Meet The Board of Directors
Founder and CEO- Nyene Baker
Nyene (pronounced YEN-en) Baker has resilience and a deep-seated desire to empower others. A first-generation Liberian, Nyene wears many hats: Founder of Visionary Philanthropy Group Inc., Nerds With Swag, and Baker International Publishing LLC. He works full time for his own nonprofit, VPG, and is a partner with breakbeatcode, a program that teaches youths and adults how to code through music in the under-served communities. Nyene is also the Chairman of The Trenton Prison Branch of the NAACP and he is a new student at the American College of Financial Services studying to be a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy.
Nyene’s passion for community impact stretches far back. While serving an 180 month federal sentence for drug trafficking, he self-published his real estate book, “Tax Lien Certificates”, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to personal growth and knowledge sharing. Now, through VPG, Nyene strives to make financial literacy, tech opportunities, and his own Violence Prevention and Intervention Program cornerstones of underserved communities. His goal is simple: to make a difference, one step at a time.
Beyond his philanthropic pursuits, Nyene seeks connection and growth through organizations like the Freemasons, of which he is a member of the world’s oldest and largest fraternity, and he is a member of BNI, the world’s largest referral networking organization. These communities provide him with valuable support and a platform to amplify his message of empowerment.
Nyene Baker is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity and turn challenges into opportunities for service. He is a community leader, a visionary and a force for positive change, committed to paving the way for a brighter future for all.
Chairwoman- Liz Brinkerhoff Chairwoman
Liz Brinkerhoff is the Workforce Partnerships Senior Manager at The Alliance for Decision Education. Liz is deeply committed to education advocacy, and has over 20 years of experience making a difference through her work at nonprofits, government offices, and the private sector.
Before joining the Alliance, Liz led global efforts at Catalyst, an organization committed to make workplaces more inclusive for all. Liz previously also led recruiting efforts at Storyline Strategies, where she assembled executives, philanthropic leaders, educators, policy experts, and more to inform data science findings, political trends, and business strategies. She also previously served Senators Jon Corzine in his role as Senator and New Jersey Governor, and Senators Evan Bayh, and Mark Begich in their efforts to champion children, women, Veterans, the working poor, active duty service members,
and more.
Liz received her B.S. in Political Science and Government from Rutgers University. A New Jersey native, Liz lives in
Hackensack, NJ.
Vice Chairwoman- Laila Shareef Wilson-McCoy
Laila Shareef Wilson-McCoy is the Director of Development at Centurion in Princeton, New Jersey. She has more than 20 years of experience in various fund development and organizational operation roles, with a specialty in donor relations, fundraising, and process management. Prior to joining Centurion, Laila was the Resource Development Manager at Isles, Inc., and the Development Director at the Waldorf School of Princeton.
Her undergraduate degree is in Psychology and she has a certification in Financial Success for Nonprofits from Cornell University. Laila is a Board Member of the Princeton YWCA, a Review Committee Member for Cooperman College Scholars, and a member of Masjid Warith ud Deen Fundraising Committee. She is the mother of two children and resides in Mercer County with her husband.
Secretary- Edna Odukoya
Edna Baker, Board Secretary and CEO of Royal Majesty HomeCare in Montgomery County Pennsylvania.
Edna was born in Liberia, West Africa and raised in Trenton, New Jersey where she attended Saint James Catholic Middle School in Trenton and McCorristin Catholic High School in Hamilton, NJ. She graduate from high school and went on to graduate from Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania with a Bachelors or Arts degree in Sociology. She has worked in the field of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities for over twenty-five years with children, youth and adults. She calls North Philadelphia home at this time. Edna enjoys singing in her church choir and listening to all genres of music.
Vice President of Business Development- Anthony Bush
Anthony Bush, Assistant Vice President for Government Affairs at the Bank Policy Institute(BPI). In this role, his portfolio will focus on consumer and small business issues and economic inclusion. Mr Bush previously served as a legislative assistant on the majority of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform where he was hands-on with legislative and policy work.
Prior to his work with the Oversight Committee. Bush served as a staff assistant to the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and a personal assistant on Rep Cummings’ congressional campaign.
Mr. Bush received an MBA from Morgan State University. He also completed his undergraduate at Morgan State University receiving a B.A. in political science and communications.
Vice President of Fundraising- Shariq Marshall
Shariq Marshall is an enthused nonprofit professional and entrepreneur with a focus on development & community engagement, relationship building and health & wellness. Shariq started his employment at Arm In Arm in 2018 as the Operations & Volunteer Coordinator and recently has transitioned to the Development & Community Engagement Coordinator. Shariq is a 2018 graduate of Rider University. During his undergraduate experience, he studied Public Relations and spent time as a Community Engagement Intern through the Bonner Community Scholar program. “I was taught growing up that someone else’s situation is always worse than mine, so be grateful and make an impact when I can.” Shariq has a deep compassion for community building, empowering others and connecting like hearted people to a bigger cause. More recently, he has endeavored in the health & wellness market, providing guidance, support, products and services for the community.
Treasurer- Dr. Catrice Kees, Ph.Drer
Dr. Catrice Kees is a Sr. Principal Engineer specializing in Microelectronic Semiconductors, with leadership experience at global innovators including Northrop Grumman, IBM, and Intel.
Born and raised in Trenton, NJ, Dr. Kees brings deep technical expertise across semiconductor research, materials science, and strategic process innovation.
She has successfully led initiatives in R&D development, equipment optimization, and executive reporting, driving operational excellence and creating opportunities for emerging leaders in STEM fields.
A published researcher and STEM advocate, Dr. Kees is passionate about education, equity, and advancing community-centered innovation.
Vice President of Community Outreach- Austin J. Edwards, Esq.
