Board Members

The second of the beloved Bishop Arthur and Isabelle Brazier’s four children, Dr. Byron T. Brazier was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side. Dr. Brazier has three sisters: Lola, Janice, and Rosalyn.

Dr. Brazier was educated in the Chicago Public Schools system, attending and graduating from Doolittle Elementary School and Wendell Phillips High School. He received his bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University after first attending Wilson Junior College (Kennedy-King) and Northern Illinois University. Dr. Brazier also received a Masters of Arts in Theological Studies and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from McCormick Theological Seminary.

In 1972, Dr. Brazier started his professional career as a production supervisor at Johnson & Johnson. In 1973, he joined the data processing division of IBM Corporation as a salesman. He later became a marketing instructor in Dallas, Texas and was promoted to several positions at IBM. In 1991, he transitioned from IBM reaching top-level management as a business unit executive over the public sector. During his tenure at IBM, he received national recognition for his service and leadership on several occasions.

In 1991, Dr. Brazier founded Brazier and Associates and was appointed Chief Information Officer for the Chicago Housing Authority, where he remained until 1995, the year he became the general administrator of the Apostolic Church of God.

Ministry

Dr. Brazier served his father for thirteen years before being named as pastor of the Apostolic Church of God in 2008. His primary motivation was for the congregation to grow in the grace they have received from God, to build their spiritual identity, character, and vision, and to enjoy being a part of the body of Christ. As an apologetic-styled teacher and proclaimer of the Jesus Christ, being “Saved by Grace and Grace Alone” remains the ultimate understanding for a child of God. While preparing the church to live out its mission, his desire is to show forth the power of God in the life of the church as the church confronts a society that is more secular, more individualist, and more concerned about materialistic consumption. Dr. Brazier is also preparing to write the first of two books. The first book will focus on the application of the church’s moral authority to convene and unify the Woodlawn community to achieve self-determination. The second book will be about the power of God to transform the community through the church.

Community Outreach

As an advocate for the community, Dr. Brazier continues to ensure that the church remains a beacon of light and an agent of change in the community. Through the establishment of the Bishop Arthur M. Brazier Foundation, Dr. Brazier has been able to obtain support from philanthropic organization to support the development of the Woodlawn community in the area of education, public safety, and economic development. Beginning in 2010, Dr. Brazier proposed the development of the Network of Woodlawn and its pillars, which has provided a unifying vision for Woodlawn. Finally, Dr. Brazier established a Social Enterprise manufacturing company that provides workforce development services for residents in robotics controls while the revenue from the social enterprise will be reinvested into the Woodlawn community. Currently, Dr. Brazier is the chairman of the board of the Network of Woodlawn and its pillars (WCPC, WPED, WPSA, and WHSS), 1Woodlawn, the Bishop Arthur M. Brazier Foundation, and BSD Industries L3C. He also is a commissioner and board member of the Cook County Sheriff’s Merit Board, Public Building Commission, the Metropolitan Planning Council, DuSable Museum, and the Museum of Science and Industry.

Family Life

Since 1976, Dr. Brazier has been married to his wife, Mary Brazier. They are the proud parents of two children, April James and Byron II.

Roger Eddy is currently the Interim President of Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Illinois.  In 2018, he retired after 38 years in education.  After seven years as a classroom teacher and coach, he became Principal of Hustonville High School for three years before then moving to Watseka High School as Principal for five years.  He returned to Hutsonville where he served as Superintendent for 16 years.  During his time as Superintendent at Hutsonville, he was elected five terms as State Representative of the 109th Legislative District.  In 2012, after leaving the General Assembly, he became the Executive Director of the Illinois Association of School Boards, retiring from that position in 2018.  He has served on numerous national and statewide task forces and committees related to education and other public policy issues.  He and his wife Becca, who was an Early Childhood Teacher, have five grown children and are expecting their 6th grandchild in October of 2020.

Congresswoman Robin Kelly was elected to represent Illinois’ 2^nd District on April 9, 2013.

As a former State Representative, Kelly brings extensive legislative experience to the 2nd District. She successfully sponsored bills to protect consumers from fraud, support economic development, and increase the minimum wage. She also led the fight for landmark legislation to protect victims of domestic violence and improve public safety.

During her tenure in the Illinois Legislature, Kelly mentored progressive candidates and encouraged new leaders, including one of her colleagues, Barack Obama, in his successful 2004 bid for U.S. Senate. Most recently, Kelly was Chief Administrative Officer of Cook County, where she was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations and implementing policy for the second largest county in the United States.

Kelly has also served as chief of staff in the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office. As the first African American woman to serve as chief of staff for a constitutional officer in Illinois, Kelly pursued a progressive agenda rooted in promoting small business job creation, investment strategy innovation, eliminating food deserts, and advancing financial literacy in underserved areas. She also helped to transform the Treasurer’s Office – an agency that manages as much as $17 billion in state funds – by improving efficiencies, streamlining expenses, and demanding stronger ethical guidelines.

A New York native, Kelly moved to Illinois after high school to attend Bradley University in Peoria, where she earned her B.A. in psychology and a M.A. in counseling. She later received a Ph.D. in political science from Northern Illinois University.

Kelly serves on a number of boards and commissions, including the Cook County Human Rights Commission and the Hate Crimes Commission. She also serves as a Bradley University Trustee and is a board member of the Bradley University Council. In 2009, she was inducted into the university’s Centurion Society for honored alumni. She is also an active member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.

