Board of Directors
Meet our senior leadership
President
Jerlean S. Noble
Jerlean Noble is a 30 year retiree of the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina. She is a published author with over 12 published books, 3 which are in the Richland County Library and Greenville Library. She is also the author of Benson’s Bloodline to Freedom’s Trail which she was honored to be the 2023 International winner of the African American Historical and Genealogical Society’s for Historical Fiction.
Vice President
Ida Thompson
Ida Renee Thompson is a veteran educator with both practical and administrative experience in all phases of library media center management, technology education, and distance education at building and district levels. She was a school librarian in Richland One who went on to serve as the district’s media consultant and later as director of Instructional Technology Services until her retirement in 2016. She was recently inducted into the Richland School District’s Hall of Fame.
Parliamentarian / Assistant Treasurer
Rochester Baker Sr.
Rochester Baker, Sr. is the Former President of the South Carolina Association of Parliamentarians. He is a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians where he has achieved the status of Professional Registered Parliamentarian.
Viola H. Sanders
She has appeared on several television and radio shows around the country and was featured in Network Journal Magazine, a magazine for African American professionals and small business owners, and AS WE LIVE Magazine - 2007. Viola released her first publication in 1996, entitled "African American Inventors" and has recently developed additional educational material for people of all ages.
Organizing Director
Quantella Jamaica Perry
Quantella Jamaica Perry was born in Charleston, SC. She began her art of writing through poetry and music at the precious age of eleven years old. Writing gave her an outlet when her life became very challenging and the hurt, she was experiencing was overwhelming.
Secretary
Rev. Frank Houston
Born in Charleston, SC in 1941. Called to inspirer,called to be use as an empty vessel, called to give some understanding to God’s word. Called to be used where status does not matter but led by the spirit to be aninspiration to others. Throughout my life God has been my everything!
Chaplain
CORE MEMBERS
New Member
Pastor Betty Nickson Fairnot
Pastor Betty Nickson Fairnot, of Columbia, SC, is a valedictorian graduate of Sacramento Theological Seminary and Living Water School of Ministry. She is the founder of Fairnot’s Compelling Hedges and Highways and the Potter’s Resurrection Tabernacle Ministries. A mother of three and grandmother of fifteen, she has authored You Can Live Again and Inspired to Live Again to inspire those experiencing loss. Pastor Fairnot shares, “Through many trials, I came to see God as my strength and my bridge,” guided by John 5:30 in seeking God’s will above her own.
Kenneth T. Brown, Author
Rev. Louisa Davis Dobbins, Playwright Poet
Dr. Vivian Hudson, Novelist
Rochester Baker, Author
Esther Ruth Sims, Poet
Myra Davis-Branic, Author
Donna Davis, Author
Ruthie Grant, Author
Miriam Gantt, Author
Rosa Bennett, Author
Mikell Snooks, Author, Poet, Inspirational
Missy Sulton-Akinlolu, Poet
Rev. Frank Houston, Author
Holli McEachern, Writer
Shannon Stone, Writer
Ida Thomas, Writer
Tyra Little, Writer
New Member
Charlene R. Sims
Charlene R. Sims, born in Columbia, South Carolina, is the youngest of seven and a proud mother of two. She made history in her family by becoming the first to earn both a bachelor’s in Legal Studies and a master’s in Public Administration. Now pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration, she plans to graduate in January 2025.
Charlene’s mission is to give back by teaching at a college and pursuing a leadership role in Columbia’s local government. With a commitment to community service, she aims to inspire positive change. Her motto: “I aspire to inspire before I expire.”