Our Board of Directors
Robin Anthony Kouyate, PhD, MA, Director
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Robin Anthony Kouyate, PhD, MA, Director, CFF Board of Directors. Dr. Anthony Kouyaté has over 25 years of experience providing social and behavioral science leadership to support chronic disease, maternal/newborn/child health (MNCH), nutrition, and reproductive health programs in 15 countries in the U.S., Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Her experience spans a range of behavioral domains including chronic illness self-management, medication adherence, postpartum contraceptive use, breastfeeding and infant nutrition practices, adolescent resilience, cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness practices, and parenting with emotional intelligence. Since 2010, she has provided behavioral science leadership and expertise leading teams in designing digital and non-digital health solutions that support chronic disease self-management, in the private sector retail pharmacy, start-up and biotech industry settings. Dr. Anthony Kouyaté has served as a consultant, a volunteer, on advisory boards, and on professional society committees for organizations focused on supporting health and wellbeing, as well as mentoring BIPOC youth and peers. These pursuits reflect her passion for supporting people of color, women, and particularly BIPOC youth in their development, professional pursuits, and overall well-being. In 2005 - 2006, she served as the Lead Research Consultant for the National Council of Negro Women, documenting the efficacy of NCNW partnerships with African women’s empowerment organizations and presenting findings to the funding organization. She has served as a mentor for first generation BIPOC students for the America Need You Program, Los Angeles (2021-2022) and a professional peer mentor, Amgen Black Employee Resource Group Mentor-Mentee Program (2021). She has been appointed to two presidential committees for the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM): Committee Chair for the Microcredentialing Committee (2019-2020) advising on additional fundraising approaches; and Committee Member for the Industry Connections Committee (2022 – present) mandated with supporting the Membership Council by developing industry connections for SBM and its members. Dr. Anthony Kouyate has served on advisory boards as behavioral science subject matter expert for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals (2012) and Motiv, a digital health start-up (2023). She received her PhD in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, her MA in International Economics and American Foreign Policy from the Paul H Nitze Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, her BA in Comparative Area Studies – Africa and the Middle East from Duke University, and is fluent in French. She is a Maryland resident. |
James Bentil, BS. Director and Secretary
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James Bentil Bio, BS., Director and Secretary, CFF Board of Directors. Mr. Bentil is a results-oriented strategist who provides integrated business and analytical solutions to diverse stakeholders in both public and private industries, including high valued individuals, executive leadership, and fast-growing organizations. For the past eight years, he has worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he presently serves as a Deputy Chief of Staff and Advisor. Mr. Bentil deeply understands how dynamic business can be and values organized implementation plans to achieve optimal results. His strengths are in organizational consulting, business intelligence, managing cross-functional teams, organizational development, client briefings, project/change management, and strategic planning. He is a first-generation American with parents who hail from the diverse African nation of Ghana. Ever since 1999, he would travel to Ghana for about a month to learn more about his ancestral history, about each geographic region and its attributes, and for vacation purposes. Mr. Bentil’s family has resided in Vermont for nearly 30 years. They chose Vermont for its high standard of quality of life as well as its community-based approach to improving the well-being of its residents. In past years, Mr. Bentil has volunteered in various capacities including serving as the National Chair for the University of Vermont (UVM) Alumni Association’s NextGen Council with University of Vermont Foundation, a Board Member with Chittenden County Court Diversion Program, an Alumni Networker with the UVM Alumni Association, and the United States Attorney's Office Representative for Vermont Crime Victims’ Week. Mr. Bentil has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Vermont with a focus on Human Resources and Macro/Microeconomics. He is a Vermont resident. |
Co'Relous Bryant, Director, M.Div
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Co'Relous Bryant, Director, CFF Board of Directors. Rev. Bryant serves as Pastor of the United Church of Lincoln, in Lincoln Vermont. He was born in the small town of Perry, Florida, and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended NYU for his B.A. focusing in theater and political science, spent a few years in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors, until he gave in to his call to ministry and attended Emory University for his Master's in Divinity, where he focused on homiletics, the art of preaching. He served as the Associate for Mission at St. James Church in New York City and was ordained to the gospel ministry by Metro Baptist Church in New York, where he was a ministry associate, and licensed for ministry by Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Rev. Bryant worked as a Mentor Leader at Communities in Schools of Jacksonville, Community Mobilization Manager at the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, and Director of Training and Major Accounts at the United Way of Northeast Florida. He also worked at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida and State Attorney’s Office-4th Judicial Circuit, Office of the Public Defender, Bill White. As a social justice activist and community mobilizer, Rev. Bryant has worked with nonprofits that combat human trafficking in Florida and abroad through jobs and services, has overseen soup kitchens, and brought together 14 different business and non-profits to form a council to address community needs in an economically depressed neighborhood of Jacksonville. Other activism has included work to combat the school to prison pipeline, community investment in K-12 schools, and parental advocacy training. Rev. Bryant is also an artist (singing and theater) and is a proud member of the Vermont African-American African Diaspora Artists' Network (VAAADAN). He is a Vermont resident. |
