Roger Green

Hon. Roger L. Green, executive director of the DuBois Bunche Center For Public Policy, is also a distinguished lecturer at Medgar Evers College. From 1981 until 2005, Mr. Green served as a member of the New York State Assembly representing several neighborhoods in central Brooklyn. During his tenure in the Assembly, Mr. Green was widely acknowledged as an expert on educational reform as well as on issues related to children and family policies. He served as the chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Science and Technology, the Committee on Children and Families and the Joint Budget Conference Committee on Human Resources. A longstanding advocate of civil and human rights, Mr. Green worked within the legislative process to enact numerous laws that reflected his commitment to these principles. In addition to his responsibilities as the executive director of the DuBois Bunche Center, Mr. Green is a professor of Public Administration and the publisher of the soon-to-be-released “Solutions,” DBC’s journal.

Senior Fellows

A senior fellow and co-founder of the DuBois Bunche Center, Dr. Flateau is a Professor of Public Administration at Medgar Evers and he received his Ph.D in American Politics and Public Policy from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Dr. Flateau was Chief of Staff to Mayor David Dinkins; Senior Vice President of the NYS Urban Development Corporation; Dean of the School of Business, and Dean of Institutional Advancement at Medgar Evers College. He also served as a commissioner of the New York City Districting Commission and as an advisor to the New York State Legislative Advisory Task Force on Demographics and Reapportionment; chairperson of the United States Census Advisory Committee on the African-American Population; and executive director of the New York State Black and Hispanic Legislative Caucus. He is a generalist and strategic thinker, with expertise in urban policy, economic development, voting rights, legislative redistricting, census demographics, campaigns and elections, diversity management, and governmental processes. Dr. Flateau is a published author, media commentator, and public speaker; and strategist and advisor to federal, state and local officials; community and clergy leaders; minority and women businesses, corporations, and institutions; and immigrant, civil rights, non-profit and worker organizations

Hon. Major Owens served as a member of Congress representing central Brooklyn from 1983 to 2005. As a senior fellow for the DuBois- Bunche Center, he brings a wealth of expertise that was cultivated as a result of the leadership that he provided during his tenure as a New York City Commissioner, or State Senator and a member of the United States House of Representatives. Congressman Owens is widely respected for his lifelong commitment to reducing poverty in the United States and throughout the developing world. He is also respected for his legislative leadership which fought to eliminate barriers to educational opportunity. A librarian by profession Congressman Owens was honored with the Kluge Fellow for Scholars at the Library of Congress upon his retirement from the United States House of Representatives.

Jonathan P. Hicks comes to the Center after a 30-year career in journalism covering politics, business, industry and the role of people of color in the world of business. For 24 years, he worked for The New York Times, where he covered the politics of New York State and New York City. He has been a frequent guest on local radio and television news programs where he regularly offered political analysis and commentary. He was also the author of the Politics 5-B column for The Times’ website. He is also the script writer for a “Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace,” a documentary by Channel Productions that looks at the behind-the-scenes events behind the historic Camp David accord between Egypt, Israel and the United States. The film was selected to open this year’s Monte Carlo Television Festival. Before coming to The Times, Mr. Hicks was a business reporter for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, where he covered a wide range of topics from labor to manufacturing. Prior to that, he was a general assignment reporter at The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, where he had previously been an announcer at a National Public Radio affiliate station.

Dr. Zulema Blair received her Ph.D in Political Science from the State University at Binghamton. Dr. Blair was appointed as the Chair of the Public Administration Department at Medgar Evers College in 2007. Dr. Blair has concentrated her scholarship in the area of organizational theory and it’s applications to public administration. In addition she has produced research which studies low income populations and their participation in the political process. As a result of her scholarship, Dr. Blair has gained a respected reputation for her support of pedagogy that fosters a deeper understanding of Democratic principles through active participation in our civil society. Dr .Blair directs the American

Dr. Parrott-Fonseca has led a comprehensive careers in local, state, and federal government service, together with substantive experience with the private and non-profit sectors. She was the first woman to serve as the director of the Minority Business Development Agency in the United State Department of Commerce, having been appointment by Secretary Ronald H. Brown. She has served as a Trustee on the Washington D.C. Retirement Board and was appointment to the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board.

