Valerie Gregory received her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Hampton University and her M.ED. in Administration and Supervision from UVA. She served as Principal of Columbia and Fork Union Elementary Schools in Fluvanna County before becoming Principal of Clark Elementary School in Charlottesville. Valerie is now UVA’s Associate Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Director of Outreach. Valerie is a member of Phi Delta Kappa International, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the United Way Board of Advisors for "Success by Six", the African American Teacher Fellows Board of Directors, AccessUVA Steering Committee, and the Holland Scholar Program Liaison.

Mary Jane King is a native Virginian. She has bachelor’s (Eastern Mennonite University) and master’s (Ohio University) degrees in English. She began her career as a reporter for The Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and later served as director of communications at Eastern Mennonite University. Since 1988, she has worked at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, where she is currently director of institutional advancement and development, responsible for fundraising, marketing and public relations. She has represented PVCC on the CCSP Board since its founding and supports the program because she believes education is the key to life fulfillment and economic health for individuals and the community. It is in everyone’s best interest to expand higher education opportunities for all.

Russ Linden is a management educator who specializes in organizational change, collaboration, strategic thinking/planning, and customer-focused organizations. Most of his teaching and consulting is with government and nonprofit organizations. Russ writes columns and an e-newsletter on management innovations, and has written four books (the most recent one: Working Across Boundaries: Making Collaboration Work in Government and Nonprofit Organizations — Jossey Bass, 2002). He and his wife have two adult children.

Dennis Mockler is the Vice President/General Manager of Monticello Media, the owner-operator of six Charlottesville, Virginia market radio stations (Country 99.7 WCYK, Hot 101.9 WHTE, Tom @ 107.5 WWTJ, Generations 102.3 WZGN, NewsTalk 1260 AM & 94.1 FM WCHV and SportsRadio 1400 WKAV). Mockler, who began his radio career part-time while still in high school, has been in radio fulltime for nearly 32 years. He was accredited as a Certified Radio Marketing Consultant by the Radio Advertising Bureau in 1980 and was named one of the Top Ten Radio Market Managers in the country by Radio Ink magazine in 2004. He was graduated Cume Laude by Indiana State University with a degree in Radio/TV/Film and a minor in marketing in 1977. Mockler and his wife Karen live in Albemarle County. They have two adult daughters. The oldest, Kristin, is a kindergarten teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina and the youngest, Allison, teaches American Sign Language in the Plano, Texas area. Mockler currently serves on the Government Affairs Committee of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce and serves on the boards of the Central Virginia American Red Cross and the Charlottesville Community Scholarship Program. He is also a Certified Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church and a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church.

Linda Seaman is a long time resident of Charlottesville. She graduated from Russell Sage College with a dual major in education and government. She served as Chairman of the Charlottesville School Board and the Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center. She retired as Executive Director of the Charlottesville Area School Business Alliance. Her many community interests include being Chairman of CHART, on the McIntire Botanical Garden Board and Greenbrier Neighborhood Association Board member. She and her husband Rick have two adult daughters. She believes that providing educational opportunities for lower income students improves their lives, their families, and the community.

Julian Taliaferro was elected the Charlottesville City Council in 2006 and was selected to be Vice Mayor in 2008. Hehas been a resident of Charlottesville since 1962, when he began his career with the Charlottesville Fire Department. His fire service career was interrupted in 1966 when he entered the U.S. Army and was sent to Vietnam. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals for action in the Tet Offensive during 1968. Taliaferro served as Fire Chief for almost 34 years. He played a major role is getting the fire department internationally accredited with the Center for Public Safety Excellence in 2001 as one of 121 departments in the world to achieve this designation. Taliaferro retired in 2005, but still holds the position of Fire Chief Emeritus. Taliaferro is married to his wife Patricia and has two grown children.

Roxanne White recently retired from being the Albemarle County Assistant County Executive for General Operations and Human Services for Albemarle County and brings over 30 years of public sector and non-profit experience in community collaboration with a special interest in human services and strength in administration and organizational development. Roxanne is a new board member who feels that “we all need to help our community in some way and this is a wonderful opportunity to give someone just that just that little bit of help they need to be able to further their education and/or improve their workforce skills. I hope we can spread the word and expand this great program to more City residents.”