OUR BOARD
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Ericka Brown
President
Ericka Brown was born in Washington, DC, and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland, currently residing in Baltimore City.
In 2007, Ericka earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in organizational management and organizational leadership, respectively, and did so while working full-time as a federal government contractor in D.C.
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Ericka is a Christian and went on her first mission in 2016 to the Budaka District, Uganda, east Africa. It was during this trip that she met church, ministry, and community leaders who are now part of The First 50 Charity Community Organisation, Uganda, our sister organization! The First 50 Charity, USA launched in 2018, but since 2016, Ericka has worked to visit the Budaka District at least once a year - except in 2020 and 2021 due to the worldwide pandemic.
Ericka is fully engaged in the day-to-day activities of both the US and Uganda organizations and is excited about the promise and potential of its students and our growing nonprofits!
Dr. Mesheca Bunyon
Treasurer
Dr. Mesheca Carter Bunyon was born in Richmond, Virginia. She is an honors graduate of Morgan State University and an honors graduate of The Pennsylvania College of Optometry.
Dr. Bunyon has been in private practice for over twenty five years. She specializes in ocular disease, refractive surgery care, and pediatric eye care.
She serves as Immediate Past President of the Maryland Board of Optometry and has been on the board appointed by the Governor of Maryland since 2015.
Dr. Bunyon has served in leadership on the board of the National Optometric Association and the Central Maryland Optometric Society. She is a leader in her community as an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Publicity Chair for the Continental Societies Inc, Metropolitan Capital City Chapter and a member of the National Harbor Chapter of Jack and Jill, Inc.
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Dr. Mesheca is a mother to sons, Micah and Madden and wife to Dr. Lamont Bunyon. In addition to being co-owner of Special Eye Care with her husband, she is a staff Optometrist for other practices locally.
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Dr. Bunyon is also a proud author of “Fix My Staff: Tools to Create and Retain an Unbreakable Team
Grace Quarshie
Secretary
Grace Quarshie is an Empowerment Conference Speaker from West
Africa Ghana, a personal and business development coach, and an author of four books.
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She is also the Founder and CEO of Global Life
Empowerment Academy Limited and the African Women Global Community is a platform that connects African Women across the globe for collaboration, personal growth, exchange programs, and business networking.
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From a laid-off employee to becoming an entrepreneur Grace's resilience
and determination has inspired a lot of women worldwide.
She is an expert in empowering and equipping African Women to unleash their possibilities and potential by monetizing their expertise, experience, speaking, and writing their stories to create global impact.
She has been awarded as a Woman in Coaching and Mentoring by the Woman of Stature Global Awards, 100 Most Successful Women Entrepreneurs in Ghana and several global awards.
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She is the International Director to Togo for Women Helping Women for a Sustainable Tomorrow Foundation Canada.
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Grace is on a mission to inspire, empower, and equip 10,000 African Women to overcome self-sabotage
and fear stopping them from taking steps toward their biggest dream and becoming impactful globally.