Dr. Claudia Bailey, Chair
Claudia Bailey is currently the Chair of OLC’s Board of Director. Claudia considers that commitment to the education of all individuals should be a universal goal. Literacy provides the skill sets enabling learning for specific goals as well as for personal growth. ”I feel that OLC is a wonderful example of people helping others improve their lives through literacy, cultural exchange and community action. I am so thankful for our outstanding staff and appreciative of our partner organizations.”
Retired after 30+ years as a member of the biology faculty at the University of Arkansas, Claudia keeps her love of teaching active by tutoring in Fayetteville and teaching in China. Her service with OLC began several years ago as teacher and tutor, then as a member of the Board of Directors. Volunteerism is another vehicle for giving back to communities and she enjoys participating with Reading Roadshow at Blair Library and with medical teams sponsored by Project Helping Hands.
Clariss Goodwin, Vice Chair
Clariss Goodwin holds the position of Vice Chairman on the OLC Board of Directors. She is a retail planner for Procter & Gamble’s Walmart Customer Team in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Prior to joining P&G she held positions as both buyer and account executive in retail corporations. She has always felt strongly that education and literacy are the keys to improving the lives of individuals and their impact on society. Returning to her home in Northwest Arkansas, she is delighted to be involved with a program that caters not only to helping native speakers improve their literacy levels, but one that also assists non-natives learn English and acclimate to their lives in an English-speaking environment.
Ms. Goodwin holds both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arkansas. She lives in Fayetteville with her family and is an avid reader who also enjoys keeping fit and exploring the culinary arts.
Kim Ross, Secretary
Kim Ross moved to Fayetteville from Kansas City, Missouri in July 2009 for the sole purpose of taking a one-year sabbatical leave from her work as an ordained United Methodist minister. During that time, she lived and worked at Mount Sequoyah Retreat and Conference Center–and managed to fall in love with Fayetteville and her work at the retreat center. After deciding to stay here beyond her sabbatical, her Bishop appointed her to be the Spiritual Director at the retreat center, where she leads retreats and does one-to-one spiritual direction and contemplative healing touch. She also serves as a Chaplain at the VA Medical Center in Fayetteville eight hours a week.
Kim says that part of putting down roots here had to include becoming actively involved in the community. Why OLC? “There are two main reasons: as a former staff person at a homeless shelter, I saw how literacy (or lack thereof) impacted lives in very concrete ways; and secondly, as a child, reading became an important lifeline for me, especially after my mother died unexpectedly. Reading was a window into other worlds and was simply the joy of my life, as it continues to be. I want others to catch that joy, also.” Kim is the mother of three adults–Tyler, Emily and Jeremy, who live in Lawrence KS, Minneapolis MN, and Jacksonville AR. She grew up in Missouri and Oklahoma but is very grateful to have found “God’s country” here in Arkansas.
Jennifer Craig
Jennifer Craig grew up in the Southwest (Utah, New Mexico) and graduated from The University of Texas with a degree in chemical engineering. She began her career with Procter & Gamble in Jackson, Tennessee at the Pringles plant, then moved with P&G to Phoenix where she completed her MBA from Arizona State University. Jennifer moved with P&G to NWA in July 2008, where she continues her work in supply chain management. Jennifer is single, with her Great Dane, outdoor activity, travel, and work on NWA Young Professionals board, Network of Executive Women, and Ozark Literacy Council boards keeping her busy. Her family lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Reading has been a big part of my life, beginning with my mother reading to me as a child, and I can’t imagine my life without it. I want to help other people have the benefits and self-sufficiency that being able to read brings.” Jennifer chairs the HR committee at OLC.
Kim Coats
She has been a lawyer since 1991. Before moving to Arkansas, she had a commercial litigation practice and worked as in-house counsel. Since moving to Fayetteville in 1996, she has taught legal research and writing at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Her personal and professional interests have always focused on reading and communicating, so it was a natural fit for her to become interested in the work done at OLC. She loves seeing how OLC benefits the community that she now calls home.
Rey Hernandez
Reynaldo “Rey” Hernandez first came to northwest Arkansas in the summer of 1969 to marry his wife, Roselea, when both were serving in the United States Marine Corps. He continued visiting the state every year until his retirement from the Marines and relocated to northwest Arkansas in 1989 to begin his business career in Rogers. His public involvement led to his election as Chairman of the Multicultural Forum in Rogers, established in 1990 to serve as a network where organizations and government could seek solutions to the needs of a rapidly growing Hispanic population. This led to the formation of the Human Resources Preservation League in Springdale in 1992, which was the group that established the Multicultural Center for Washington County with a grant from Levi Corporation.
After his role in those organizations, Rey turned his attention to efforts at establishing a LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) Council in northwest Arkansas. The first council lasted only a year and the second effort failed to come together. Finally, in 2001 Rey joined other professionals with a successful LULAC effort that today is the flag-ship council of northwest Arkansas, LULAC Council 754. Over the years, Rey has served in a variety of officer positions with the local council, as a state district director, and as an officer with the Arkansas State LULAC board. Rey is currently President for LULAC Council 754 and has helped with the efforts of the local council to give scholarships to dozens of local Latino students totaling over $200,000 the past eight years.
