Reverend Sharon L. Hunter
 

Reverend Sharon Hunter is a native of Brooklyn, New York. She gave her life to the Lord at age fifteen and answered her call to preach the Word of God at age seventeen. She then became licensed into the ministry on June 7, 1992, at Salem Missionary Baptist Church, where the Reverend Dr. A.L. Jinwright is Senior Pastor. 

In August 1992, Reverend Hunter matriculated at Shaw university, Raleigh, North Carolina. In May 1996, Reverend Hunter graduated with honors from Shaw University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English as a Presidential Scholar. In July 1998, reverend Hunter traveled to Jamaica, West Indies, where she preached and taught God’s Word to the natives. During the eleven years of ministry she has participated on the Board of Evangelism, Board of Christian Education, and Youth Ministries.

Presently Reverend Hunter is a graduating senior at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, New York, where she is pursuing the Master of Divinity Degree. She served as Chaplain for the Black Student Caucus, 2002-2003. She is presently an Associate Minister and an Administrative Assistant at Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church where the Reverend Dr. Richard Douglass is Senior Pastor. She is very active in many areas of this ministry including the music ministry, youth ministry, and workshop facilitator in the Women’s Ministry.

Reverend Hunter is an anointed vessel, ready to teach and preach under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Mr. Harolton Alexander
AB Laymen’s Sunday speaker 10/9/2005

Mr. Harolton Alexander, is currently a Business Unit Manager for Power Generation and Engineered Products for Engelhard Corporation. He is experienced in consulting, as well as the directing and training of operational and management groups. He has many professional accomplishments over more than 30 years, including two successful start ups, team member/leader in two acquisitions, consolidations of two operations and creation of new business culture, human resources planning; and, in addition, church leadership and development, deacons’ workshops, young adult workshops, and new member classes. Within the community, he has spearheaded efforts to fund and build a treatment center for those with substance abuse related conditions. He has also provided leadership to those seeking to provide elementary level children with practical learning experiences in the sciences.

Within the church, Mr. Alexander currently serves as a Deacon. He is a past member of Church on the Hill in Rochester and St. John’s Baptist Church in Woburn, MA. At St. John’s, he played a lead role in the renovation of the church and its ongoing growth. He focused on leadership development within the church and the use of skills gained professionally to benefit the ministry. He is a former chairman of the Trustee board.

Harolton is married to his “personal superwoman,” friend and soul mate, Paula Alexander. They have two children, Mark and Sasha; and three wonderfully outstanding grandchildren, Nygel, 13; Janiya, 6; and Joshua, 5 months.

Rev. Peter Carman
Anniversary Sunday speaker 10/16/2005

Our guest speaker, Rev. Peter Carman, has served as pastor of Lake Avenue Baptist Church since 1992. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he previously served churches in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Lincoln, Rhode Island. Peter is vice-chair of the Rochester Commission on Muslim Christian Relations, in addition to being active ecumenically. He is the chair of the Fulton Avenue Revitalization effort in the church’s neighborhood. He brings to ministry a concern for peace, as well as a commitment to ministry in our urban setting.

Dr. Michele E. Horne, MD, MPH
Men’s Health Forum February 25, 2006

Michele Horne is the Director of Rochester Medical Services for Eastman Kodak. She received her undergraduate degree in the area of Biology with a minor in Chemistry from California State University Fresno. This consequently resulted in a short but successful career in Forensics. She worked for the California Department of Justice as a Forensic Scientist where her duties included Blood Alcohol Analysis, Drug Identification and Analysis, Crime Scene Investigation and DNA analysis. This work resulted in several presentations and publications regarding DNA analysis in the Forensic Arena. Subsequently she attended Medical School at the University of Southern California. After medical school, she moved to the east coast for her residency training at Yale. After completing an Internal Medicine Residency, she decided to stay at Yale and complete subspecialty training in the area of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Contemporaneous to finishing her fellowship in Occupational Medicine, she worked on a Master’s Degree in Public Health in the area of Chronic Disease Epidemiology. Her areas of interests include Clinical Research, Health Promotion Program Development and Health Education.

Mr. David Vickers
Guest speaker April 26, 2009

David Vickers is a human resources manager for Eastman Kodak Company. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from City College in New York and a Master of Divinity Degree from Northeastern Seminary in Rochester. He currently attends Bethel Christian Fellowship where he serves as a Minister/Teacher. He occasionally serves as an adjunct professor at Roberts Wesleyan College. He is also a 2004 graduate of the United Way (African American Leadership Development Program). He and his wife Paulette have been happily married since 1982, and David is the father of four children.

