The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.
Board of Directors 2009 - 2010

Laura D. Blackburne, Chairman
Roslyn Brock, Vice Chairman and NAACP Chairman
Benjamin Jealous, Secretary and NAACP President/CEO
Julian Bond, NAACP Board Member
Willis Edwards, NAACP Board Member
Bishop William Graves, NAACP Board Member
Gwendolyn Smith-Iloani
Jerome Wyhatt Mondesire, NAACP Board Member
Diane Straus Tucker
Roger Wilkins
Carol H. Williams

Laura D. Blackburne, Chairman

After more than 45 years of public and community service and being an advisor to four mayors and two governors, the Honorable Laura D. Blackburne was elected Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York. In January 1996, Judge Blackburne took her seat on the bench in the Criminal Court of Queens County. In January 2000, she began her term as Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York and retired from this post in 2006.

Justice Blackburne began her public service as a teacher and later held various Civil Service positions in New York City. In 1970, former Mayor John Lindsay invited her to join his administration as a member of the Mayor's Education Task Force and later as Director of the Narcotics Control Commission and an Assistant to the Mayor.

In 1979, following graduation from St. John's University School of Law and admission to the Bar of the State of New York, Judge Blackburne served as President and CEO of the Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution for a decade. The Institute provided conflict resolution to public, private and community groups, as well as training to over 15,000 individuals in negotiation and mediation techniques throughout the United States and abroad.
In 1990, Judge Blackburne was appointed by Mayor David Dinkins to Chair the New York City Housing Authority where she was responsible for 600,000 residents and 16,000 employees. She instituted the first bicycle police patrol in New York City, and also served as a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Chair of the Triboro Bridge and tunnel Authority from 1985 – 1992.

Justice Blackburne has taught at Long Island University; City University of New York Center for Legal Education and Urban Policy; Harvard University, Institute of Politics; University of Massachusetts Law Center, The New School for Social Research; and as a Visiting Professor of Law at St. John's University School of Law.

Her public service has included: Board Member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Job Training Partnership Council of New York State; New York City Criminal Civilian Complaint Task Force; U.S. Peace Academy; Governor's Transit Advisory Panel; Governor's Task Force on Insurance Regulatory Reform; Governor's Task Force on Rape; and the Co-Chair of the Mayor's Committee on Church Avenue Boycott.

Justice Blackburne has served the bar as a member of the Character and Fitness Committee for Admission to the Bar of the Second Judicial Department of New York State; The Departmental Disciplinary Committee, First Judicial Department; Board of Visitors, City University of New York Law School; Pro Bono Counsel to the New York State NAACP. She also presided over the Queens Treatment Court which provided an alternative to incarceration for first felony drug offenders.

Her community service includes: Metro Manhattan Chapter of Links Inc.; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority; Black Leadership Commission on Aids; Choreographer and Director of the St Catherine of Sienna Liturgical Dancers at St. Catherine of Sienna R.C. Church.

Blackburne’s international missions have taken her all over the world:
1993 – Brazil - 10 day study of organized labor and child exploitation
1991 – South Africa – two week study post Apartheid housing and criminal justice
1991 – Former Soviet Union – led 15 person group on an 18-day assessment of housing and courts
1989 – Great Britain – lectured on mediation and conflict resolution in the courts
1989 – Peoples Republic of China - led a 21 day exchange with Judges and lawyers on U.S. Mediation in courts
1987 – studied transporation system
1985 – Kenya – served as mediator for UN International Conference on Women
1984 – Great Britain and Canada – lectured on mediation and conflict resolution
1983 – Johannesburg and Cape Town – application of conflict resolution techniques
She currently is a member of: The National Association of Women Judges; The Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, The Macon B. Allen Black Bar Association; Queens Convenor of the Judicial Friends (African American Judges); Queens Convenor of the Not Just for Blacks and Jews in Conversation (a program to promote interracial respect and tolerance for high school students).
Justice Blackburne is a member of the Bar of the State of New York, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern District and the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition to being a graduate from St. John's University School of Law, she is a graduate of the Ohio State University and has taken graduate courses at New York University and Cornell University Center for Labor Relations. She has been honored with Doctor of Law degrees from both St. John's University and Niagara University.
Married for 50 years to Elmer Blackburne, the distinguished Democratic District Leader, they have three daughters: Anna Blackburne Rigsby*, Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate June 27, 2000; Rose E. Blackburne, M.D., Obstetrician and Gynecologist in private practice, Washington, D.C.; Faith T. Blackburne, Program Manager for District of Columbia Government; son-in-law, Robert R. Rigsby, Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia and grandson Julian Christopher Rigsby.
*Justice Blackburne and her daughter the Honorable Anna Blackburne Rigsby are the only mother and daughter judges of courts of general jurisdiction in the United States.

