Meet the team that strives to foster the long-term success of every scholarship recipient.
Each board member applies their experience and insights, to exercise their sound judgment for the best interests of the organization, scholarship recipients, and their supporters.
LaVenus Jordan
LaVenus Jordan has been a resident of the DC Metropolitan area for the last 32 years. She is the mother of two children.
LaVenus has an appreciation for a variety of activities from the arts to wine and loves outdoor adventures, traveling, and reveling in nature’s beauty.
Ms. Jordan’s professional background includes twenty-five plus years of experience in B2B Sales and Business Development. She currently leads the Major & Global Banking Sales Team for Microsoft’s Business Applications Division.
She was also a teen mother, and recognizes that there were many people along the way that directly contributed to her becoming a successful parent and adult. This realization along with her strong desire to add something positive to other young mothers’ lives is the driving force behind her creating Parents with Dreams.
Sonia Richardson
Sonia F. Richardson relocated from San Francisco, California and has been a resident of Maryland for over 20 years. She is married and has a 15-year-old son. Mrs. Richardson has been employed for the past 23 years as an Operations Manager for a Washington, DC-based actuarial and benefits consulting firm, with 21 offices in the United States, Canada and abroad.
Mrs. Richardson has served as a member of The Board of Trustees at her son’s former private school, and is currently President of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) of her son’s high school. Mrs. Richardson served as Steering Committee Chairperson for the California Package and Tavern Owners Association Scholarship Fund (CAL-PAC). CAL-PAC’s mission was awarding scholarships to disadvantaged, low-income high-school seniors from single-parent homes that possessed the potential to attend college.
Mrs. Richardson enjoys cooking, reading, and sharing time with family and friends. Her late mother, Queen T. Houston, and her late maternal grandmother, Hattie L. Waskom, taught Mrs. Richardson that benevolence is a true gift, to be bestowed upon everyone we meet, therefore Mrs. Richardson strives to live a life of service.
Anita Baker
Anita retired from the Justice Department, after a total of 34 years in the federal government. Anita started her federal career as a warehouse worker at the Naval Supply Center in Norfolk, VA. One of her proud moments was, when she was one of ten women chosen to train and later chosen as a forklift operator. Although there was great money in the blue collar field, Anita knew she was not living up to her potential.
Anita left Norfolk and moved to Maryland after being offered several white collar positions. She chose to work in the procurement field at Harry Diamond Army Laboratories (HDL). While at HDL she trained and worked as a EEO counselor. She was Vice-president and President of HDL chapter of Black's In Government (BIG) she also was Vice-President of the Toastmasters Club at HDL.
When approached by Lavenus Jordan about Teens with Dreams, she jumped at the chance. At the time, Teens with Dreams started out with just 4 members, and due to several personal situations, she left the organization. Now, Anita is happy to be back on the board again and proud of the accomplishments of Teens with Dreams.
Anita has been married to her husband John for 33 years. She has 3 adult children, 7 grandchildren and the apple of her eye, her great- granddaughter.
Anita was also a teen mother.
Kendra Wood
A native of and currently residing in Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Art in Mass Communication from North Carolina Central University, a Master of Science in Higher Education and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Management from Capella University.
Kendra holds over a decade of experience supporting student success in higher education through student services and teaching. Having worked directly with students entering college, Kendra understands the challenges and barriers students face when it comes to balancing work, raising a family, and going to school. Kendra has a passion for mentoring, breaking barriers, and connecting college students to the resources that aid in their success.
Tremis Skeete
Tremis is a certified digital product manager with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Hampton University. He has worked for over 15 years in industries within consumer products, information technology, e-commerce, education, government contracting, and believes in applying product design and user experience (UX) research methods to projects, digital and physical.
Originally from the British Virgin Islands, Tremis has been a United States and United Kingdom resident for over 20 years. While Tremis is not a parent, he grew up in a family where doing well in school was not only encouraged by his parents, but expected, especially by his dad. His mother is a retired registered nurse and midwife, and his father was an Economist for the British Virgin Islands government, and a college lecturer who taught Geography, Social Sciences, Economics and other subjects.
Tremis has worked for organizations in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, and he's an avid writer about topics related to product development. He's best known in the product management community for his work with ProductTank New York City, Mind the Product, Agile Insider, Product Coalition, TheProductManager.com, and the New York Product Conference.
Juliette Griggs
Juliette Griggs, a native of Macon, GA and resident of Washington, DC for over 25 years, has been happily married for over 10 years and is an Information Technology (IT) professional.
She loves reading anything Sci-fantasy, travel (especially beach vacations) and helping others.
Juliette joined Parents with Dreams for a couple of reasons:
Her mom was a teen parent who did not have an opportunity to attend a college or university and
She has friends that were teen parents and either attended college, or had their educational journeys end with high school.
Witnessing the struggle of teen custodial parents lead Juliette to want to help current and future young parents realize their dreams of earning a higher education degree as well as teach them critical thinking and decision-making skills to help them set and meet both personal and career goals.
Troy Wood
Being married at a young age and having a child, Troy is keenly aware of the struggle in being a young custodial parent and providing for his family while growing into adulthood. Teens with Dreams is an opportunity for Troy to share his experiences, insights, and professional capabilities to help young custodial parents achieve their dreams and be productive members in their communities.
As an avid learner and technologist, Troy is committed to using education and meaningful technology to better the lives of marginalized communities and level the playing field to opportunity. He works with various organizations in those pursuits, particularly focusing on young people. Troy has a deliberate passion to improve community, cooperation, learning, and mutual respect and understanding.
Troy is a Virginia native, global traveler, and a resident of Durham, NC. Troy holds a B.S in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University, B.S. in Physics and Political Science from Fayetteville State University, and an M.A. in Management from Liberty University. He is a U.S. Army combat veteran and has spent 25+ years in technology across multiple industries and verticals.
LaShawn Jones
LaShawn Jones serves as the Connected Schools Manager with DC Public Schools and is responsible for managing internal and external partnerships for students and their families.
Previously, LaShawn worked 11 years with DC Public Schools’ New Heights Program for Expectant and Parenting Students. With this program, she supported and advocated for teen moms and dads at assigned middle/high schools. LaShawn helped participants navigate parenthood while balancing academic achievement and connected them to support and/or services from school-based, community-based and government agencies services to remove barrier(s). LaShawn thrived on creating a loving family atmosphere for participants that celebrated small and big achievements.
In the past few years, LaShawn discovered new partnerships that shared similar program missions or goals. With new partnerships, participants were exposed to new experiences and their village was expanded with other adults who cared about their academic growth and well-being.
LaShawn holds a Master’s in Agriscience Education and Bachelor’s in Journalism and Mass Communication with a concentration in Public Relations from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Although she resides in Maryland with her husband and two sons, LaShawn is a native Washingtonian. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring activities that ultimately result in making memorable moments with family and friends, watching movies, a spa day and a good nap.
LaShawn’s thrilled to join Parents With Dreams for more reasons than you can imagine. She’s excited for the opportunity to continue encouraging and empowering young parents to strive past minor distractions to pursue their post-secondary career dreams.
