David Dykes
David Dykes leads The D. L. Dykes, Jr. Foundation as CEO and member of the Board of Directors. He developed the concept of FAITHANDREASON®, a brand now recognized as promoting critical thought about Christian theology and scholarship-based awareness of its historical development. He has produced television and video programs relative to church history, biblical theology, and science education that have aired over PBS, and other cable networks throughout the nation. David holds a BA in Philosophy from Centenary College, Shreveport, Louisiana, and a Master’s of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. David Dykes lives in Jackson, MS.
Peter Laarman
Rev. Peter Laarman is a United Church of Christ minister and activist who spent ten years as executive director of Progressive Christians Uniting in Los Angeles. Previously, he was a high school English teacher and community organizer in Massachusetts, communications director for the American Federation of Teachers and the United Auto Workers, and the senior minister of New York’s historic Judson Memorial Church, where he revived a dormant performing arts program, refocused the congregation’s social justice ministry, and worked to defend civil liberties after 9-11. A summa cum laude graduate of both Brown University and Yale Divinity School, Peter has written for publications such as Dissent, In These Times, The American Prospect, and Religion Dispatches and edited the book of essays Getting On Message: Challenging the Christian Right from the Heart of the Gospel. Peter lives in Los Angeles and remains involved in numerous justice struggles, including the Justice Not Jails campaign that calls upon faith communities to critique and combat the racism embedded within the American criminal justice system.
J. David Stone
J. David Stone is a consultant for Crown Media – Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel. David is former Regional Vice President for Hallmark Channel’s central region and responsible for Network Distribution and Service for 17 states extending from the Dakotas to the Caribbean. David is President and Chief Executive Officer of Stone & Associates, which offers extensive leadership in television production, public relations, National and International business exchanges, travel and importing. Stone & Associates partners with Soviet General and maintains a relationship with Boris Yeltsin’s Russian Academy of Administration and Management. David is a graduate from Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tech University, Sarritt College in Nashville, TN, and holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Russian Academy of Administration and Management in Moscow, Russia. David Stone lives in Bradenton, FL.
Sallye Wilcox
Sallye Wilcox, a native of Mississippi, joined the Board of Directors upon retiring from her position as Executive Director (CEO) Mississippi Hospital for Restorative Care, Jackson, Mississippi after a career both as a professor of Psychiatric Nursing and as a hospital administrator. She is a graduate of Millsaps College (B.S.) in Jackson, University of Mississippi School of Nursing (B.S.N.), Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing, (M.S.N.), and the University of Mississippi/Health Care Administration (Ph.D.). Sallye has served in numerous volunteer positions and served on a number boards of Not-for-profit organizations. She and husband, Dick, recently retired from International Paper Company and as President and CEO of the Business & Industry Political Education Committee of Mississippi, continue as volunteers while enjoying travel, grandchildren and a wide circle of friends. Sallye Wilcox lives in Oxford, MS.
Kathy Woodliff
Kathy Woodliff, M.Ed., MCP, LPC, has been in private practice at Cypress Bend Psychological Associates over twenty years and a school counselor for three years. She is the founder of the McClean Fletcher Grief Support Center for Children and Adolescents which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Her current interests are using the Enneagram as a psycho-spiritual tool and Mindfulness-Based-Stress Reduction. She has studied with MBSR founder, Jon-Kabat Zinn and Daniel Rechtschaffen, author of The Way of Mindful Education. She is a MBSR teacher and is qualified to teach the 8-week MBSR course and has taught 10 cycles of MBSR at Tara Yoga. Kathy has two grown sons and has been married to her husband, Dan, for 39 years.
Deborah W. (Debo) Dykes
Deborah W. (Debo) Dykes holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s degree in Education. She has been an elementary school teacher, middle school science teacher, and a director of academic advance for higher education. Following graduate work in Anglican Studies she was ordained in the Episcopal Church at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Denver, CO. Debo has worked in spiritual formation and education, first as Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Denver, Colorado, then as Canon for Formation & Mission at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral in Jackson, Mississippi, and most recently as Director of Programming for the Center for Formation & Mission for The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.