Marilynn Patterson-Grant
American Baptist Women’s Sunday Guest Speaker September 13, 209 

Marilynn Patterson-Grant is the Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning for the RochesterCitySchool District and was appointed to this position by Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard in 2008. She has previously served as the Chief Academic Officer and the Chief of Academics and Small School Development for the RCSD. Ms. Patterson-Grant is a former Principal of Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School, serving in this capacity from 2002 – 2006. Prior to working at WilsonMagnetHigh School, Ms. Patterson-Grant served as Director of Social Studies and Multicultural Education for the RCSD.

 Ms. Patterson-Grant’s recognitions include the following: 2006 recipient of the Willie Lightfoot Youth Advocate of the Year Award; 2007 Services to Youth Award from the Rochester Chapter of The Links, Inc.; 2009 inaugural Richard M. Downey Heart of Gold Award from the Labor Committee of the United Way of Greater Rochester.

 A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Patterson-Grant is the daughter of the late Rev. R. L. Patterson, the former Pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, and Mrs. Mattie Pringle Patterson, a retired Preschool Administrator. Marilynn is a graduate of the University of Rochester, and she is currently enrolled in the St. John Fisher Doctoral program in Executive Leadership. She defended her dissertation two weeks ago and will formally graduate in May 2010.  

Ms. Patterson-Grant’s civic involvement over the years has included the following: member and former Trustee, Mt.OlivetBaptistChurch, where the Rev. Rickey Harvey is senior pastor; former Rochester Chapter President/Past Regional Parliamentarian of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc; past Program Planner for Jack and Jill of Rochester; former Commissioner with the Monroe County Freedom Trail; former member of the Board of Directors of the Rochester Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union; former Board Member of the Monroe County Youth Bureau; and member of Rochester Chapter of Links, Inc. She is a proud member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. 

Without a doubt, Marilynn’s proudest accomplishment and blessing is her family. She is the wife of David M. Grant, Vice Principal at John Walton Spencer, School #16 in the RCSD. She is the proud mother of Jared Michael David Grant, a freshman musical theater student at ColumbiaCollege in Chicago and aspiring actor; and the proud mother of Karissa Joy Grant, an aspiring corporate communications officer. The passions in Marilynn’s life are her faith, her family, her friends, and her calling as an educator. As an educator she has endeavored to do with and for other people’s children what she would want done for her own children. She gives all glory and honor to God!

Professor William A. Johnson, Jr.
Black History Sunday Guest Speaker 2/21/2010
 

William A. Johnson, Jr. is the Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Urban Studies in the College of Liberal Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he has served since January 1, 2006. He teaches courses in urban policy and planning, community development and U.S. public policy. On March 1, 2010, he will assume the additional duties of Coordinator of the Urban and Community Studies degree program, which will require him to oversee all aspects of the academic and field work of the students who are enrolled in this program. Earlier in his career, he was a tenured member of the political science faculty at the Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan (1967-71) 

From January 1, 1994 through December 31, 2005, he served as the 64th Mayor and chief administrative officer of the City of Rochester, responsible for overseeing a $400 million annual budget and 3,000 employees. During his tenure, many new and innovative programs were implemented that improved conditions in every city neighborhood. In 1999, he was recognized as one of the Top 10 Public Officials in America. 

A native of Lynchburg, Virginia, he moved to Rochester from Flint on December 2, 1972 to become the Chief Executive Officer of the Urban League of Rochester. He had served nearly two years as the Deputy Executive Director of the Urban League of Flint. During his 21 year tenure in Rochester, which ended on December 31, 1993, the League became a major provider of human services and advocacy on behalf of Blacks and other disadvantaged minority citizens. Many new innovative programs, such as the Salute to Black Scholars, the "Call to Action", and the ULR Affordable Housing Program, were implemented. Nine people that he hired went on to become the CEO of Urban League affiliates and other major not-for-profit organizations. 

Professor Johnson is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, DC, where he earned the B.A. and M.A. degrees in political science in 1965 and 1967, respectively. His alma mater presented him with the "Alumni Award for Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement" in 2003. The National Urban League presented him with the Whitney M. Young Medallion for Distinguished Service in 1994, upon his retirement after a 23 year career in the Urban League movement. In 2006, the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at SUNY-Albany presented him with the Distinguished Public Service Award. Four colleges in the greater Rochester area have awarded him honorary doctorates. 

Despite all of these professional achievements, he is proudest of his three daughters, two grand sons, three grand daughters and one great-grandson that resulted from his marriage to the former Mary Ann Griffin of Phoenixville, PA; and of the musical training which he started at the age of 6, which led him to be a church musician for over fifty years in three states and the District of Columbia. For 16 of those years (1975-1991), he was the organist and senior choir director at the New Bethel CME Church, under the pastorate of  Rev. R. L. Graves; and since the early 1980's as a substitute organist at his home church, Mt. Olivet Baptist, under the pastorates of Dr. Leadrew L. Johnson, Dr. Dwight E. Cook,  Rev. Lawrence Hargrave, and Rev. Rickey B. Harvey. Among his many civic duties, he currently serves as a trustee of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.