became a journalism assistant professor at the University of
Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications.  As an award-winning published
scholar, Dr. Haywood passionately develops collaborative research projects that
advance civic media initiatives, preserve community histories, and provide valuable
learning opportunities for students. 
Dr. Haywood enjoys collecting vinyl records, exploring Florida wetlands, and spending
quality time with his wife, Jill, and daughter, Ava.