Region Ambassadors

Cindye Richburg Cotton, Ed. D, MBA, MS serves as Executive Director for the Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center in West Columbia, S.C. since April 30, 2018. She has an extensive background in senior management of nonprofit organizations and higher education as an administrator and educator. For over five (5) years, she has served as Adjunct Professor of Business Information and Analytics in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Richburg Cotton served as executive director of continuing education and online degree programs at Claflin University and director of the Management-Institute Advance Program at Morris College. She has over 30 years of experience in management and teaching in higher education including subjects like international business, business analytics, civil law, social theory and research methods.  As an adjunct professor, she worked at several colleges and universities over the years including Florida International University, Benedict College, Piedmont Technical College, Midlands Technical College, and Central Carolina Technical College.  She is a graduate of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina holding a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in International Business. She also holds graduate degrees including the Doctor of Education and the Master of Science degrees from Florida International University. Dr. Richburg Cotton received her undergraduate degree from Florida Atlantic University. A native of Clarendon County, South Carolina, she is a proud 1984 graduate of Scott’s Branch High School.  Dr. Richburg Cotton’s has authored several publications and has been successful in securing grants for many of her community initiatives over the years.

Tastee Treats is a family-owned cultural legacy business that was established by Latanya and Michael Allen. It was founded on the principles of maintaining the Gullah/Geechee foods, history, and cultural traditions and passing them on to future generations. Latanya has always enjoyed creating new recipes for friends and family members. She enjoyed entertaining in her home and serving different Gullah food dishes and treats to friends and family. Her love of cooking quickly became a hobby. Michael is a historian and expert on Gullah/Geechee, Low Country, South Carolina history and culture, therefore providing a wealth of knowledge and cultural nuances to Tastee Treats.

Jannie Harriot is the Executive Director of Development and Programs for the Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum, helping the facility grow in Orangeburg as the state’s only Civil Rights Museum. The position tops off decades of preservation leadership that included the establishment of the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission and the South Carolina African American Heritage Foundation (today, WeGOJA), and the management of multiple projects that heightened awareness about African American history. Jannie was instrumental in the development of the SCAAHC’s most visible products, including the African American Historic Places in South Carolina guide (from which the GreenBookofSC.com was built), A Teacher’s Guide to African American Historic Places and How Did we Get to Now, a directory of historic African American schools in the state.

Tyrie currently works for the University of South Carolina Lancaster. He holds a Master of Fine Arts with a Performance Creation Concentration from Goddard College, and a Bachelor of Arts with Leadership Distinctions in Professional and Civic Engagement from the University of South Carolina. He is a theatre performing artist, where I am moved and inspired to create work from the perspective of African Americans, and how our history can amplify our voice on a major stage. I am particularly dedicated to working with my community because we lack access to history and the arts. I worked for Historic Brattonsville, as an African American Interpreter, where I spoke for ancestors by bringing their lives to the present day. I think it’s time we make a difference. Let’s give back to the community, because the community is all we have at the end of the day.

Isaac V. McKissick is a Union, SC native whose background is representative of the African-American History that the WeGOJA Foundation is seeking to preserve. As a young boy: he received treatment at the Union Community Hospital; attended kindergarten and was baptized at Corinth Baptist Church; shined shoes, delivered the Afro-American and JET on Wall Street; and was a member of the last class to enter the illustrious Sims High School in 1969. Being nurtured in this cradle of history and blessed by a number of mentors and teachers led him through segregated schools and Union High School as a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, to graduation from West Point at age 20 in 1979 as one of fewer than 400 African-American graduates in the first 177 years of the Military Academy’s existence. After serving six years in the US Army as an Infantry Officer, he joined General Dynamics Land Systems as an Operations Analyst developing requirements for the M1A1 Abrams Tank. His Systems Engineering and Integration expertise led to him being recruited to assist in streamlining Engineering Development at General Motors and later service as a Purchasing Agent. He concurrently earned advanced degrees in Engineering Management and Applied Economics and Finance from the University of Detroit-Mercy. Upon returning to General Dynamics in 2003, he served as the Procurement Manager for the Future Combat Systems Embedded Training Program and Program Manager for Switchable Vision Blocks. He returned to SC in 2008 and until 2015, he served in Spartanburg School District 7 managing partnerships and proposals that resulted in the award of $6M+ in Grants and Education Awards to include AmeriCorps (Service Learning and Literacy), Full Service Community Schools (Early Childhood Education) and McKinney-Vento (Support for Homeless Students). From 2017 until his retirement in 2022, he served as Director of the Union County Campus of Spartanburg Community College. His five-year tenure resulted in tripling the student body size that included a nine-fold increase in minority enrollment. He is a Rotarian, member of the United Way Union County Vision Council, and Union County Development Board. He is a SC Champion for Public Education and Certified Community Economic Developer with a passion for Mentoring, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) manifested through service as Former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Upstate and the membership in the Upstate STEM Collaborative.

Courtney Young is the CEO of ForeSight Communications (FSC), a strategic public relations marketing and project management firm headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina. Courtney has spent 20 years serving the corporate and public sectors as the go-to expert in the field of minority community engagement, public information services, and cultural tourism marketing. Gifted in relationship building she has demonstrated her gift and leadership for her clients including the Medical University of South Carolina, Chicago Regional Transit Authority, Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, Hilton Head Island Gullah Celebration, Mitchelville’s Juneteenth Celebration, South Carolina Airports Coalition Small Business Fly-In, Women in Contracting Roundtables and the National Association of Minority Contractors just to name a few.