Austin is a proud Trentonian born and raised in the City. With humble beginnings in his childhood home on Rutherford Avenue and church home of Little Light True Gospel Church, he learned the value of caring for his community and its people, finding joy in helping address the issues facing neighbors, friends, family, and other community members.
His work experience includes positions at Capitol Hill, the United States Coast Guard, the Federal Judiciary, multiple federal agencies, and Ernst & Young. He returned to Trenton to work with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to reform police/community relations as well as state financial laws. He works as legal and policy expert to build a more just and equitable New Jersey for all. Austin holds a law degree from Howard University and a Masters of Domestic and Public Policy from Princeton University.
Austin actively volunteers with numerous organizations including the Howard University Alumni Club of Metropolitan Trenton (Go Bison!), Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Lambda Lambda Sigma Chapter, and the Trenton Urban League Guild. He is also a New Leaders Council and New Jersey LEAD graduate. He serves as President of the local Trenton NAACP which uses its strong civil rights legacy in serving all of Mercer County to end poverty, improve housing stock, improve health outcomes, fight for a more environmentally just society, and return and restore our citizens back into the community, among many other bold and important initiatives. He is most proud to provide scholarships to local kids to help them achieve their full academic potential, to create and celebrate diverse spaces for youth of all ages to excel, to produce life-changing alternatives to the school/drug/prison pipeline, and to illustrate to the community the young scholars we have in our very midst. And this year he is running for re-election to his current school board seat to continue to use his time and talents to benefit the children and families in his community.
He specifically lives in Trenton on one of the big houses on the Bellevue Avenue hill that he always dreamed of living in while growing up on with his wife Natalie, his newborn Maya, and their greyhound Grace. Finally, he loves to throw the best backyard BBQs!
Board Advisor- Richard Achee
Richard Achée is a Business Development Lead at Google. For over 25 years, Richard has been working with organizations of all shapes and sizes to help them become more collaborative, creative, and innovative. As part of his role at Google, he works with companies to help build their product roadmaps and go-to-market strategies leveraging Google's technology, brand and partner ecosystems.
In 2017, he created BreakBeatCode which teaches students to code, collaborate and create by bringing together professionals in the music and tech industries, including singers, rappers, DJs, producers, entrepreneurs and tech coaches. BreakBeatCode works with organizations that support historically underserved communities to offer the free BreakBeatCode curriculum, teacher training and virtual hackathons. The program is supported by volunteers from Google and the broader tech and music industries. BreakBeatCode began as a 20% time project at Google, and it's been recently launched as a non-profit organization, Breakbeatcode Inc, to help achieve the goal of teaching 1.5M students by 2025. So far, BreakBeatCode has reached more than 10k learners in 20 countries.
Richard is also a board advisor and mentor for a number of high growth start-ups in the U.S., Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
Board Advisor- Michael J. Frank
Visionary strategist Michael J. Frank brings a multifaceted career spanning board leadership, startup founding, advisory, mentorship, and arbitration. As a founder with a successful exit, he has been instrumental in shaping the future of the financial services sector. He continues to support the next generation of talent through his work with Baruch College-mentoring MBA students to push creative boundaries and elevate performance.
He also brings a strong understanding of Al and cybersecurity trends, including their strategic implications for business operations, innovation, and risk management.
Driven by the desire to make meaningful, positive, lasting change with global impact, he currently manages Neuvation, an impact fund investing in brain health startups.
As Co-founder of Gildre, he guides startups on capital raising & scaling growth while providing a forum for collaboration among founders, innovators, and industry experts.
A FINRA-certified arbitrator with extensive formal board education (68 CPE courses), including BOARDView Certification.
To board service, he offers specialized expertise in the following areas:
BOARD LEADERSHIP: Serves as an Advisory Board Member, Desync.ai, Silo Markets, Forseyte, & Ziggurat Tech.
INNOVATION: Co-founded Gildre & cultivated a global community of 250 innovators and founders representing Al, ML, and dozens of other sectors.
COACHING & MENTORING: Mentored MBA students at Zicklin School of Business and participated in the "Think Bigger" course at Columbia Business School, where he shared his vision for successful startups with graduate students. Guides startups & their founders through multiple growth phases via his work at Gildre and Newchip Accelerator.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Founded market maker & specialist trading firm Gateway Partners. Scaled the operation to a balance sheet of nearly $1B. Evaluated the business's technological needs & implemented Gateway's proprietary options valuation & portfolio risk management software, Gateway Trading Systems (GTS). Sold Gateway Partners to a NASDAQ-listed company.
EXECUTIVE ADVISORY: Advised Newchip Accelerator's pre-seed, seed, Series A startups Untap, eTip.io, Akido Finance, Ember Funds, & Traders Post and counseled Dollar Ride's CEO, guiding them to secure a $10M grant from NY State. Currently advising Gildre startups.
Board Advisor- Paul Martinetti, MD
Paul Martinetti is a Senior Partner at The Bracken Group, bringing decades of expertise in digital technology, web development, and science and health education. Born in Trenton, NJ, Paul attended middle school at St. Anthony’s, then McCorristin Catholic High School (now Trenton Catholic Preparatory Academy), Rutgers University in New Brunswick for his BA in Biological Sciences, and UMDNJ (now Rutgers) New Jersey Medical School in Newark for his medical degree. Paul has combined his deep technical knowledge and science education with a passion for community service, consistently leveraging his digital, science, and teaching skills to support organizations driving social impact.
With a long history of mentoring, education, and advocacy in underserved communities, Paul is committed to advancing VPG’s mission through strategic digital support, marketing, grant assistance, and financial guidance. His dedication to social equity, food security, and helping to empower Black and Brown communities reflects a lifelong commitment to service—a journey he is proud to continue with VPG, helping amplify its positive impact year after year.