FOUNDING STEERING COMMITTEE

Thania Averett is the Department Head for the Area Agency on Aging (AAA), and is responsible for overall department functions and activities, including assignment of duties to staff and case managers, providing training and technical assistance, monitoring performance, and initiating corrective and disciplinary actions. She assures the development and submittal of all plans, contracts, agreements, and applications necessary for the Area Agency on Aging’s functioning, and approves all such documents developed by staff. Thania received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Business Management from the University of Southern Mississippi. 

Patrick Bonck has served as the Zoning Administrator for Harrison County Mississippi since October 2000. He has served on the planning staff for the City of Gulfport, and holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of South Alabama with an undergraduate degree from the University of New Orleans. Patrick volunteers with CASA of Harrison County, established to help families recover when a child is taken from their parents by the State, and is co-Chair for the Gulf Coast Business Council Masters Class. 

Aletha Burge is “semi-retired” and currently serves as the Director of Community Impact for United Way of South Mississippi where she has worked for 23 years. Organizing community coalitions to address critical social issues, she works with community leaders to improve the quality of life in South Mississippi, and facilitates United Way's distribution of grants in the community.  With a master's degree in Counseling and Human Relations and an MBA, Althea’s career has included service as the Director of Human Resources for a multi-state corporation, Assistant Secretary of State for Administration in Mississippi, group home supervisor for unwed mothers and emotionally disturbed teenage girls, and as a community mental health center therapist. Having worked in the business, government and nonprofit sectors Aletha brings a broad and holistic perspective to solving community problems.  Recognized as one of the "Top 50 Business Women in MS," she has served on numerous community coalitions such as the League of Women Voters, the Board of Trustees for Leadership Gulf Coast, Secretary of the Bay St. Louis Rotary Club, steering committee for the Open Doors Homeless Coalition, the USM Gulf Park School of Social Work Advisory Board, the South Mississippi Earned Income Tax Coalition, and with Excel by 5.

Stephen Deal is an Extension Specialist in land-use planning for the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program with extensive knowledge of coastal programs. He provides technical assistance to gulf coast communities and works to expand the organization’s outreach opportunities to local planners and floodplain managers. Stephen holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Clemson University and a bachelor’s degree in history and urban studies from Furman University. Before moving to Mississippi, he was an AmeriCorps VISTA Worker in Beckley, West Virginia, where he addressed issues pertaining to community development and heritage tourism. 

Geneva Dummer is Owner/Operator of The Meeting Place, LLC, the first co-working space on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. With over ten years of work force experience spanning a variety of industries, her focus is on economic development, public health, and community involvement. Geneva served in the U.S. Navy for seven years as an avionics technician, collateral duty inspector, and quality assurance inspector. She holds a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Science from the University of Tennessee College of Medical Health Sciences.  She currently serves as Chairperson of the Gulfport Excel by 5 Steering Committee and Coalition, is a member of Biloxi’s Economic Vitality Committee, and is the Secretary and Administrator for Heritage Trails Partnership of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. 

Danielle Fastring is the Director of Student Research and an Associate Professor of Pre-Clinical Sciences at William Carey University, College of Osteopathic Medicine. Formerly, she was an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Southern Mississippi in the School of Nursing and Health Professions where she taught graduate courses in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Environmental Health, and SAS programming.  She received her PhD in Epidemiology from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She was a Fellow in the Maternal Child Health Epidemiology Doctoral Training Program sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). She has extensive training in epidemiology, study design, survey development, data collection, and analysis. Her research interests include health disparities in the Gulf South region. Her research interests include health disparities, childhood obesity, and the impact of the built environment on health.  She often uses mapping and GIS as a tool to illustrate community strengths and weaknesses and features of the built environment that impact the health of community residents.

Lan Le serves as Project and Outreach Coordinator for Boat People SOS in Biloxi, Mississippi. For the past four years she has worked directly with the Vietnamese community to leverage personal cultural linguistic competencies in order to plan and implement a number of services and programs addressing the pressing needs of the community including: health awareness and education, healthcare access, and workforce development. In addition, she is an advocate for the elimination of health disparity, and to bring racial equity and social justice to underserved and marginalized communities. Le’s diverse cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic background lay the foundation for unique insights on the intersections between language and culture; and social and economic equality. 

Rhonda Rhodes is the President of Hancock Resource Center, a HUD-approved, nonprofit counseling center that works to improve housing conditions in Hancock County. She is NCHEC-certified in home ownership counseling, homebuyer and post-purchase education, and is a Housing Counseling Executive with a professional certificate in home ownership and community lending.  Rhonda’s background is in healthcare, but most recently before beginning at HRC, she worked for the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.  Under the direction of the Chamber, she created and managed the Hancock Community Development Fund.  She currently serves on the Boards for the Hancock Community Development Foundation, St. Stanislaus Booster Club, American Red Cross of Southeast Mississippi Advisory Board, and is an active member of the Rotary Club of Bay St. Louis. She is a 2006 graduate of Leadership Hancock County and a 2014 graduate of Leadership Mississippi.  

Brad has served with the Mississippi State Department of Health 23 years. His role as Health Educator for the Gulf Coast has included the creation and maintenance of a state-wide child safety coalition; the creation and maintenance of worksite wellness policies for health departments; and the advisory guidance for school health and wellness councils along the gulf coast.  

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Role of Steering Committee Members:

1. Provide professional expertise.
2. Contribute to a collective diversity in perspective.
3. Serve a one or two-year term on a 12- to 15-member Steering Committee.
4. Identify funding opportunities to sustain the Collaborative / Community ExCHANGE.
5. Commit to serving on at least one working group.
6. Actively communicate progress and information about the Gulf Coast Community ExCHANGE to the partners, community, and interest groups in your city, county and local communities.
7. Be available to meet monthly.