Our Board of Directors
Linda Kolstee-Ozkaynak, Chair
After receiving her GED, Linda Kolstee-Ozkaynak went on to earn a bachelors degree in Speech and masters degrees in both Communication Disorders and Organization Development. Her interest in communication, coaching and skills training evolved into the study of group processes and systems. She has trained and facilitated for various groups including the New York City Police Department, Study Circles for Racial and Ethnic Relations, the Smithsonian Institution and NPR. Linda has over 20 years of experience with a diversity of clients spanning age, gender, racial and ethnic backgrounds. She has taught courses at the college and community college levels. Linda’s son also earned a GED. A founding board member, Ms. Kolstee-Ozkaynak is currently board chair and has previously served as board secretary.
Rebecca Joyner, Vice Chair
A lawyer, Ms. Joyner is an associate with the Raleigh firm of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein where she specializes in capital markets. Ms. Joyner holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, a Masters of Public Administration from Columbia University and a bachelors degree from UNC Chapel Hill. Prior to returning to the Triangle area, she was a bond analyst at Moody’s Investors Service in New York. Included in her long history of community service, Ms. Joyner volunteered as a GED tutor in New York and was the student director of the UNC APPLES Service Learning Program. Ms. Joyner joined the board in 2007 and currently serves as vice chair of the board.
Jennifer McGovern, Treasurer
Jennifer McGovern has degrees from Duke University and NCCU. After serving in the campus ministry at NCCU, she worked for the local political group People’s Alliance. In that position, she gained experience in organization building, fundraising and lobbying. Upon becoming certified to teach, she began tutoring at-risk students in the Fast Track Project at Duke, and taught reading to struggling GED students in the (now defunct) Durham Public Schools GED program. She is currently lead teacher for Carrington Middle School’s Reading Academy and continues tutoring. A founding board member, Ms. McGovern previously served as chairman of the board and is currently the board secretary.
Tracy Wright, Secretary
Tom Fisher, Member
Tom Fisher obtained his bachelors degree in History from the University of the South and completed two years of graduate work at Yale University. After college, he worked for two years as a newspaper reporter and five years as a regional consultant and trainer with the North Carolina Human Relations Commission. Since 1977, he has worked as a financial advisor, primarily to academic physicians and physicians in private practice. Tom is a First Vice President at Morgan Keegan & Company’s Durham branch. A resident of Carrboro, he is an active triathlete and singer/guitarist. Mr. Fisher is a founding board member.
Susan Hazard, Member
Ms. Hazard is currently is a M.B.A. candidate at Duke University concentrating in Strategy. In addition to serving as an Executive Director of the MBA Association and as a Leadership Fellow at Duke, she was awarded a Forte Foundation Scholarship for demonstrating exemplary leadership. Prior to attending Duke, Susan spent six years at Northern Trust Company as a business analyst and investment consultant for multi-billion dollar pension plans. While at Northern Trust, she was promoted to 2nd Vice President and earned the CFA charter. She graduated summa cum laude from Valparaiso University where she received a bachelors degree in Decision Sciences. Susan spent the 2007 summer creating a strategic plan for Chicago Public Schools’ Science Resource Center and is passionate about improving urban education. She joined the board in 2007.
Clay Harris, Member
Entrepreneur Clay Harris helped found Work Smart Offices, Inc, a triangle-based IT company, upon graduating from UNC Chapel Hill in 2001 with a bachelors degree in Political Science. He is currently Vice President at Work Smart. In addition to a vast technical knowledge, Mr. Harris has developed business plans, coordinated projects and supervised managers. Mr. Harris is also an active Big Brother in Durham and a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and joined the board in 2007.
Lucy Reuben, Member
Dr. Lucy Reuben focuses on areas of finance and minority business enterprise development. She is currently both a Visiting Professor at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women. She previously served as Provost / Vice Chancellor at NCCU, held an endowed chair at the School of Business of South Carolina State University, and has been a faculty member at Florida A&M University, George Mason University and Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. A graduate of Oberlin College, Dr. Reuben earned both a Ph.D. and M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Previous board and similar advisory positions include: Black Enterprise Board of Economists; Charlotte Office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (Board of Directors); Providence Hospital (Strategic Planning Committee); the Orangeburg County United Way (Board of Directors); the Florida Black Business Investment Board (appointed by Governor Chiles); Metropolitan Washington Planning and Housing Association (Board President); Advisory Board to the Hayti Development Corporation of Durham, N.C. She joined the board in 2006.
You may send inquiries to our board through our board chair, Linda Kolstee-Ozkaynak.
