Board of Directors

Founder & Chairman

​The Honorable Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond

Hon Dr. Ross-Hammond, is a newly re-elected Councilwoman for the City of Virginia Beach, the current Chair of the Hampton Roads Transit Commission, and the Founder & Chairman of the Virginia African American Cultural Center, Inc. (VAACC). She chairs the Mayor’s Inclusion Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA Commission) for the City of Virginia Beach and is also an Appointee by Governor Ralph Northam to the Hampton Roads Transit Commission. She holds a PH.D. in Education Leadership, Curriculum, and Instructions with a Minor in Ethnomusicology from the University of Denver. She is also a graduate of the Sorenson Institute for Political Leadership, University of Virginia. Dr. Ross-Hammond retired from Norfolk State University as Distinguished Professor Emerita and Director of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement for the University.

A community leader, Dr. Ross-Hammond is the President Emeritus for the Young Audiences, Arts for Learning Virginia, President of the Virginia Beach Beautification Commission, Secretary for the Vibes Creative District, a member of the Virginia College Affordability Policy Council, the Mayor’s African American Roundtable, and a founding member of the National Black Women for Positive Change organization.

Under her leadership, and vision, the City Council of Virginia Beach unanimously gifted 4:83 acres of land to build the Cultural Center. Its Board implements cultural, historic and art enrichment programmatic activities within the community, City Public Schools, and local cities. Her recent accomplishment is the collaboration with the VB Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) to publish the city’s 1st Self-Guided Tour brochure of African American History in Virginia Beach. Articles about the brochure were written by the Tidewater AAA Travel magazine, Philadelphia Enquirer, AARP, the VirginianPilot Newspaper, and placed at Welcome Centers across Virginia.
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Dr. Ross-Hammond is the recipient of numerous awards from the Urban League of SHR Young Professionals, the National Association of Blacks in Higher Education, a Resolution of Accomplishments declaring December 13, 2016, as "Amelia N. Ross-Hammond Day" by the City of Virginia Beach, the first recipient of the late Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf’s Achievement in Government plaque from the VB Human Rights Commission, and the “Impacting Lives Award” from the New Journal & Guide. In 2019, Congresswoman, Elaine Luria read a “Letter of Commendation” for Dr. Ross-Hammond’s Community Service at the U.S. Capitol during a Congressional session. She loves travel, cultural events, and family. She is the proud mother of one adult son, Anwar.

Dr. Angela Gregg , Vice Chair

Bio

Dr. Gregg founded Let’s Talk Consulting Group, LLC and serves as the Chief Impact Officer. Dr. Gregg assists with grant management for non-profit organizations. She ensures the organization completely understands the management of approved grant funding. She performs grant management, bookkeeping, statistical analysis, and event planning for various organizations. 
 
Dr. Gregg has experience and has provided instructor-led training -- to meet the unique challenges of organizations today. She has experience with the federal government in establishing, documenting, and testing new processes for efficiency and accuracy. She facilitated open communications and dialog between senior managers and leadership to ensure these processes addressed critical issues for all components. She earned a Doctoral Degree in Management and Strategic Leadership and has used quantitative analysis and statistical analysis as a method to address critical decision making.
 
Dr. Gregg resides in Chesapeake with her husband, Hollimon, and identical twin grandsons Noah and Nathan.

Andre Council, Treasurer 

Bio

Andre Council is a Financial Consultant and owner of Veracity Business Financing.  He is very passionate about community building and serving others in various roles. Andre holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA in Operations Management.  He brings over 20 years of experience in the areas of Finance, Insurance, Investing, and Business Consulting. Additionally, he has more than 10 years of leadership experience in Corporate America and is an Army veteran. Andre is also deeply connected to the Hampton Roads community and has partnered with several organizations such as the Urban League of Hampton Roads, Jr. Achievement, Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, Hampton Roads Community Foundation, LISC, and SCORE.        

Dr. Lisa Lawson, Secretary

Bio

Dr. Lisa Lawson is a Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician with over 20 year practice experience in the field of Hospital Medicine. As an Associate Professor with East Virginia Medical School 2015-2018, she continues her love of teaching and affiliation with EVMS as Community Faculty.
She was raised in Washington, DC and graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended East Tennessee State University, Quillen College of Medicine  where she also conducted Biomedical Research and is co- published. She completed her residency training at Boston University School of Medicine. 
She is active in the community with her various professional and organization affiliations including Girlfriends Inc, The Moles, Friends of Hampton Roads where she has assisted in organizing a number of fundraisers and scholarship programs. 
She has resided in Hampton Roads as a proud Citizen and Professional for nearly 20 years. She is also the proud parent of her daughter Lauren, who is a high school honor student at Norfolk Christian Academy. ​

Worth Remick, Board Member

Bio

WORTH REMICK has 35 years of experience in industrial leasing, sales, development and tenant/buyer representation. He has leased or sold over 36 million square feet of industrial, flex and office properties. He is a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and has focused on port logistics, defense contracting, food manufacturing and distribution, and maritime developments. Worth has been a long-time member of the Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate (HRACRE), and has been involved in numerous charitable organizations, such as South Hampton Roads Habitat for Humanity where he spent 13 years on the Board of Directors, his church’s Vestry and Winter Shelter, and on the Boards of Green Run Collegiate, Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation, and Virginia Beach Vision. He received his degree in Humanities from Hampden-Sydney College where he was a member of the tennis team for 4 years. Much of Worth’s focus is on representing owners who desire to obtain tenants/ buyers or who want to maintain or increase the value of their holdings. His experience through the years, during both strong and weak markets, provides him and his clients with the proper perspective and marketing tools to create, realize and maintain value. He also has worked as Tenant and Owner Representative for Smithfield Foods, Ferguson, Dollar Tree Stores, IMS Gear, and Katoen Natie (KTN). A native of the region, Worth is very familiar with the geography, business climate, and regional economic engines (port/trade and defense contracting) and has numerous contacts to assist him with his daily work.

Harshad K. Barot, Board Member

Bio

Harshad K. Barot is vice president and financial adviser of Galaxy Group Corp., a family hospitality business. He had served on Virginia Beach’s Minority Business Council, and is a board member of Virginia Beach Vision, a Portsmouth-Suffolk board member for TowneBank and board member for Green Run Collegiate Foundation. He is part of the Windsdays Warriors group to bring awareness of offshore wind and plans to join the board of Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities this fall.

​Dr. Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson, Education Chair

Bio

​Dr. Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson is the Dean of the VWU Global Campus and Professor of Biology. She obtained her B.A. in biology from Randolph College), M.S. in biology with a concentration in marine biology from Florida Atlantic University, and Ph.D. in marine biology from Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. Gonsalves-Jackson's area of research focuses on the biodiversity of opisthobranch mollusks (sea slugs) from the Caribbean and the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to research on mollusks, she is engaged in initiatives that recruit and retain underrepresented groups in STEM that have resulted in collaborative NSF awards totaling over $1.4 million. Additional grants include those from the Virginia Department of Education and the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Dr. Gonsalves-Jackson also serves as co-director for the VWU Environmental Institute, a summer residential environmental science program for rising ninth grade girls. Prior to serving as Dean of VWU Global Campus, Dr. Gonsalves-Jackson was formerly the Director of January Term and Summer Sessions (2017-2020) and Director of Nursing and Allied Health (2020). She is the recipient of the 2022 Samuel Nelson Gray Teaching Award, 2013 Service and Community Engagement Award and the Batten Scholar Award (2012-15), and she is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, Beta Beta Beta National Biology Honor Society and Sigma Zeta National Science and Mathematics Honor Society.

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