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Personality: Brian Palmer
Spotlight on 2019 Peabody Award-winning journalist
Richmond-based journalist Brian Palmer, whose career has taken him around the globe, has won a prestigious Peabody Award, which recognizes and honors the most enlightening and powerful stories, documentaries, radio and television shows and podcasts about pressing social issues of the day.
Personality: Bianca Stewart Williams
Spotlight on board president of Dress For Success Central Virginia
Whether it’s finding profes- sional attire for a job interview or receiving a guiding hand to stay employed, Bianca Stewart Williams is making sure area women are well-equipped and prepared for the world of work. Ms. Williams has been lead- ing Dress for Success Central Virginia as its board president since 2018, bringing to the community the not-for-profit organization’s mission of em- powering women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of sup- port, professional attire and development tools to help them thrive personally and professionally. “Thousands are disadvan- taged and need resources to gain employment and economic status,” Ms. Williams says. “Our purpose is to offer long- lasting solutions that enable women to break the cycle of poverty.” Ms. Williams joined Dress for Success in November 2015, three years after the Central Virginia affiliate was started. She says she was a client at first. After being displaced from her job, she volunteered helping women with suit fittings and started using the organiza- tion’s Career Services program, which provides help with career coaching, résumé reviews, job searches and interview practice. She landed a new job, and from that point, Ms. Williams says, Dress for Success has been “near and dear to my heart.” Currently, Dress for Success Central Virginia operates from 210 E. Clay St. in Downtown. But Ms. Williams wants to find a building the organization can
Personality: Vanessa Evans
Spotlight on president of the Richmond Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Sorority life is a point of pride for Vanessa Evans.
Personality: Dr. Audra Yuki-Wright Jones
Spotlight on board president of the Virginia Dental Association Foundation
Dr. Audra Yuki-Wright Jones is helping put a bright smile on the faces of Virginians.
Personality: Jessica B. Brooks
Spotlight on Peter Paul Development Center board chair
Four years ago, Jessica B. Brooks joined the board of the Peter Paul Development Center after hearing her husband speak of the East End facility’s positive impact during his youth.
Personality: Taylor R. Scott
Spotlight on founder of RVA Community Fridge
For the last four months, Taylor RaShon Scott has been working to help meet the Richmond community’s need for food during the pandemic.
Personality: James Harris Jr.
Spotlight on founder of Men to Heal
James Harris Jr. knows the trials and tribulations of the therapy experience.
Personality: Amy Black
Spotlight on Pink Ink Fund founder
Amy Black fell in love with tattoo art after getting her first tattoo as a college student at Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio.
Personality: Charlene J. Whitfield
Spotlight on Greater Richmond Partnership board chair
In 2017 Charlene Whitfield became part of a group that brings business to the Richmond area in an effort to ensure economic opportunity for workers. Ms. Whitfield, who then was employed at Dominion Energy, was selected to represent the company at the Greater Richmond Partnership, which provides resources for new businesses in the region, creates quality jobs and increases the tax base for community services.
Personality: Rhonda Keyes Pleasants
Spotlight on chair of Family Representative Council of East Marshall Street Well Project
Rhonda Keyes Pleasants entered the funeral industry in 1996 and became a fully licensed funeral director and embalmer in December 2000.
Personality: Dr. Phillip B. Duncan
Spotlight on cardiologist, leader of ‘Spirit of the Heart’
Dr. Phillip Benteley Duncan will go to any lengths — or to be more specific, any heights — to raise awareness about heart failure. The Chester cardiologist plans to climb the 19,340-foot Uhuru Peak on Mt. Kilimanjaro — the highest point on the African continent — in August. He’s undertaking the heart-pumping ascent in Tanzania with his daughter, Erica, and two other people to raise funds for the Association of Black Cardiologists’ (ABC) Heart Failure Awareness Project. Dr. Duncan plans to begin the climb at Mt. Kilimanjaro on Aug. 23 with guides and other support team members and hopes to complete it by Aug. 29.
Personality: Dr. Charles L. Shannon III
Spotlight on state chair for anniversary of Million Man March
Dr. Charles L. Shannon III sees himself as a man on a divine mission
Personality: Savon Shelton Sampson
Spotlight on president of the Junior League of Richmond
As 2020 begins, Savon Shelton Sampson is readying for an “exciting” new year serving as president of the Junior League of Richmond.
Personality: Gilbert W. Wilkerson Sr.
Spotlight on president of Coalition Against Urban Violence
Christmas is a time for faith, family and counting blessings. But for someone who has had a loved one tragically taken from them through violence, the season can be full of pain and sorrow.
Personality: Allison Kay Coles-Johnson
Spotlight on co-chair of F.A.C.T.S., Finding a Cure Together 4 Sickle Cell
Allison Kay Coles-Johnson is half a million dollars away from bringing new hope and opportunity to thousands of Virginians and millions of others across the world.
Michael Jackson’s nephew to star in King of Pop biopic
Michael Jackson’s 26-year-old nephew, Jaafar Jackson, will play the King of Pop in the planned biopic “Michael” to be directed by Antoine Fuqua.
Former state registrar had no ‘personal decision’ in same-gender law
I am writing to address what I consider an inaccurate representation of my making a personal decision to deny same-gender parents’ names on a birth certificate. This representation, announcing the retirement of Janet Rainey, was in an article in the Richmond Free Press, March 9-11, 2023, edition.
Kudos on Free Press coverage
Re “Nat Turner links black, white George Wythe High alumni,” March 2-4 edition: Thank you for including the Nat Turner article in your fine newspaper and sharing the story of Nat Turner’s descendants and what happened back in 1831 on Virginia soil.
‘Pass your blessings forward’
While riding around the city, I noticed many people handing out meals to the homeless. Some were individuals and organizations committed to doing kind deeds during the holiday season.
‘We must do better’
Letters to the editor
I had three, young African-American men murdered in my district just in the week leading up to the Fourth of July holiday.
