Board Member Bios
Jerry lends his time to the community by serving on the Board of Directors for Harbor Habitat for Humanity, Feeding America Southwest Michigan, Executive Committee Kitchenaid Senior PGA Championship, and as a group leader for Michigan’s Great Southwest Strategic Leadership Council.
Jerry and his wife Sherri reside in the City of Benton Harbor.
Audrey is active with several nonprofits in the area volunteering and serving on boards. She is a member of the St Joseph/Benton Harbor Kiwanis club serving as youth services chair and BH Kiwanis key club advisor.
In her free time, Audrey enjoys spending time at her summer cottage, gardening, boating, and relaxing with her family.
Isiah earned a dual major in Accounting and IT/Computers at State Tech University in Memphis, Tennessee and was a Deans List student. He began his career with the Internal Revenue Service in Memphis and moved back to Benton Harbor in 1988. Isiah retired from the IRS in 2009.
Isiah’s love and passion for kids led him to coach little league baseball and was a key leader in bring AYSO Soccer to Benton Harbor serving as Commissioner and coaching soccer for years.
Isiah has had a commitment to education in Benton Harbor. He has been involved in multiple endeavors to demand improvements to schools and has also lead training programs.
Isiah is very community active serving on the committees of Council for World Class Communities (CWCC) specifically in Education, The Alliance Group, Cornerstone Alliance, Curious Kids Museum, United Way (Audit Committee), and IMAC (Independent Minority Area Contractors). In 2012 he was the recipient of the Rev Donald B Adkins Annual Leadership Award for Citizenship. In 2014, Isiah was selected as the first annual Senior PGA volunteer of the year award recipient, in honor of the late Dr. John M Proos, Sr.
Isiah’s proudest achievement is being a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather.
In 1985, Patrick launched The OnStaff Group which is made up of three companies: OnStaff USA, Skillquest International and OnCore USA. The OnStaff Groups corporate headquarters is in Kalamazoo and offers human resource solutions to Fortune 500 companies.
Patrick is a Kalamazoo Rotarian, a Trustee of the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Foundation, and a member of the KREISA Advisory Board for EFE.
In his spare time, Kevin bicycles, walks and maintains fitness. He is also a history buff with a particular interest in WW2 history and reads history extensively.
Shari is passionate about volunteering in the community. She is a member of the Women’s Giving Circle in Berrien County. Former board affiliations include United Way of Southwest Michigan, Harbor Habitat for Humanity in Benton Harbor, The Niles District Library and the Buchanan Chamber of Commerce.
With tenor Paul Mow, Marty recently co-founded The GhostLight Theatre in the Benton Harbor Arts District. She is a pianist and organist, and has worked as music director and orchestra conductor for a variety of theaters in Chicago, Kalamazoo, Holland and Saugatuck.
Marty has been a board member and board officer for many organizations, including Prairie State College Foundation (provides college scholarships), Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Saugatuck Civic Theater, Allegan Area Arts Council, and she is currently the Treasurer of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors. She has a passion for opening doors for youth and providing opportunities to excel in technical fields and performing arts.
The mother of 5 children, Marty and her husband Don Dettman, enjoy adventurous travel and entertaining, and are greatly enjoying retirement!
In his spare time, Ebon volunteers with many community boards and initiatives and enjoys all sports, reading and spending time with his family.
Upon graduating, he joined Whirlpool Corporation in which he has thrived for over 22 years from positions within brand marketing, sales and sales training.
An advocate for youth empowerment and community development, he has served in positions as a director of marketing and also an administrative director for a nonprofit organization in the state of New Jersey and currently serves as a youth advisor at Refreshing Fountains Outreach Ministries located in the community of Benton Harbor. Poncho strongly encourages his motto of “I was not born unto defeat, neither does failure course through my veins”. He resides in Benton Harbor, MI.
Linda was Office Manager for Design Incentives, Inc. for 18 years, a Corporate Incentives/Promotional Products Company. Linda is very active in the community. She is a long-term Member of The Avenue Family Network and she is the Volunteer Services Committee Chair for the KitchenAid SPGA.
Married to Joseph Miller, Linda has raised three children and loves being with her four grandchildren. In her spare time, Linda enjoys time with family and friends, travel, and golf.
Michael’s business career began with management positions with Roadway Express and International Harvester. He worked for American Greetings Corporation for twenty years finishing as Sr. Vice President of Operations. He finished the last ten years of his career as President of Darice Inc. a mid-sized consumer products company. Michael retired in 2017.
Michael has served on numerous Boards including the Craft and Hobby Association, the Lakeland Foundation and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway.
Michael and his wife Carol live in Benton Harbor and enjoy boating, the outdoors, their six grandchildren and travel.
Tameka is a board member of Whirlpool's Employee Resource Group, FOCUS the African American Network. Her time with FOCUS has allowed her to enrich our community by creating engaging relationships that foster lasting successful personal growth.
Tameka says, “My passion for people and our continuous improvement is my motivation to volunteer in the community. I believe that a continued focus on our youth is essential and if we work together to remove barriers faced within our community we become stronger as one. A community with opportunities is a community of people with the ability to leverage their skillset while gaining new ones.”