Kelly lives in Matteson with her husband, Dr. Nathaniel Horn and has two adult children, Kelly and Ryan.

David May is a La Grange resident with 3 adult sons and 3 grandchildren. He is retired from Walsh Construction in Chicago. He formerly served as Board President of La Grange Elementary School District 102; and as Chair of the Executive Board of Ed-Red, a legislative advocacy consortium of 90 suburban school districts.

William McNary has been called one of the most electrifying and inspirational speakers of our time. He is the Co-Director for Citizen Action/Illinois, the state’s largest public interest organization working on an ambitious agenda that includes the fight for workers’ rights, advancing public education funding, utility rate and insurance rate reform, environmental safety, and protecting consumers from unfair predatory loan practices. He previously served as the Legislative Director for Citizen Action/Illinois.

He is the Legislative Chair of “A Better Illinois” a coalition dedicated to making the Illinois tax structure fairer in order to provide the revenues needed to create jobs, educate our children, provide for health care, human service, and public safety.

One of the nation’s leading advocates for health care reform, McNary is one of the founding members of Health Care for America Now!, the largest national grassroots health care coalition which led to the successful passage of the national Affordable Care Act that was signed into law by President Obama.

He is the Co-Chairman of the Emergency Network to Save Cook County Health Services, dedicated to reforming, rescuing and restoring the Cook County public health safety net.

McNary has been appointed by 2 Illinois Governors, the Illinois Attorney General, the Cook County Board President and other State Constitutional Officers to serve on several state boards, task forces, and transition teams. Most recently, Governor Pat Quinn appointed McNary to serve on the Illinois Campaign Reform Task Force where he spearheaded the push for public funded clean elections to lessen the influence of corporate campaign money.

McNary served as the founding president of USAction, one of the nation’s largest coalitions of progressive grassroots organizations. He served as a surrogate speaker for President Barack Obama in his first run for President. He was also elected as an Obama delegate and served as Illinois Convention Floor Whip at the Denver Democratic Convention in 2008.

McNary also serves on the board of the Voter Participation Center, an organization that empowers unmarried women, people of color and other underrepresented groups to participate in the democratic process.

Over seven election cycles, McNary has worked with the Rainbow/Push Coalition where he co-directed targeted voter registration and “Get Out the Vote” campaign efforts. He has a degree in journalism and communications from the University of Iowa.

Daniel J. Montgomery has worked on behalf of public education and the rights of working men and women for over 15 years. He was elected to a three-year term as president of the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers at the union’s 2010 Convention. A veteran educator and union activist, Montgomery has been an IFT member since 1993. He served as head of the 1,700-member North Suburban Teachers Union, Local 1274, for nearly 10 years and was a vice president on the IFT Executive Board from 2002 until his election to the IFT presidency. As a board member, he chaired numerous Executive Board committees, including the Personnel, Negotiations and Locals Committees and was a member of the board’s 12-member Executive Committee. He also served as chair of the union’s PreK-12 Constituency Council and the 2009 IFT President’s Conference Planning Committee. Montgomery has also been active at the national level. Since 2004 he has been the co-chair of the American Federation of Teachers K-12 Program and Policy Council. A dedicated and experienced educator, Montgomery taught English for 18 years at Niles North High School in Skokie, Illinois. He also taught in the City Colleges of Chicago and at Northwestern University. His teaching expertise has earned him a place as a member on the board of directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Montgomery is married with three children and resides in Evanston.

Edward (Eddie) Olivieri is the Managing Principal at EKI-Digital, a Chicago based Minority-owned IT consultancy where he is responsible for leading public sector business development.  Eddie previously was an attorney in the private practice, general counsel for a not-for-profit community mental health agency, and served as Director of the Cook County Office of Contract Compliance under President Toni Preckwinkle, where he administered Cook County's minority and women-owned business program.  

Jean Sussman is an elected Trustee in the Village of Riverside. In this capacity, she focuses on strategic planning, the budgeting process, and community planning. She holds a Ph.D. in agricultural and applied economics and has worked in both the private and public sectors. Jean has worked throughout Latin America as an economist, first working on economic development projects, and then with The Quaker Oats Company and PespsiCo. Jean has worked for many years in the private sector, focusing on agricultural commodities and procurement practices. She has also worked as an advocate for migrant farm workers in the public sector. Jean currently serves on the board of the Rauner Family YMCA, in the heart of Chicago’s Mexican-American community, where she has been co-president of the board and head of fundraising.

Kyle Westbrook is the Founder of NXGRAD, a forthcoming college application platform for the 21^st century. Previously, he was the Founding Executive Director of the Partnership for College Completion (PCC). Before being named founding executive director of PCC, he served as the Executive Director of Education Policy in the Office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Kyle has extensive experience in public education having spent 20 years in public education as a teacher, teacher leader, leadership consultant, and district level administrator including 5 years leading the Office of Magnet, Gifted, and International Baccalaureate programs in the Chicago Public Schools. He has also held posts at the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute, and teaching positions at Walter Payton College Prep, and Lincoln Park High School in Chicago. In addition, he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in history and the history of education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the University of Illinois Chicago.  He has served on the Board of Directors for the Woodlawn Children’s Promise Community, Project Onward, and ACE Technical Charter High School. He has served on advisory committees for the Library of Congress, the Newberry Library, and currently serves on the Illinois Advisory Council for the US Commission on Civil Rights. Kyle holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education Policy from the University of Illinois Chicago and Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science in Education from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.