Lydia Clemmons, PhD, MPH, President
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Lydia Clemmons, PhD, MPH President, CFF Board of Directors. Dr. Clemmons is a medical anthropologist with a 35-year career leading ethnographic research and community development programs in the US and more than 20 African countries. She has more than 20 years of senior executive-level experience managing national and global program annual budgets of $20-$50 million dollars. She is internationally recognized for her innovative work integrating arts and culture into effective public health and social change programming. Dr. Clemmons began her international work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Democratic Republic of Congo. She has worked for the US Agency for International Development, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and numerous US nonprofit organizations working in international development. She grew up on her family’s farm in Vermont and returned in 2013 to help her parents preserve the farm- one of just 0.4% of all farms in the US that is African-American owned- for future generations. As President of the Clemmons Family Farm, Inc., she provides leadership for the farm’s transition into a 501c3 nonprofit organization and oversees its programming. She is fluent in French and Lingala. Dr. Clemmons is the recipient of the 2021 Con Hogan Award from the Vermont Community Foundation, the 2021 Arthur Williams Award for Meritorious Service to the Arts from the Vermont Arts Council, and the 2022 NAACP-Rutland Branch Lifetime Achievement Award. She holds a PhD in Medical Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a Master in Public Health from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a BA in Human Biology from Stanford University. She is a Vermont resident. |
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Our Program Leadership Team
Lydia Clemmons PhD, MPH,
Executive Director
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Dr. Clemmons is a medical anthropologist with a 35-year career leading ethnographic research and community development programs in the US and more than 20 African countries. She has more than 20 years of senior executive-level experience managing national and global program annual budgets of $20-$50 million dollars. She is internationally recognized for her innovative work integrating arts and culture into effective public health and social change programming. Dr. Clemmons began her international work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Democratic Republic of Congo. She has worked for the US Agency for International Development, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and numerous US nonprofit organizations working in international development. She grew up on her family’s farm in Vermont and returned in 2013 to help her parents preserve the farm- one of just 0.4% of all farms in the US that is African-American owned- for future generations. As President of the Clemmons Family Farm, Inc., she provides leadership for the farm’s transition into a 501c3 nonprofit organization and oversees its programming. She is fluent in French and Lingala. Dr. Clemmons is the recipient of the 2021 Con Hogan Award from the Vermont Community Foundation, the 2021 Arthur Williams Award for Meritorious Service to the Arts from the Vermont Arts Council, and the 2022 NAACP-Rutland Branch Lifetime Achievement Award. She holds a PhD in Medical Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a Master in Public Health from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a BA in Human Biology from Stanford University. She is a Vermont resident. |
Kia'Rae Hanron BS, Director-
Arts Learning Programs
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Kia’Rae Hanron is a multidisciplinary and multimedia artist, educator, and activist from Montpelier, Vermont. Growing up immersed in art, her explorative, creative, and compassionate nature was encouraged and nurtured from a young age. She combines her lived experiences as a Biracial Vermonter with her professional training and passion for the arts to help others practice empathy and curiosity, and build strength, confidence, and resilience through creative expression. Since 2021, Ms. Hanron has led the development of Clemmons Family Farm’s Windows To A Multicultural WorldTM arts-integrated African American history curriculum for grades K-12, also supporting the professional development of Vermont’s artists specializing in African diaspora arts and culture as teaching artists for this program. In recent years, she has expanded her work to help develop Clemmons Family Farm’s arts-integrated learning approaches in community-building through a series of participatory arts programs on the Clemmons Farm and throughout Vermont, and in public health through the statewide Beneath Our Skin and How Are We Doing? projects funded by the Vermont Department of Health and the Making Waves project funded by the Wallace Foundation. Ms. Hanron is also a mental health advocate and community activist, and brings her artistry with her everywhere she goes. Some of her favorite means of expression include drawing, painting, collage and assemblage, digital art, creative writing, and spoken word poetry. She uses the arts to support her own well-being and self-expression, and that of the community, and hopes to inspire others to do the same. An alumni of the National Leaders of Color Fellowship (2023), she is committed to advancing cultural equity in the arts and inspiring positive change and resilience within communities of all ages across Vermont. Ms. Hanron has been featured in Vermont Visionaries for her work as an arts-and-culture leader and independent artist. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Arts Education from the University of Vermont. |