Roslyn Brock, Vice Chairman and NAACP Chairman

Roslyn M. Brock is Chairman of the National Board of Directors for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She made history in February 2010 when she became the youngest ever and fourth woman to serve as Chairman of the National Board of Directors.

Over the past twenty five years, Brock has served the NAACP in several leadership roles.  She is a Diamond Life Member of NAACP and joined the Association as a freshman at Virginia Union University where she was elected President of the Youth and College Division from the Commonwealth of Virginia.  One year later, she was elected as a Youth Board Member from Region 7 – representing the District of Columbia, Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia.  During her tenure as a Youth Board Member and Vice Chairman of the NAACP Board Health Committee, Brock led the policy debate to recognize access to quality health care as a civil rights issue that resulted in the National Board’s ratification and inclusion of a Health Committee as a Standing Committee in its Constitution. 

In 1989, under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Benjamin Lawson Hooks, Brock wrote her Master’s Thesis on “Developing a NAACP Health Outreach Program for Minorities.” Brock is a skilled grant writer and has secured more than $2.7 million dollars in grants since 1991 for NAACP programs that initiated the Health Symposiums held annually at NAACP National Conventions; publication of more than 200,000 copies of “HIV/AIDS and You” educational materials distributed to NAACP Units; research and media work associated with documenting the history of the NAACP; support for ACT-SO and the NAACP Law Fellows programs; and commissioned the 2007 NAACP Perceptions Survey just to name a few.

In 1999, Brock was appointed Chair of the Board Convention Planning Committee.  In this role, she led the Committee to institute fiscal policies that resulted in the Convention becoming a profit center for the Association with average net revenues of $1 million dollars a year. 

In 2005, Brock created the Leadership 500 Summit with several other young adult members of the NAACP.  The Summit’s goal is to recruit, train and retain a new generation of civil rights leaders aged 30 – 50 to the NAACP.  Since its inception, Leadership 500 has contributed more than $650,000 to the NAACP National Treasury to support 2009 Centennial activities. 

As Chairman of the Board Centennial Committee, Brock provides oversight for publication of Centennial calendars and paraphernalia; commission of Centennial artwork; and creation of the Centennial logo and theme for marketing and public relations.

Brock is member of the Board of Trustees for the Catholic Health Association of the United States of America and the NAACP Special Contributions Fund Board of Trustees.  She’s served on the boards of community mental health; family and children's services; senior services and faith based community ministries. She’s also a member of several professional and civic organizations including the American Public Health Association; American College of Health Services Executives; American Hospital Association’s Disparities in Healthcare Task group; Association of Healthcare Philanthropy; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and The LINKS, Inc.

A recipient of numerous healthcare, community service and leadership awards, Brock’s leadership skills have been recognized by several national publications and organizations.  In April 2008, Brock participated in the United States Department of Defense’s 75th Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC) reserved for American leaders interested in expanding their knowledge of the military and national defense. She toured U.S. Southern Command, responsible for providing contingency planning, operations and security cooperation for Central and South America, the Caribbean, Cuba and the Bahamas, and their territorial waters.
 
She was a guest lecturer on “Alleviating Global Poverty” in Rome, Italy at the 2007 Martin Luther King, Jr. Conflict Resolution Conference co-sponsored by the Lott Carey Foreign Missions and the Baptist Union of Italy. 

From 2003-2005, Brock served as a Young Leaders Fellow for the National Committee on U.S. – China Relations to build cross-cultural understanding and professional networks with young Chinese leaders while exploring substantive issues and developing enduring friendships. 

Other highlights include: Wrote the Foreword for the 2008 Edition of Who’s Who Among African-Americans Directory;  Featured in December 2007 Forbes Magazine article on Diversity and Economic Parity for African Americans; Recipient of the Network Journal’s “40 Under Forty Achievement Award”; Martin Luther King, Jr. Medal for Human Rights, the George Washington University; Outstanding Alumna, Virginia Union University; Honorary Chairperson, National Black Family Summit; Ebony magazine’s “Future Leader Award”; and Good Housekeeping’s “100 Young Women of Promise.” 

Brock is employed as Vice President, Advocacy and Government Relations for Bon Secours Health System, Inc., in Marriottsville, Maryland.  Prior to working at Bon Secours, Brock worked 10 years in Health Programs at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan.
She graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Union University; earned a master's degree in health services administration from George Washington University, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Master of Divinity degree from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Theology at Virginia Union University.
Brock’s goal in life is embodied in an African proverb "Care more than others think is wise, Risk more than others think is safe, Dream more than others think is practical and Expect more than others think is possible."