PRI Board Members

The board of the Kalamazoo County Poverty Reduction Initiative is a unique mix of public, private, and non-profit partners who came together in 2003 and afterward to find answers to the increasing poverty in our community. Each of them brings a specialized focus that aids in fostering change in the region.

Sherry Thomas-Cloud, Chair – Director of Kalamazoo Department of Human Services

Reverend Milton Wells, Vice Chair – Open Door Ministries

Barbara Young, Secretary – Community member (Community Action Agency – retired)

Kennedy Fillar, Treasurer – Regional President Comerica Bank

Don Roberts – Managing Attorney for Legal Aid of West Michigan

John Dillworth – CEO Goodwill Industries

Steward Sandstrom – President of Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce

Dr. Michael Rice – Superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools

Dr. Timothy Ready – Director of Lewis Walker Institute at WMU

Don Cooney – Kalamazoo City Commission

Ann Perry – League of Women Voters

Ed Pigeon – Gun Lake Tribal Council

Jeff Patton – Director of Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services

Barbara Young – Community member (Community Action Agency – retired)

Jerome Kisscorni – CEO Kalamazoo Economic Development Corporation

Jackie Cantrell – Director of Learning Services KVCC

David Artley - Kalamazoo County

Jeff Brown – Executive Director of the Poverty Reduction Initiative