Rose Twagirumukiza, MS, Director-Administration and Operations
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Rose Twagirumukiza is an international development professional with a record of leadership in impactful global programs. Her experience encompasses program management, international fieldwork, and the coordination of initiatives in relief, economic development, and security, all driven by a profound commitment to the empowerment of communities worldwide. A cornerstone of Ms. Twagirumukiza's professional ethos is her aptitude for cultivating cross-cultural collaboration. She navigates diverse cultural environments, establishing partnerships with local organizations, professionals, and business owners. As a member of the leadership team, Ms. Twagirumukiza ensures operation of all organizational programs, providing support for daily administration, program coordination, and communication Prior to her tenure at Clemmons Family Farm, Ms. Twagirumukiza held roles as a Program Manager at Panagora Group and Resolute Health Outreach, as well as a Program Officer at Jhpiego. She holds an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University with a concentration in Global Politics and Security, and a B.A. in International Relations and Spanish from Lake Forest College, where she achieved cum laude honors. |
Carol Hooks, BS, Senior Advisor-Participatory Action Research
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Carol Hooks has more than 30 years of experience in public health and development, including 13 years as an independent consultant. Her qualitative research experience began with a participatory research project to develop STI/HIV/AIDS prevention materials with inner city youth, and has covered many topics and populations, most recently exploring factors impacting Kenyan nurses’ performance in routine immunization and gender issues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. All of her qualitative research experience has been solutions-oriented. Her professional expertise includes advocacy, communication, proposal development, research, training, and social and behavior change. Specific to the U.S., she led a farmworker cancer prevention communication project; developed STI/HIV/AIDS prevention materials for inner-city youth and the Black deaf community; and trained Cambodian and Lao agriculture extension workers to conduct focus group discussions and pretest substance abuse prevention materials for Cambodian and Lao parents and children, and advocated for increased malaria vaccine development funding. She has worked in more than 40 countries on five continents and speaks French and Spanish. She provides senior technical assistance on Clemmons Family Farm's Making Waves participatory action-research project. Ms. Hooks has a B.S. in Languages from Georgetown University. |
Mary Kwamboko Onsonga, MS Senior Advisor for Agriculture, Food, and Marketing-African Diaspora Foodways Institute of Vermont
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Mary Kwamboka Onsongo is a results-driven development professional with over 20 years of experience leading international food and agriculture programs and projects including those funded by the United States Agency for International Development and the USDA. She is recognized for her expertise in strategic planning, agricultural resilience, stakeholder engagement, and capacity-building. Most recently, Ms. Onsongo served as Senior Technical Lead, Agriculture Resilience and Water for Winrock International, providing technical leadership and financial oversight for agricultural resilience programs totaling $41M. She has a long-standing success in fostering partnerships, advancing food security initiatives, and integrating cultural heritage into sustainable agricultural systems in numerous countries. Bilingual in Swahili and English, she is committed to promoting food justice and empowering communities through innovative and impactful solutions. Areas of Expertise:
Education:
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Catharine Noel, AA, Senior Advisor for Farm-to-Table Programming- African Diaspora Foodways Institute of Vermont
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Catharine Noel is a seasoned culinary professional with 28 years of experience in the culinary field. She is deeply committed to student development and learning, combining extensive classroom experience with a passion for sustainable, locally sourced food. Ms. Noel has developed and taught a comprehensive 12-week farm-to-table curriculum, providing hands-on instruction and evaluating student performance to ensure practical learning outcomes. Throughout her career, she has held significant roles, including serving as the Lead Baker at the University of River Falls, WI, and as a Pastry Chef and Chef at Lucia’s Restaurant and Bakery in Minneapolis. Currently, she brings her expertise to the Swift House Inn in Middlebury, Vermont, where she produces high-quality pastries that reflect her dedication to the craft. Ms. Noel holds an Associate of Arts Degree in Culinary Arts, earned in 2009, and she continues to infuse her work with a passion for food, farming, teaching, and community engagement. She is a Vermont resident. |
