^“Helping Nonprofits
and Minority BusinessesGrow ^”

Board Member Bios

DeVon Banks
CEO of D-TECH Business Concepts LLC

DeVon Banks is CEO of D-TECH Business Concepts LLC, a successful practice management consulting firm based in Maryland that has provided since 1998 Practice Management Software Training, Dental Billing and Medical Cross Coding for over a hundred dental offices.  DeVon is an industry expert in insurance management, revenue cycle management, and Dentrix and Easy Dental training, which she gained in practice management and as a dental assistant. She is currently studying Health Information Management at Prince Georges Community College and, when not making dental offices successful, loves swing dancing, kickball, adventure and travel.

Renee Brooks
Senior Resource Program Management Analyst

Renee Brooks holds an MBA in Business Administration and BA in Management and Labor Relations, and brings over 15 years in program management, government contracting, human resources, compliance, and training.  She currently serves as a Senior Resource Program Management Analyst providing program management, acquisition and budget support to cross-functional stakeholders.  She also brings extensive experience in assessing overall program fiscal health, monitoring budgets, analyzing labor utilization, program metric reports, and contract performance.

Dr. LaTanya Brown-Robertson
College of Business, Bowie State University

Dr. LaTanya N. Brown-Robertson, Professor of Economics at Bowie State University earned her Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Ph.D. in economics from Howard University.  Dr. Brown-Robertson specializes in urban, housing and applied economics .   She has published in various peer-reviewed journals including the American Economic Review, Eastern Economic Association Journal, Review of the Black Political Economy, and Journal of the Community Development Society.  Dr. Brown-Robertson has worked on funded grants through the Carnegie and Ford Foundations.  She is currently Principal Investigator for Bowie State University’s National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to Infuse Data Science and Analytics into the Undergraduate Curriculum at Bowie State University. 

Along with her teaching, research and grants, Dr. Brown-Robertson also serves as Director of the University’s Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA) Program and is Co-Chair of the University’s Curriculum Racecourse Committee.  She specializes in conducting economic impact and feasibility studies for state governments and national organizations.  An example of her work includes a report for the District of Columbia’s Tax Revision Commission entitled: An Analysis of Neighborhoods in the District of Columbia.  Her most recent research interest explores answering local economic policy questions through the development of databases that connect Census data to unstructured local administrative data.

Felix Cummings
Tri-County Chess - Providing, beginner, intermediate and advanced chess instruction to elementary, middle and high school students in the state of Maryland

Otis Collins
Halethorpe Civic League Association
Retired from Housing and Urban Development

Otis Collins is a former Financial Analyst and Community Planning and Development Specialist with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Mr. Collins’s tenure was 32 years before retiring in January 2019.

In the first 10 years, Mr. Collins was a Financial Analyst in HUD’s Insurance Operation Division where he researched and approved mortgage claims portfolios’ and mitigated housing insurance guarantees.  

During the remaining 22 years, he was a CPD Specialist responsible for several regions throughout the county.  Overseeing and monitoring billions in Community Development Black Grant funding and providing accurate advice on code of federal regulations, compliance rules, congressional, and executive branch directives and policy mandates.  Additionally, Mr. Collins was the national training coordinator for the program’s core training requirements for grantees and community- based organizations.  

Two of Mr. Collins major accomplishments were working with private and public teams to restore the City of Detroit back to financial, vibrant, and venerable stability.  The other, spearheading a committee for legislation to recognized the Halethorpe Colored School built in 1924 (Rosenwald) as a National Historic landmark. 

As a progressive community Leader, Mr. Collins currently serves on several boards and is president of Halethorpe Civic League Association, Wilkens Police and Community Relations Organization, and Kittrell College National Alumni Association.  Mr. Collins specializes and is committed to educational and inspirational networking directed at African Americans.  

Mr. Collins completed his undergraduate studies at Saint Augustine University and attended University College University of Maryland graduate school.  Mr. Collins enjoys traveling and exploring older communities.

Derrick George
BB&T Now Truist

Derrick George currently serves as Assistant Vice President, and Market Leader at BB&T, now Truist.  He brings an extensive background in finance management and retail banking where he focuses on consumer, small business, residential/commercial lending, and customer service.  With over 15 years of experience managing employees, diverse and small-to-medium projects, system implementations, and organizational change Derrick has proven results as a multi-talented Leader, Project Manager, Program Manager, and Contract Manager, where he led teams to high performance in sales, service, and operational effectiveness. Derrick is a graduate of Strayer University, where he received a B.S in Business Administration with a concentration in Contract & Acquisition Management and holds a Master’s Degree in Project Management, and a Master of Business Administration  from University of Maryland University College.

Jon Hogans
Advance Custom Builders

John has over 20 years of professional experience in Construction and Home Improvement, including 7 years as a Certified Instructor. He worked as a Certified Instructor at the College of Southern Maryland and the Team Builders Program at Prince George's Community College where he assisted students with test prepatory instruction for the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) exams.

Presently, he is the Chief Contracting Officer and CEO of Advance Custom Builder, Inc. in Suitland, MD providing services in schematic design, pre-construction management, coordination of utility providers, managing teams, budgets, contracts, regulation and compliance.

Darold (DJ) Kelly
Black Cybersecurity Association

Darold “DJ” Kelly Jr. is currently a senior Computer Engineering major at the University of the District of Columbia and a Software Engineering intern at NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center. Having graduated with a B.A. in Political Science at Howard University, DJ pursued a second bachelor’s degree in STEM focusing on cybersecurity. During his matriculation, he studied abroad in Argentina, and taught English in Columbia, and served as president of the National Society of Black Engineers. Darold established the Black Cybersecurity Association (BCA), a non-profit focused on building community, mentorship, and job opportunities for underrepresented minorities in the cybersecurity space.  On his free time, he loves playing video games, playing chess, basketball, hanging out with his fraternity members, and cracking the world's cheesiest jokes.  Darold is 28 years old.

Sandra Pruitt
Executive Director, PFC Coalition

Sandra Pruitt currently serves as Executive Director of the People for Change Coalition, where she provides management assistance, training and support, and incubator space to a membership organization of over 300 nonprofits and minority businesses.  Sandy brings over 20 years of experience providing strategic planning, membership recruitment, and database management services for nonprofits, small businesses and local government.  She spent 9 years at Independent Sector (IS) with her later years serving as Director of Technology, Finance, and Human Resources.  She started her own technology consulting firm in 1997, Strategic Technology Solutions, www.npdatabase.com, where she helps organizations, businesses, and government use technology to streamline operations and improve its overall mission and goals.  She is the former Chair of the Advisory Board of the Workforce Development, TeamBuilders Academy at Prince George’s Community College and was the Co-Chair of the2019 MBE Night Planning Committee for the State of Maryland.