YPN Empowers
"My vision is to connect with new members, retain members and show all members that YPN is here to assist in the economic and social empowerment of our community.”
—Gerald S. Padmore, YPN President
"YPN creates a community of conern among young professionals in Northern Virginia. We help lift each other up to become active change agents in the community”
—Courtney McSwain, YPN Vice President
Gerald S. Padmore, President
Courtney McSwain, Vice President
Mia Barnes, Treasurer
Amanda Moore, Secretary
Tonya J. Williams, Director of Communications
Kristen Herring, Director of Membership
Tiffany Young, Director of Social Programs
Natasha Smith, Director of Professional and Personal Development
Nicole Battle, Director of Community Service
Benjamin E. Terry, Policies and Procedures Chair
Elijah S. Gelzer, Historian
Marcel Lewis, Historian
Pamela E. Perkins, Executive Committee Advisor
Gerald S. Padmore, President :: Email
Gerald S. Padmore is a senior account manager, who sells IT solutions to the federal government. Originally from Monrovia, Liberia, Gerald moved to Reston, Virginia, with his family after a coup d’etat occurred in his home country. After high school, Gerald attended North Carolina Wesleyan and later Radford University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration, concentrating in business marketing, in 1997. Outside of professional endeavors, Gerald enjoys reading, watching and playing sports, spending time with family/ friends and involvement in multiple civic organizations. Gerald is also dedicated to his Christian faith and reads a proverb each day to help him thrive in a positive manner.
Courtney McSwain, Vice President :: Email
Courtney McSwain is a development officer for Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a nonprofit community development organization dedicated to helping community residents transform distressed neighborhoods into healthy and sustainable communities of choice and opportunity. Prior to working at LISC, Courtney worked as a research analyst at the Institute for Higher Education Policy where she authored numerous policy reports on equity in postsecondary education. Originally from Greensboro, N.C., Courtney received her bachelor’s degree in sociology from North Carolina A&T State University and her master’s degree in public policy from American University. Prior to serving as vice president within YPN, Courtney served as the Director of Communications for two years. Outside of YPN, Courtney serves as a reading tutor through the Write to Read program in Alexandria, Va.
Mia Barnes, Treasurer :: Email
A native of Ahoskie, North Carolina, Mia Barnescurrently works asan analyst for theFBI where she manages contracts, budgets, and develops internal collaboration websites within her agency. Mia received her undergraduate degree in information technology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a masters of management studies degree from Duke University. During her time at these institutions, Mia held leadership positions in various campus and community organizations. While pursuing her masters, Mia worked at SAS Institute as a technical student where she helped to write and test code on several language platforms. Outside of YPN, Mia is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and Fairfax Volunteers for Change.
Amanda Moore, Secretary :: Email
Amanda E. Moore is a management and program analyst at the Federal Aviation Administration. She is responsible for performance and cost management, analysis, program evaluation and budget formulation. Prior to relocating to Northern Virginia, Amanda devoted herself to youth through Teach for America. For three years, she was a bilingual 6th grade math, science and ESL teacher in Houston, Texas. Amanda continues her commitment to youth empowerment through serving as co-chair of YPN’s Opportunity to Thrive program and has volunteered locally, nationally and internationally. Amanda is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Syracuse University with a BA in international relations and Spanish. She also holds a masters of public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Tonya J. Williams, Director of Communications :: Email
Tonya is an account associate at The Caraway Group, a public relations and public affairs firm in Washington, DC. At Caraway, Tonya contributes her experiences in public and media relations, event management and client management to accomplish client goals. She handles day-to-day specialty media needs and plans events for AT&T as well as provides community outreach counsel for one of the firm’s education clients, Communities for Teaching Excellence. Tonya has also been part of successful media relations strategies for the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Ron Brown Scholar Program annual dinner.
Tonya earned a BA in journalism with a concentration in public relations and a minor in English from The University of Memphis. Currently, she is pursuing a masters of professional studies in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University. Tonya is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and attends Alfred Street Baptist Church.
Kristen Herring, Director of Membership :: Email
Kristen Herring is the oldest of three children from Lumberton, NC. She earned a BS in biochemistry from Spelman College and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Vanderbilt University. She is currently a science & technology manager with the Joint Science and Technology Office in the Chem/Bio Defense Program, a position she accepted in 2008 when she was named a Presidential Management Fellow. She has been a member of the Urban League movement since 2004 and a member of YPN for almost two years. She has served as the membership chair and secretary of the Urban League Young Professionals of Middle Tennessee and participated on the membership committee in YPN. She is excited to proclaim to some and remind others that "membership matters!"
"Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up."Tiffany M. Young, Director of Social Programs :: Email
Tiffany Young is a public relations professional and has provided communications support to The Art Institute of Washington and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies where she was responsible for media relations, strategic planning, special events and marketing. With a background in journalism, she had an earlier career as a reporter at The Gazette Newspaper.
Tiffany graduated cum laude from Virginia State University with a bachelor's degree in mass communications and is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in public relations from the University of Virginia. In addition to her duties as the YPN Director of Social Programs, she is a mentor with Work and Thrive; public relations chair with the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce and a professional advisor at Howard University.
Natasha Smith, Director of Professional & Personal Development :: Email
Natasha Smith’s 10 years of global business and education experience have made her a creative, poised leader. While marketing global brands and educating teens and adults, Natasha’s passion to serve her community has remained a priority. She has served on the Falls Church Public School’s Minority Academic Achievement Gap Task Force and Arlington’s Young Women’s Rites of Passage program. Natasha currently serves on the advisory council for Banking on our Future and is an active member of the American Society for Training & Development and the American Marketing Association. Natasha attended Hampton University, where she studied business marketing and The University of Virginia, where she studied education. Natasha is a native Northern Virginia.
Nicole Battle, Director of Community Service :: Email
Nicole Battle is originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina and now lives in Northern Virginia. Passionate about community service, Nicole joined the Northern Virginia Urban League Young Professionals Network in 2008 and quickly became a leader in the organization. Nicole helped to establish YPN’s youth empowerment program Opportunity to Thrive and has helped YPN grow its external partnerships with organizations such as the Arlington Housing Corporation and Minnie Howard School. Nicole now serves as the YPN Director of Community Service. Nicole received her undergraduate degree from East Carolina University.
Benjamin E. Terry, Policies and Procedures Chair :: Email
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Benjamin moved to New Orleans La., shortly before attending Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge. While in college, Benjamin cofounded and presided as president of The Fine Intelligent Real Men (The FIRM) - an all male mentor, service organization - served as the vice president of the Southern University chapter of Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences, and president of the Men's Federation. Benjamin has continued his work with the underserved and underprivileged by assiting to create and serving as an executive board member for The People Who Care Project - a non-profit geared towards creating sustainable solutions for homelessness and poverty. Within the Northern Virginia Urban League Young Professionals Network, Benjamin has served as the chair of College Survival 101, the 2009 - 2010 director of community service and the 2010 - 2011 director of fund development.
Elijah S. Gelzer, Historian :: Email
Elijah Samuel Gelzer is a benefits administrator for TowersWatson, a leading global consulting firm that offer solutions in employee benefits, talent management, rewards, and risk and capital management. His human resource experiences range accross dual markets, such as goverment contracting (where he served as an HR Specialist at SRA International, Incorporated) and the media industry (where he served as a Benefits Specialist at AOL, Inc.). While Elijah was born in Jacksonville, Fla., he was raised in a rural community of Summerville, S.C. He received his bachelor's degree in business management from Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C. In college he served in the National Association of African American Male Educators, the FMU Student Body Senate At-Large and the Wesley Foundation, etc. His fondest experiences have been sharing his voice and music to a broader audience. Elijah is a resident of Northern Virginia.
Marcel Lewis, Historian :: Email
Marcel D. Lewis is a senior financial analyst at Lockheed Martin Corporation, where he identifies and manages key financial drivers, performs economic research and studies subjects such as rates of return, depreciation, working capital, investment, and financial and expense comparison. In addition, he has prepared reports of findings and recommendations to management for the Federal Aviation Administration and Environmental Protection Agency. Marcel attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania earned Bachelors of Science degree in finance and he continued his education and received a Masters of Business Administration from University of Phoenix. Marcel continues to participate in Annual Lockheed Martin Day of Service such as the Susan G. Koman “Race for the Cure”, Fannie Mae Help the homeless Walk, and Face of America Washington DC to Gettysburg events.
Pamela E. Perkins, Executive Committee Advisor :: Email
Originally from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Pamela Perkins is a solid state device patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va. A member of the Northern Virginia Urban League Young Professionals Network since 2001, Pamela served as president in 2009-2011, as vice president in 2007-2008 and as treasurer from 2002-2007. An active member of the northern Virginia community, Pamela serves as the public relations chair on the Board of Directors for the Capital Youth Empowerment Program, Inc. (CYEP) a non-profit organization dedication to providing the northern Virginia area with fatherhood and teen pregnancy prevention programs. She is also an active volunteer with her local chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Pamela received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Hampton University in 2001 and her juris doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center in 2008.
Back to Top