A student, himself, Rey is completing his Bachelor of Science degree in Education at the University of Arkansas, College of Education and Health Professions. He was lauded in April of 2009 as the Outstanding Undergraduate Student of the Year in Human Resource Development. Rey is currently the President of Rey Hernandez Marketing, a firm offering services to organizations and businesses looking to reach the Hispanic consumer. Prior to that, Rey worked in Human Resources and was the Diversity Coordinator of the Northwest Arkansas Community College. Also, with NWACC he served as the ESL Examiner for the Adult Education Center in Rogers. Rey continues today to be a member of the Rogers/Lowell Chamber of Commerce and remains active in community affairs and serving non-profit organizations in his spare time.
Elizabeth Young
Professor Young joins the U of A School of Law from The George Washington University Law School, where she was the Interim Director of the Immigration Clinic from 2007-2008. Professor Young worked for three years at the San Francisco Immigration Court as an attorney advisor through the Department of Justice Honors Program. At the Court, her duties included writing final orders, analyzing and presenting changes in federal law to the immigration judges, supervising judicial law clerks, and managing the Court’s intern program. While a student at GW Law, she was executive guide editor of the George Washington International Law Review, and attended the GW-Oxford Summer Program in International Human Rights Law. She also spent a year working in the Law School’s Immigration Clinic, and was the 2004 recipient of the Richard C. Lewis, Jr. Memorial Award for Clinical Excellence. Her research focuses on issues in immigration, and she will be creating and directing the law school’s Immigration Clinic. She presently is the founder and Director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of Arkansas and has been since 2008. She also Co-Chairs the Pigshibition Committee at OLC.
Marty Goff Burggraf
Marty grew up, went to high school and college in Fayetteville. Her career has centered around financial services. She has an intense love of all things literacy. On a more practical level, she realizes the importance of being able to read the language of the country in which one resides. Whether one is an adult that has slipped through the cracks of our educational system or one has transferred to our community from another country. She has served on several boards including the American Cancer Society and the Fayetteville Blair Library fundraising committee. She serves as the Chair of the OLC Finance Committee.
Don Moore
Don is a retired Healthcare Executive with 45 years of experience. . He served in Executive positions in 3 different organizations over the course of his career. His background also includes Serving on Boards of over a dozen non-profit organizations, currently active in 4 organizations. Previous service also included a term as Board member of The Ozark Literacy Council.
Don is active in his community and is a member of The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and the Elks Lodge of Fayetteville-Springdale. Most of his free time is spent in activities with his 6 (Soon to be 7 ) Grandkids.. He has a passion for serving people and is most happy when seeing the results of his efforts. He says he was honored to be asked to serve as a Board Member with OLC. “I do believe we serve a very important mission in our community.”
Laura Ferner
Originally from Heidelberg, Germany, Laura Ferner graduated from the University of Arkansas, School of Law, in December 2005. Since graduating, she has practiced exclusively in the area of Immigration and Nationality Law. Laura Ferner is a partner at Ferner & Benham, Attorneys at Law, in Springdale, Arkansas. She is prolific in all areas of deportation defense and regularly litigates in Immigration Courts across the Midwest and South. Ms. Ferner also provides assistance to U.S. businesses seeking highly-skilled foreign employees in hard-to-fill positions. In the course of her work, Laura sees firsthand the importance of literacy in immigration law. Many foreign clients seek her assistance after having been the victims of a scam that takes advantage of their illiteracy in their first language or lack of fluency in English or both. In addition to German (her first language), Ms. Ferner is also fluent in English, Finnish, and Spanish. She serves as Co-Chair to our Pigshibition Committee.
Tracy Burke Beckers
Tracy grew up with seven other siblings in Libertyville, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. Her parents were dedicated to issues of social justice and community service. They have instilled these values in their children. Tracy married Michael Beckers in 1984 and continued her professional development on a part-time basis after the birth of her two children, Christopher and Anneliese. As an exercise enthusiast, she saw the struggles of women with serious weight problems and started helping the women in the club where she was employed achieve exercise and weight loss goals as a fitness trainer.
After Tracy arrived in Fayetteville six years ago, she quickly found herself hired again as a fitness trainer. In addition to her passion for painting and the arts, she was looking to get involved with a local nonprofit organization to continue her personal mission to help where she could apply her artistic and networking skills.
When Tracy was introduced to Wendy Poole, an immediate friendship and connection was established which eventually lead Tracy to support the Ozark Literary Council’s fundraising efforts. “I joined OLC because I have had my own challenges with reading and writing,” says Tracy. “I jumped at the chance to help others who are experiencing some of the same issues I have worked so hard to overcome. It is an honor to be a part of this important organization.” Tracy serves as Co-Chair to the Pigshibition Committee.
Crosby Cromwell
In November 2007, Crosby Cromwell joined Walmart in order to design and implement the company’s external platform in the national disability community. During her time with the Walmart, she has distributed well over 9 million dollars directly to the national community. In 2009 her role expanded within the company to include programs for LGBT, Asian Pacific Islander, and Urban Small Business Development. Crosby has produced successful outreach focused on small business development, financial literacy and workforce development. Through these efforts Walmart hopes to create relationships that provide greater opportunities for customers and associates.In June 2011, Crosby transitioned into the Walmart Foundation where she leads grant pillars under the Foundation’s U.S. and International Giving Team.Crosby joined Walmart from the non-profit sector, where she spent close to seven years focused on improving employment and equal opportunities for adults with disabilities.Crosby received a Bachelors Degree in History from the University of Arkansas. She has been involved in numerous task forces and community outreach organizations for a myriad of issues facing underserved populations. She is a sought after public speaker on topics ranging from employment to corporate social responsibility and has received multiple awards for her work within the disability community.
