Dedicated individuals from the business, nonprofit, public and private sectors of Hinds, Madison, and Rankin Counties serve on our Board of Trustees. Our Trustees, like others who give to Your Foundation, represent the diversity of the area that we serve. They are passionate about the Community Foundation's shared goal of making a long-term, positive impact by strengthening our communities.
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Chairman of the Board |
A native of Hattiesburg, Luther Ott is a Priest in the Episcopal Church. From 1997-2002, Luther was Executive Director of Stewpot Community Services. While at Stewpot, he helped transform the nonprofit into a multi-dimensional inter-faith social service agency. Luther practiced law for a number of years and served as the President of the Mississippi Bar Foundation before attending divinity school. He is a graduate of Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi School of Law. Luther and his wife, Janet, have two children, a foster daughter, and seven grandchildren. Luther has served as our President and is now assuming a governance liaison role in the foundation. |
| Hogan Allen is a CPA with H. Allen and Associates. He is a member of the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the Governmental Committee of the CPA Associates International.Hogan is active in civic and charitable activites in our community, serving as a Parishioner at St. James Episcopal Church, former chair of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Association, Treasurer of the Mississippi Opera Association, President of the Mississippi Wind Symphony Association, Vice President of the Jackson Federation of Musicians, and Past Vice President of the Mississippi Girlchoir Association. He is a member of the North Jackson Lions Club. [Back to List] | |
| Rosemary Ramirez Barbour is President and Owner of Alcatec, LLC. She received her B.A., double major in French and Business, with an emphasis on international business from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. Originally from Guatemala, Rosemary currently lives in Jackson with her husband, Charles, and two children, Camille Marie and Allen. She also serves on the Boards of The Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute, Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute, and Chairs the Mississippi Immigrants Community Development Corporation. [Back to List] | |
| LeAnne Brewer serves as General Manager for Comcast Spotlight in MS/LA. She oversees advertising sales operations, including a team of 90. A Millsaps graduate, LeAnne honed her business skills under her friend and mentor, Bob O’Brien, working in radio, then joining Lovecomm Ad Sales, later Comcast Spotlight. She considers service a privilege, including her positions as board member for our local Junior Achievement chapter, the BBB, and Diabetes Foundation of MS, as well as membership in the Jackson Rotary Club. Family is important to LeAnne, including her husband Colonel Allen Brewer and two children, Will and Shelby Leigh. [Back to List] | |
| Alveno Castilla of Jackson is an attorney with Watkins, Ludlam, Winter & Stennis, P. A. He also serves as the foundation's treasurer. [Back to List] | |
| J. Kane Ditto of Jackson is involved with many nonprofit organizations in the metropolitan area including the Mississippi Center for Nonprofits and the Children’s Museum. He is the former mayor of Jackson. [Back to List] | |
| David Hoster is President and CEO of EastGroup Properties, a real estate investment trust whose shares are traded on the NYSE. He received his M.B.A. from Stanford University and his B. A. from Princeton University. David and his wife Missy have two grown daughters. He is a member of the Board of Trustmark Corporation, a member of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and head of Princeton University Annual Giving for Mississippi. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and the Board of Goodwill Industries. He also served as a First Lieutenant in the U. S. Army. [Back to List] | |
| Ellen Leake is a member of the CFGJ’s Executive Committee. She also serves on the boards of the Mississippi Museum of Art, the international board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation,and Mississippi Cures, a public policy group which she co-founded in 2006. She is a former trustee of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School where she also served as chairman of the board. By profession she is an I/T consultant and spent the majority of her career with IBM. Ellen holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Mississippi and an MBA from Tulane University. [Back to List] | |
| Paul McNeill | |
| Hibbett Neel, President and CEO of Neel-Schaffer,Inc., Engineers and Planners, is married to Susan Neel. They have three children; Christopher (32), Amy (29) and Michael (24).They are also blessed with Jackson Boteler, their 2 month old grandson. Hibbett is actively involved with the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, Jackson 2000 and Mississippi Blood Services.He enjoys traveling and an occasional frustrating round of golf. [Back to List] | |
| Sara Ray is the board secretary and works to improve the community through her work as a member of the Board of Directors of the Women's Fund of Mississippi and on the Board of Directors of Friends of Children's Hospital, where she is a member of the executive committee and previously served as president. Sara is a past chairman of the St. Andrew's Parents' Association and served on the boards of St. Andrew's Episcopal School and Friends of the Jackson Zoo. Sara and her husband Bill have two children and are members of St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral. [Back to List] | |
| Carlton Reeves, a native of Yazoo City, resides in Terry with wife, Lora, and daughter, Chanda. A graduate of Jackson State University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Carlton is a shareholder in the law firm Pigott Reeves Johnson, P.A. in Jackson where the law firm is the adopter of Davis Elementary School. Carlton has served as the President of the Magnolia Bar Association and the Magnolia Bar Foundation, Inc., and is a member of College Savings Plan of Mississippi. He gets the most joy of serving as Santa Claus for the annual Catholic Charities’ Therapeutic Foster Care Program’s Christmas party. [Back to List] | |
| Worth Thomas | |
| A Belzoni, Mississippi, native, Jon Turner is a Partner with the accounting firm BKD, LLP - CPAs and Advisors. Jon chairs the Finance and Audit Committee of the Foundation. He currently serves on the University of Mississippi Foundation, Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) and Jackson Venture Incubator Boards of Directors. He has served as President of the Jackson Academy Board of Trustees and on the boards of Christ Methodist Church and Metropolitan YMCA. Jon is a past president of the National Ole Miss Alumni Association and is an active member of the Rotary Club of North Jackson. He is a graduate of the MEC's Leadership Mississippi program. He is married to the former Pam Mills and they have two daughters. [Back to List] | |
| Paul Varner of Jackson, Vice-Chair of the Foundation, is an attorney at Butler Snow O’Mara Stevens & Cannada where he works in the estate planning field. He serves on the boards of the Andrew Jackson Council Boy Scouts of America and YMCA Heritage Club. [Back to List] | |
| Rita Wray is a Florence, Alabama native and is currently Deputy Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of North Alabama and a MBA from Jackson State University. She is active in numerous organizations, including the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Mississippi’s College Savings Plans, and Leadership Jackson Alumni Association. Her long-term commitment to the Community Foundation was ignited with Tim Medley’s presentation of this task force project to Leadership Jackson Alumni. Rita and her husband, Terrance, have three children. [Back to List] | |
| Wirt Yerger, Jr., is Chairman Emeritus of Ross & Yerger Insurance, Inc., an insurance agency originating in 1860. He has served in leadership roles in several areas of community life, including the Jackson Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan Boys Club, and the Metropolitan Y.M.C.A. He is one of the founders of the Fondren Renaissance Foundation. Wirt and his wife, Mary, have three children. [Back to List] |