Meet The Board of Directors
Founder/CEO- Nyene Baker
Nyene 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's also an Engagement Specialist at Life Connect Health and a partner with breakbeatcode, a program that teaches youths and adults how to code through music in the underserved communities.
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- Deandrah Cameron
Deandrah Cameron is a first-generation graduate and Jamaican immigrant. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the Rutgers Schools of Arts and Sciences and Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and a Master’s of Public Health focused on Health Systems and Policy with a Graduate Certificate in Public Health Nutrition. She is the vice president of the EOF Statewide Alumni Association and previously served in the US Army Reserves.
She is a Policy Manager at New Jersey Future, developing and advancing state policies that affect health, water infrastructure, and redevelopment, primarily focusing on lead in drinking water. She serves on the board of the Rutgers African-American Alliance (RAAA Inc) and the Education Opportunity Fund Statewide Alumni Association.
Vice Chairwoman- Shikha Prashar
Shikha Prashar is a financial advisor at Edward Jones in Washington Crossing, PA.
I am passionate about empowering hardworking individuals to reach their financial goals. As a financial advisor, I focus on providing holistic wealth strategies. I always start with your "why" and what matters most to you; then provide a lifetime partnership to ensure the "how" and "when" is planned and remains on-track.
I work with pre-retirees and retirees and especially women in transition nationwide to help them thrive as they start a new fresh chapter; enabling them to pursue their passions and accomplish personal goals through a purpose-based strategy.
I recognize the challenges one faces during life transitions, and I am committed to make you feel confident starting a fresh chapter; whether it is a new partnership, new job, retirement or work optional.
I sincerely bring my 20 years of experience in the financial services Industry to serve you deeply. I hold my life insurance, health insurance, securities series 7, and series 66 registrations. I have a master's in business administration (MBA) degree in finance from Northeastern University in Boston. I play an active role in my community as I am part of and support multiple charitable organizations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On a personal note, I am a trained musician, an avid reader and I enjoy road biking and photography.
Treasurer- Kenya Rourk
Kenya Rourk is a native of Trenton, NJ and an accounting manager with over 25 years of private accounting and finance experience. Throughout her 25 years of experience in financial services, she has worked across a variety of industries, with her most recent focus being providing process improvement solutions in the reinsurance industry.
Kenya was born and raised in Trenton, NJ and educated in Princeton, NJ. She went on to earn both her undergraduate degree and MBA from Drexel University. She is passionate about helping create growth opportunities for youth in underserved communities. This passion has inspired Kenya to serve on area nonprofit boards as well as to seek out and participate in a variety of volunteer opportunities. Kenya is excited to join the board of VPG and serve her community.
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 Programs Miss Snow(Harmon)
Miss Snow is the Program Manager for the Trenton Neighborhood Initiative at Trenton Health Team in partnership with Capital Health. She previously served as the Assistant Director of the Stuart Fund and Alumnae Engagement, and played a critical role in building Stuart Country Day School's philanthropic and engagement opportunities. Miss transitioned from a position at Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County (RCE), where she served as a 4-H Program Associate since 2008, before that she was a Nutrition Educator for RCE since 2004. In her role as a 4-H Program Associate her main focus was on teaching life skills, which included healthy living, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), financial literacy, mindfulness, dance, and a plethora of other programs. She holds an Associate of Fine Arts degree from Mercer County Community College, a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Rider University and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University.
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.
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.