Monica Taylor
Patient financial coordinator,
Patient Financial Services
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Monica Taylor, a patient financial coordinator at The Johns
Hopkins Hospital, has been involved since 1989 with the Young
Folks and Friends Union of the House of God Church in Baltimore,
where she coordinates multicultural enrichment programs and
activities that motivate and build self-esteem for the youth to
become contributing members and leaders of society. In 2001, the
church recognized Taylor as Youth Worker of the Year.
In addition, Taylor recently received an award for her dedication
to Build the Dream, for which she raised nearly $2,000 to help
construct a national memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. in
Washington, D.C. She also has been recognized for her commitment
to the Hopkins Bond to Bond Career Development Youth Mentoring
Program.
Darryl Stephens
Special response officer,
Corporate Security
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
When a house fire claimed the lives of five of eight family
members in his East Baltimore community nine years ago, Darryl
Stephens, a special response officer at The Johns Hopkins
Hospital, rallied around the surviving members by beginning a
restoration program to provide the family with money, clothing,
food and shelter. Today, Stephens continues to coordinate with
local markets and stores to provide food and supplies for other
community members in need.
Through his church, Stephens began a tutoring program in which he
mentors people to become productive citizens. In addition, he
sponsors free community cookouts to bring his neighborhood
together in an effort to share fun and fellowship.
Valerie Whitaker
Protective services officer,
Corporate Security
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Valerie Whitaker, a protective services officer at The Johns
Hopkins Hospital, shares her positive outlook on life by dividing
her volunteerism between two organizations in the Park Heights
community where she lives.
For eight years, Whitaker has assisted her minister and the
Gospel Messengers International Outreach Ministry with a soup
kitchen and fund-raising activities for the homeless, addicts and
senior citizens of the community. Whitaker also coordinates
special events and discussions for the ministry's children, and
manages secretarial responsibilities. To expand her efforts,
Whitaker attended money management and counseling classes so that
she could help couples with budgeting and household management.
During the holiday months, Whitaker coordinates food collection,
assembly and delivery of Thanksgiving and holiday baskets for
housebound and needy families of the Power House Church of
Praise.
Maura Walden
Director of corporate training and community relations
Johns Hopkins HealthCare
Community service has always been an important part of Maura
Walden's professional and personal life. Inspired as children by
their mother, Walden and her nine siblings participated in many
volunteer activities. Nowadays, Walden often involves her own
children.
In her professional career, Walden, who is director of corporate
training and community relations for Johns Hopkins HealthCare,
not only identifies opportunities of need in the local community,
she volunteers in many of these efforts herself. A number of
special events and educational activities have been implemented
at North Glen Elementary School, thanks to Walden's dedication.
Active in Anne Arundel County initiatives, Walden is co-founder
of the Anne Arundel County Mentoring Roundtable and an active
member of Leadership A.A., the A.A. County Board of Education
Community Collaboration Committee and the North County Business
Advisory Board.
Polly Walker
Research associate, Environmental Health Sciences, and
associate director, Center for a Livable Future
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Polly Walker, a research associate in the Bloomberg School of
Public Health and associate director of the Center for a Livable
Future, has volunteered since 1998 with the Rose Street Community
Center and initiated its tutoring program, for which she matches
and supervises Public Health student volunteers who tutor
children from the center.
Walker has utilized her professional experience to help the
center achieve national recognition and funding. Thanks to a
nomination from Walker, Rose Street leaders won the Robert Wood
Johnson Community Health Leadership Award, which included a
$120,000 prize to continue their volunteer efforts in East
Baltimore.
During the holidays, Walker coordinates an annual collection of
gifts and food for donation to needy families. She is currently
involved with the creation of a food security coalition to try to
improve neighborhood access to healthy and affordable foods.
Philip Leaf
Professor, Department of Mental Health
Bloomberg School of Public Health
As one of the world's most widely cited psychiatric researchers,
Philip Leaf knows the importance of breaking the cycle of
violence that plagues many families and communities.
Leaf initiated the Child Development-Community Policing Program,
a partnership between the Baltimore Police Department, the Johns
Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Baltimore's neighborhoods.
This unique program trains community members, mental health
professionals and police officers to respond to incidents of
violence as they occur, with an immediate goal of assisting
children to heal.
Leaf, a professor in the School of Public Health, also is working
with the Maryland State Department of Education and Sheppard
Pratt Health System to train teachers and administrators from all
school systems in Maryland to implement more positive and
supportive learning environments in schools. In addition, he is
working with a number of family groups to support families with
youth involved with the juvenile justice system.
Jennette Logan
Research nurse, program supervisor
Pediatric Immunology, School of Medicine
Jennette Logan uses her professional experience as a research
nurse in the School of Medicine to educate families in
impoverished neighborhoods throughout Baltimore City about the
seriousness of asthma and the changes family members can make in
their homes to combat the deadly disease.
Each year, Logan coordinates Thanksgiving baskets as well as
blanket, coat and school supply drives for the needy. Sometimes
digging deep into her own pockets, she also conducts toy drives
for the less fortunate and for those children whose parents are
incarcerated.
Logan is the founder of Sister Talk, for youth between the ages
of 12 and 16, and of Spiritual Sister Sircle, a woman's group
meant to encourage prayer and fellowship for all women willing to
learn how to live a godly life.
John Shearin
Support services technician,
Finance and Administration
The Johns Hopkins University
As a preacher, Sunday school teacher of teens and head of the
evangelical ministry of the Mount Pleasant Church of Ministries,
John Shearin engages in many volunteer efforts that serve his
church. Shearin also conducts evangelical outreach by preaching
and donating needed items to low-income communities throughout
Maryland.
Over the years, Shearin has mentored more than 50 young men,
knowing that taking the time for simple activities such as going
out for pizza can create a lasting bond in a child's life. He
uses those opportunities to impart knowledge and create teaching
moments while developing strong ties with the boys that often
last into their adulthood.
Rochelle Ingram
Associate professor and director,
Urban School Partnerships
SPSBE
Rochelle Ingram of SPSBE, an associate professor and director of
Urban School Partnerships, works determinedly for educational
equality for all children regardless of their socioeconomic or
ethnic background. Championing the development of high-quality
teachers and administrators in Baltimore City, the state of
Maryland and throughout the nation, Ingram has done extensive
work to recruit and prepare educators to become change agents in
urban schools.
As chair of the Leadership Development Task Force for the
Baltimore City Public School System, Ingram is responsible for
guiding university and business leaders in developing programs
that support the career development of BCPSS educators. She
helped develop the BCPSS principal intern immersion program,
which prepares underrepresented minorities to become effective
principals.
Nationally, Ingram has helped craft national standards in teacher
education and diversity through her work with the National
Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.
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