Barbara I. Cheives - Workshop Moderator
President/CEO @Converge & Associates Consulting
Barbara Cheives is president of Converge & Associates Consulting, which specializes in race and ethnic relations support, community and civic engagement, and cultural competency training. She served as the first executive director of Towards A More Perfect Union, a non-profit initiative formed to address the critical impact of race and ethnicity in diverse communities. She also planned and executed engagement and dialogue projects with difficult to reach communities in Palm Beach County and statewide. A native New Yorker who has lived in West Palm Beach for over 25 years, Barbara serves on the National Board of the Institute of Community Peace in Washington, DC, and is a past chair of the Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission.
The Reverend William Washington
Pastor, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, West Palm Beach
Bill Washington has been the pastor of Friendship Church for seventeen years. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and attended Palm Beach Atlantic College. He is married to Lojo; they have one daughter, Oni, and two grandchildren, Zara and William. He is a co-founder and member of the board of NCCI, a community-based nonprofit providing leadership in the redevelopment of the Historic Northwest District of West Palm Beach. He is also co-founder with Gerald Williams of the Suncoast Chamber of Commerce, a black chamber founded in the 1980s. He is former chairman of the boards of Mental Health Association of Palm Beach and Good Samaritan Hospital.
The Reverend Kevin Jones
Assistant Pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church, West Palm Beach
Kevin Jones is a native of Rustburg, VA. He completed his education in the Campbell County School System and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Radford University in 1996. The Rev. Jones graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Ministry from Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2007, and a Master of Divinity from The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, GA in 2012. The Rev. Jones currently serves as the Assistant Pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in West Palm Beach and Coordinator of Community Initiatives in the Office of Mayor Keith James, City of West Palm Beach.
The Reverend Dr. Terriel Byrd
Professor of Urban Ministry Studies, Palm Beach Atlantic University
Dr. Byrd has more than twenty-five years experience as a senior pastor and campus minister. He is the founder and Lead Pastor of Living Word Christian Community Church. He is also the author of I Shall Not Be Moved: Racial Separation in Christian Worship, By This Shall We Be Known: Interpreting the Voice, Vision, and Message of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Let the Church Be the Church: the Social Teachings of the Christian Church.
