BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Thornton Castleberry

My wife and I grew up in the Mississippi Delta. 

Throughout my career in the insurance business, I’ve worked to establish and maintain a reputation of professionalism and honesty. My responsibilities have included corporate sales, sales management, consulting and building my own firm. Currently, I’m Vice President of MS Group Marketing, Jackson, MS, where I’ve been employed now for 18 years.  Prior to this job, I worked for 2 yrs. with Edward Jones; 5 Years at Steward Sneed and Hewes Insurance Company, Senior Account Exec with Blue Cross Blue Shield of MS, Hartford Insurance Company, and fresh out of college I spent 3 years at Mutual of New York.

Other service areas:

I served for two terms as a member of Blue Cross Blue Shields Agent Advisory Board, 1994-1997. I served as a Board Member and Treasurer of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors for 2 years in Gulfport, MS, 1997-2000. I served as President of Mississippi Delta Community College Alumni Association, MS Gulf Coast Chapter, 1999-2001. I served as President of Kiwanis Club of Ridgeland, MS for two terms, 2013 – 2016. I served as President of the Board of an organization Jimmy Adams founded. The ministry was to Junior High Kids within the Jackson Public School system. I served as President of Sherbourne Home Owners Association, 2015 -2019 and I’m still on that Board.

Jenell grew up in Pearl, Mississippi. She is a 2010 and 2012 graduate of The University of Southern Mississippi where she obtained a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Public Health degree respectively. From 2013 to 2018 Jenell worked as an Analyst for a joint standing committee of the Mississippi Legislature.  Jenell went on to serve the PEARSON Foundation as a grant researcher and writer. While still devoting part of her time to the work of the PEARSON Foundation, Jenell also began working for African American Ministries, a ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America in March of 2020.  As Content and Communications Assistant for AAM, Jenell helps develop and deliver material consistent with AAM’s message.

Jenell, her husband Cyril, and their 2 daughters, Aria and Elise, live in Washington, DC. 

Maurice Henderson, Sr. has been married to his wife Julia for 31 years. They have two sons, both married, and 2 grandsons. Maurice and Julia met over 34 years ago while working with youth in their local church. Maurice is an insurance agent with American Fidelity and has been in ministry for about 35 years. Maurice served as an elder at the Community of Grace in Memphis, TN for 17 years. Maurice is currently a member of Redeemer Church in Jackson, MS. Maurice and his wife Julia moved to Jackson last June, where his wife is a grad student at Reformed Theological Seminary, getting a degree in counseling. Over the past 35 years Maurice has served on multiple ministry and community boards. Maurice has a passion for helping young people and discipling and mentoring young men. 

My name is Tina Carroll-McAllister and I am the wife of Keshone McAllister. I have been a member of Sweet Rest Church of Christ Holiness USA for more than 15 years where I serve as a Sunday School teacher, choir member, and Mentor. I have 3 children; Trey, Bianca, & Jarvis. Currently, I am employed at Trustmark National Bank as AVP-Collector Supervisor for 7 years in the Special Assets Department. I have served for many years as a volunteer with the PEARSON Foundation.
My strife in life is to exemplify Christ in all that I do, along with letting my faith be bigger than my fear. I am very passionate about teaching and leading young people in the right direction. Giving back to the community and assisting others when needed is very important to me.
 

Tremaine "Trey" Ross is an attorney and educator based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. A native of Grenada, MS, Attorney Ross began working with young learners while a student at Delta State University. From there, Attorney Ross became an outstanding public school teacher in Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and in Washington, D.C. 

    Today, Attorney Ross's work in education hasn't stopped. To illustrate, Attorney Ross is a member of Georgia's Association for Gifted Children, Gwinnett Alliance for Gifted Education, and he teaches a summer chess course at Peachtree Corners Library. Also, Attorney Ross recently co-authored an article with two other educators entitled "Increasing student interest in STEM: A multi-tiered approach: https://brighterline.org/2020/05/08/increasing-student-interest-in-stem-a-multi-tiered-approach/).

       In addition, Attorney Ross has worked as a trial lawyer since 2013, and he has been blessed to serve as counsel on more than one historic case.   

      Attorney Ross is a 2012 graduate of the University of Maryland's Carey School of Law and he and his wife, Dr. Terris Ross, are members of World Changers Church International. 

Brena Ward joined the board of directors for the PEARSON Foundation in 2014.  Her partnership with the PEARSON Foundation began as a tutor and she continued volunteering with PEARSON throughout the years. 

She is a software trainer for RealPage, Inc. a real estate and property management software company based in Dallas, TX. Born in Memphis, TN, but raised in Pearl, MS, Brena earned Her BSBA in Accounting from The University of Southern Mississippi. Brena now resides in Dallas, TX, and in her free time, she enjoys quality time with family and friends and traveling and exploring the world through food. 

Kaitlyn Ward brings 10 years of nonprofit experience the PEARSON Foundation’s Board of Directors, which she joined in 2019. Kaitlyn has a B.S. in Finance, Real Estate, and Law from California State University Long Beach and obtained her Master's Degree in International Development with a focus in gender issues from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She served in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic working in grassroots economic development for two years before leading the Community Economic Development Sector in her third year. In addition to her international development experience, Kaitlyn has also worked domestically with a number of nonprofits in Monitoring and Evaluation, Development, Program Design and Management, and more.

Jarvis serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the PEARSON Foundation, Inc., based in Pearl, Mississippi. He began this role in April of 2014 after having served nearly 17 years as the National Facilitator of City & Community Ministries with the Mission America Coalition/United States Lausanne Committee. Jarvis continues to cultivate strategic partnerships locally and nationally for sustained positive and wholistic culture change. 

Jarvis served as: National Prayer-Care-Share Trainer/Instructor for the Church of Christ (Holiness) USA ; former pastor of Second Temple Church in Jackson, Mississippi; founder of Christ for the Cities, a cityreaching collaboration; co-founder of the National City Impact Roundtable (NCIR), a learning community of practitioners, theorists serving together to have a sustained impact in every institutional sector of life in each city in the United States. He is a sought after conference and pulpit supply speaker.

Jarvis is a graduate of: The Evangelical Institute of Greenville, SC; the University of Memphis.