Gertrude J. Spilka ("Gerri") is the President of the OMG Center, and the National Program Director of New Connections. Gerri has over twenty-five years experience advising national foundations, and non profit and government through evaluation, strategy assessment and planning, organizational restructuring and policy studies. The areas of her work concentrate in community building, education reform, culturally responsive evaluation, communications policy, and non-profit management. Much of her recent work has investigated effective policy and systems change efforts across various fields.
Edith G. Arrington, Ph.D., is the Deputy Director of the New Connections program and currently serving as a Senior Project Manager at the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning. A licensed psychologist, Edith's general research, consulting, and writing interests are in the areas of race, identity, and diversity; personal and leadership development; and the well-being of youth and adults across critical contexts.
Howard M. Walters, M.S.S./M.L.S.P., is a Project Manager for New Connections and at the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning. Howard has a background in research and training around issues of cultural diversity. He applies his sensitivity to issues of diversity to his work in qualitative and quantitative data analysis, program/project evaluation and policy analysis. Howard's professional work has focused primarily on homelessness, neighborhood development, and academic achievement of ethnic minority students.
Sharon Norris-Shelton, M.S.A., is the Program Consultant for New Connections. Sharon has worked extensively with outreach and diversity programs in secondary and higher education for youth and adults.
Tia M Burroughs, M.S. S., M.L.S.P., is a project coordinator for New Connections and at the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning. Tia has experience in research and evaluation, specifically with qualitative methodology. Tia’s work has focused mostly on educational programs, including arts education, college preparation, and teacher certification.
ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION TEAM MEMBERS
Debra Joy Pérez, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.A., is Assistant Vice-President for Research and Evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Senior Program Officer for New Connections. Since joining the Foundation, Dr. Pérez has been responsible for program development in research and evaluation in the areas of disparities, Latino and minority health and healthcare issues and public health. Her work also focuses on building the field of public health services systems research. Additionally, Dr. Pérez chairs the Foundation's Diversity Committee.
Catherine Malone, MBA is a Program Associate on the Human Capital Team at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation where she works with a number of programs including New Connections.