Professor Parrott-Fonseca holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Georgetown University School of Law, a Master’s Degree in Education/Human Resource Management from George Washington University; and a Bachelorr of Arts degree from Howard University. She also holds certificates in International Leadership and Management from Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Dipolomacy. Dr. Fonseca has a wealth of experience and expertise in the formulation of policies and the administration of programs that are intended to advance entrepreneurship and economic development within the urban centers throughout the United States and the development world.

Dr. Owen Brown secured his doctorate in economic sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Prior to joining the faculty of Medgar Evers College Dr. Brown was a sociology professor at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Dr. Brown has applied his scholarship toward the development of policies and programs that address the unemployment crises found within urban communities in the U.S, and the developing world. His professional activities include serving as Director of Workforce Development for the National Urban League and on the National Roundtable for School to Work. Dr. Brown is currently working on a DuBois Bunche Center proposal entitled the “Thurgood Marshall Plan;”this plan seeks to enact policies that will link President Obama’s economic stimulus package towards the reduction of chronic unemployment among African American and Latino males.

Hon. Eugene Pursoo is a Distinguished Lecturer at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. He joined the Medgar Evers College faculty after serving with distinction as the United Nations Ambassador and Permanent Representative with plenipotentiary powers for Grenada, from 1991 to 1995. During his tenure at the United Nations he was elected Vice President of the General Assembly in 1993, Chairman of the United Nations Decolonization Committee, and Chairman of the Organization of Small Island States in 1994. Professor Pursoo earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Fordham University. He is currently a Ph. D. candidate in the Public Policy and Public Administration Program at Walden University. Professor Pursoo has concentrated his scholarship and teaching responsibilities in the areas of International Administration, Global Public Policy and Comparative Public Administration. Ambassador Pursoo is the Director of the International Affairs Center at Medgar Evers College. As director of this center he is responsible for developing formal public policy and academic articulations with legislative and administrative bodies such as the United Nations and the U.S. State Department. Professor Eugene Pursoo is widely respected for the commitment that he has demonstrated to the mentoring of students and scholars who seek to advance diplomatic approaches for the expansion of peace and justice throughout the World Community.

Divine Pryor has established a national and international reputation as an expert in the field of criminal justice reform .Before receiving his undergraduate degrees and a Ph. D. in forensic psychology Dr. Pryor was incarcerated for several years. In the tradition of Malcolm X (Malik Shabazz) Dr. Pryor rediscovered his love for learning and a passion for justice during this personal journey. While incarcerated, Dr.Pryor developed a commitment to reverse the disproportionate number of African Americans who are imprisoned. Since securing his Ph. D. from Suffield University, Dr. Pryor has served on the National Re-entry Policy Council for the Council of State Governors board of directors of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and the Community Justice Center. Dr. Pryor is currently the Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Nu Leadership on Urban Solutions at Medgar Evers College. This public policy center is the only organization in the nation that was founded and is currently directed and staffed by formerly incarcerated individuals who possess advanced degrees (re. masters, doctorates) in the areas of criminal justice reform.

Fred Beauford is a novelist/essayist, publisher and magazine editor. He is the author of four novels: The Womanizer, The Hard Luck Novel, The Year Jerry Garcia Died, and The King of Macy’s, and a collection of essays, The Rejected American. He is also a contributor to the Literary Conversation Series, The University Press of Mississippi (Conversations With Albert Murray, Conversations with Ernest Gaines). His work is also collected in five additional books. Fred Beauford founded Black Creation magazine in 1969 and it became one of the largest magazines dealing with the famous Black Arts Movement of the 70s. In 1974, Beauford founded Neworld:The Multi-Cultural Magazine of the Arts, in Los Angeles. The magazine was the first of its kind, welcoming the entire American family in its pages. In addition, Mr. Beauford served for eight years as the Editor of the Crisis Magazine, the official publication of the NAACP. Beauford is currently the managing Partner of Morton Books, Inc. and the Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of the Neworld Review. He has worked as a University Professor at The University of Southern California(USC), University of California Berkeley, N.Y.U., Cal State Northridge and SUNY/Old Westbury. He is working on a new novel, preparing a new collection of essays and completing a memoir.