City of St. Louis

Sheriff Vernon Betts embodies a lifestyle and believes that education, hard work, determination, family support and Godly worship make life a success.

. . . . .

Dr. Lekesha Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Assistant Professor who has worked in Community Mental Health for more than 20 years. She is passionate about providing Trauma Informed Care to under resourced populations.

Behavioral Health Response (BHR)

Kinya Johnson is the Community Engagement Liaison for Behavioral Health Response (BHR). She also worked in the call center for BHR for 11 years as a Crisis Intervention Clinician and 15 years total as a clinician at Behavioral Health Response. Kinya is a graduate of University of Missouri-St. Louis and has a Masters in counselor education. She is known for her transparent, practical style of communicating and presenting, with experience in Suicide Prevention and Awareness, Emotional Regulation, Trauma Informed Care, Historical Trauma, and other presentations as requested. Kinya is a Cultural Diversity Equity and Inclusion Advocate, and her research focus is diversity and inclusion for marginalized populations. Kinya loves working in the Black Community, emphasizing the barriers and stigma that keeps African-Americans from getting the mental health treatment they need. Kinya is a 40-hour Domestic Violence Counselor, certified for Illinois. She has served in various capacities in the community including hospital intake and case management, community support, psychosocial rehabilitation and other services for clients who are living with mental illness, including individuals with a forensic status living in the St. Louis metropolitan area. She is a former adjunct faculty in Human Services for St. Louis Community College.

Missouri State Highway Patrol

Retired Captain Ronald S. Johnson joined the Missouri State Highway Patrol on July 1, 1987. After graduation, he was assigned to Troop C St. Louis. In 1995, he was promoted to corporal and designated assistant zone commander. In 1997, he was promoted to sergeant and designated zone commander. In October 1999, Captain Johnson was promoted to lieutenant and transferred to Troop A, Lee’s Summit. In 2002, he was promoted to captain and returned to Troop C as commanding officer. On August 14, 2014, Governor Jay Nixon appointed Captain Johnson to lead protest security in Ferguson, Missouri, following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, Jr. In 2017, Captain Johnson was designated as Director of the Highway Patrol’s newly created Office of Community Engagement and Outreach. Captain Johnson retired from the Missouri State Highway Patrol on November 1, 2018 after 31 years of service.

In 2018 Captain Johnson founded Lodestone Solution Group, LLC. Lodestone’s Mission is to develop and inspire leaders to use a moral compass of empathy, compassion, and selflessness to discover personal and sustainable strength in leading others confidently, even if the whole world is watching.

Captain Johnson adds to his list of accomplishments “Published Author.” On August 7, 2018 Captain Johnson’s Memoir “13 Days in Ferguson” was released. In the book 13 Days in Ferguson, he shares his view of what happened during the thirteen turbulent days he spent stabilizing the city of Ferguson. The 13 days and nights were the most trying of Johnson’s life—professionally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Captain Johnson was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He holds a criminal justice degree, is a graduate of Northwestern University Traffic Institute of Police Staff and Command, and a 2014 graduate of the National Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy. He is certified in police instruction and the development/implementation of Assessment Center exercises formatted for command level staff officers. He currently serves on various committees within the community.

Captain Johnson has received numerous awards and recognitions for his Service.
Captain Johnson and his wife Lori have been married for over thirty years and have two adult children, a daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter.

22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri

Dr. Shanté M. Lampley is the Chief Deputy Juvenile Officer for the 22^nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri, Child Protection Department. She has worked at the Court for more than 24 years and held positions as a Deputy Juvenile Officer, Assistant Supervisor for the Truancy Unit, Family Court Mediator, Supervisor of the Mediation and Special Court Services Unit and Juvenile Detention Alternatives Inititative Coordinator.

People’s Community Action Corporation

Paul Lemmon is a native of San Francisco, who spent his high school and early adult years in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and Southern Illinois University. He received his Juris Doctorate from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

He was an elementary and middle school teacher in the St. Louis City Public Schools for approximately 5 years before working for Levi Strauss & Company in San Francisco for almost 10 years, later enrolling in law school.
Since 2020 he has served as the Director of Community Initiatives and Emergency Services for People’s Community Action Corporation.

Bureau of Prisons

Bureau of Prisons 20 Years  | Retired | BS Marketing

Concordance

As Executive Vice President, Head of Behavioral Health & Wellness at Concordance, Julie Russell leads the behavioral health and wellness team composed of therapists who provide assessment, interdisciplinary treatment planning, and individual and group therapy using evidence-informed interventions as part of the Concordance Re-Entry Model.

Having earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Southwestern University and a Master of Social Work degree from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Julie brings over 25 years of experience as a clinician, educator, grantmaker, and executive in the social sector.

People’s Community Action Corporation

Dr. Monica A. Stewart, has been an educator for the past twenty-six years in traditional, non-traditional and higher education settings. Currently she is the Director of Family and Community Youth Services at People’s Community Action Corporation. Dr. Stewart is a member of several professional organizations, which include Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. National Coalition of 100 Black Women and the Urban League Guild. Dr. Stewart is also involved in many volunteer and charitable organizations in the St. Louis area including Community Women against Hardship, United Negro College Fund and United Way (Charmaine Chapman Society and Allocations).