Board of Directors
The Board of BCYF is comprised of individuals with a storied and well-documented history of community impact in Baltimore. Interested in joining a future meeting? Visit our events page.
Catherine Benton-Jones
Board Member
Catherine Benton-Jones served as a first-year grant review team member and community advocate for BCYF. She is the President of Change4Real, a resident-led development effort in Oldtown, and President of Chick Webb Recreation Center. She has a long career working for the City of Baltimore, including 20 years in the City Hall Law Department and 15 years at the Housing Authority of Baltimore City in Resident Services as the Manager of Resident Staffing Program. Ms. Benton-Jones managed the support group It’s Your Turn for five years, and she is founder and pastor of New Creations Ministries, Inc. Ms. Benton-Jones is an advocate for those in low-income areas and continues this work advising the Douglass Homes Tenant Council and the Village of Love and Resistance (VOLAR). She holds a Bachelor’s degree from North Carolina College of Theology.
Lanaye Drake
Board Member & Avis Ransom Institute Alumnus
Keiona Gorham
Racial Equity Committee
Keiona Gorham has a long professional history of serving women and youth in various organizations ranging from domestic violence and human trafficking shelters, to accountability circles, to coordinating, leading, and speaking at women’s retreats/conferences. Keiona is a passionate and structured leader who makes a positive impact on the individuals, groups, and organizations in which she serves. A graduate of Grace College, majoring in the Master of Science in Nonprofit Management and Nyack College majoring in the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Keiona uses her personal experience, professional training, and education to create avenues for lasting change in the lives of those she serves.
Keiona is committed to serving alongside like-minded individuals who are heavily invested in the overall enrichment of Baltimore City. As a mom of three beautiful Black children, she wants to leave a legacy of service to the place in which she lived for the last 15+ years. She joined MOMCares as the Direct Care Manager in 2023 to pour her talents, time, energy into the lives of the Black families who are served by this dynamic organization. Keiona centers her work at MOMCares around assets-based language and compassionate accountability.
Jon Gray
Board Member & Avis Ransom Institute Alumnus
Lisa Molock
Vice Chair
Lisa Mollock is a passionate advocate for Baltimore’s youth and young adults – particularly youth violence prevention. In 2016, she founded Let’s Thrive Baltimore – which works to divert youth from gun violence by teaching them conflict resolution, heal from youth from their personal trauma, and assisting their families in prospering. She currently volunteers for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. In her role as the Baltimore lead, she has worked on legislation that prevents guns from coming into the hands of young people.
John Morris
Treasurer
John Morris is the former Dean of the School of Urban Planning & Community Economic Development at Sojourner Douglass College. He is an attorney with a long track record of community development work. He is co-founder of Change4Real, a resident-led development effort in Oldtown. He was a founding and long-serving Director on the Board for Associated Black Charities.
Marcus Pollock
Secretary
Marcus Pollack is an experienced advocate for youth development in Baltimore City. He has professional experience in designing processes to achieve youth development. through the creation of a youth standard for program interoperability, integration, and accountability.
He has served as the co-investigator of a groundbreaking study of youth resilience to drugs, violence, and criminality. His work was concentrated in the South Baltimore Youth Center and the Washington D.C. Boys and Girls Club.
Marcus has also previously served as the Chief of Operations for the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, providing executive oversight of Career and Youth Development Centers.
Larry Carlton Simmons Jr.
Chair
Larry Carlton Simmons Jr. is a West Baltimore native and Edmonson Village resident. He has over twenty years of experience in directing youth and community development programs, community organizing, coordinating city-wide services and program initiatives.
Larry managed the multi-million dollar budget of the Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (ReCAST) grant through Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA), As a result of his work by building partnerships and a community granting program – ReCast has granted over 2 million dollars to grassroots organizations.
His is the current Board Chair of the Parent and Community Advisory Board (PCAB) of Baltimore City Schools and member of several other boards and organizations.
