Trustees and Staff of the Foundation

Eddie W. Banks is Director for Community and Police Programs. A hands-on professional, he provides encouragement and opportunities for inner-city youth and is widely recognized as a "doer". After twenty years with the D.C. Police Department, Eddie retired as a Sergeant; however, his commitment to improving the lives of youth continued to surge. He then advanced to become the Director of Field Operation of the Metropolitan Boys' and Girls' Club and later joined the Eisenhower Foundation in 1995.

Margie Christian is Staff Accountant. She has over 30 years of experience in accounting in non-profit and grant funding financial systems, having worked  with the National Court Reporters Association and Music Educators Association on  programs such as closed captioning for the hearing impaired, real time translation and art and education grants from NEA as well as youth  and outreach programs.

Alan Curtis, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of the Foundation. Dr. Curtis was the Executive Director of President Carter's Interagency Urban and Regional Policy Group, served as Urban Policy Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and later administered the $43 million employment and crime prevention demonstration program in public housing that was part of National Urban Policy. Earlier, he was co-director of the Crimes of Violence Task Force of President Johnson's National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. He is author, co-author, or editor of 11 books and member of the Executive Committee of Partners for Democratic Change, which teaches democratic decision-making world-wide. He is a former trustee of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. He has an A.B. in economics from Harvard, an M.Sc. in economics from the University of London and a Ph.D. in urban studies and criminology from the University of Pennsylvania.

D.J. Ervin, a Ph.D. from the University of Texas, brings his skills as an urban ecologist and educator to the Eisenhower Foundation as its Director for Education and Youth Programs. In this capacity, Ervin brings 20 years of teaching experience and 35 years of experience in education program development, substance abuse treatment, mental health, delinquency prevention, and youth development to help Eisenhower develop and manage community school and training programs.

Omolara Fafore, is Vice President for Program Management and Capacity Building. As a consultant and evaluator of federal and local government projects—as well as philanthropic initiatives—Omolara Fafore has provided strategic guidance for a range of education, health, environmental, and social services programs. Omolara specializes in analyzing quantitative and qualitative data for programmatic decision making, monitoring and executing strategic plans, and organizational capacity building. Omolara has a nine year history in social services consulting and a particular interest in managing change to improve the effectiveness of public-private partnerships and the philanthropic sector. Omolara has an A.B. in Sociology and African American Studies from Harvard University and an M.P.P. from Georgetown with a focus on public and nonprofit management.

Tracey L. Felder is Executive Assistant to the President. A DC native, she graduated with honors from Spingarn Senior High School in 1992. Her background experiences include Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Department of Justice. With a history of volunteerism, she has contributed her skills to the community in a number of organizations, which include Charles Young Elementary School, Head Start, and the Browne Junior High School Girls' Basketball Team.

Richard C. Foote, C.P.A., has been the Chief Financial Officer of the Foundation since 1989. A graduate, with distinction, from American University, Mr. Foote also has attended the Graduate Business Schools of American and George Mason Universities and the Law School of American University. He holds life memberships (40 + years) in the American and Greater Washington Institutes of C.P.A.s and also is a member of the Virginia Society of C.P.A.s. Mr. Foote is an ardent amateur musician as well as the Treasurer and Member of the Board of Directors of the Vienna Choral Society.

Darlene Forrest, is Evaluation Associate.  Darlene has experience evaluating and providing recommendations for state and federally funded programs within the nonprofit sector.  She has evaluated the effectiveness of several programs within juvenile and adult prison institutions, community corrections and chemical dependency treatment facilities.  Darlene has a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from John Carroll University and a M.A. in Sociology from Cleveland State University.

Chuck Tetro, is Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Programs. He comes to the foundation from his previous position as President and CEO of the Training and Development Corporation, which managed Job Corps Centers in Maine and Virginia.

Barabara Dunn, is an Advisor on On-line Education. She is Vice President of the Remediation and Training Institute. A graduate of Worcester State College (now University) she began her career as a program officer for the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Office of Youth Programs.  Since then she has developed career academy high schools in shopping malls; designed and managed pilot operation of a retail skills center model for National Retail Federation; and managed a joint initiative for a shopping center developer and Communities In Schools for nationwide replication of the mall academy model. Recently she has been developing strategic partnerships with Virtual Learning Network Partners for cyber schools and alternative schools and Reach For Tomorrow for after-school programs approved under No Child Left Behind.

Steven LaFrance, MPH is an Advisor to the Foundation. He is the founder and Principal of LFA Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping social profit organizations achieve their greatest possible impact. Over the course of 15 years, Steven has provided evaluation, research, and technical assistance services to hundreds of nonprofit organizations, foundations, and public agencies. Steven is a nationally recognized leader in the field of organizational effectiveness, with a focus on strategy development and the use of information to maximize social impact. 

Jessica Manta-Meyer is an Advisor on Mentoring. She is currently a Research Associate with Public Profit. She has several years of experience creating, directing and evaluating a range of social service and health programs, including publicly funded after school programs. Prior to joining Public Profit, Jessica administered three comprehensive after-school programs in Oakland, including financial and program reporting, human resources, and agency-led evaluations.

Kristin Moore, Ph.D. (University of Michigan) is Advisor on Evaluation. A Senior Scholar and Program Director at Child Trends, Dr. Moore is a social psychologist who studies trends in child and family well-being, positive development, the determinants and consequences of early sexual activity and parenthood, fatherhood, the effects of family structure and social change on children, and the effects of public policies and poverty on children. She heads the Youth Development research area, where she is working to expand information on programs that work, implementation approaches that are effective, and rigorous approaches to evaluation, as well as working to share knowledge with practitioners, funders, journalists, and policy makers.

Corey Newhouse is an Advisor on Mentoring. She is the Founder and Principal of Public Profit a program improvement organization.  Ms. Newhouse has a wide range of experience in evaluating programs that serve children and families. Ms. Newhouse earned her Bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and her Master’s degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Charlene Sinclair is a Advisor on Conference Organizing and Advocacy. Ms. Sinclair, a doctoral student at the prestigious Union Theological Seminary, has organized the Foundation's national workshops with sites and conferences on the Foundation's update of the Kerner Riot Commission and National Violence Commission.