Salvation & Social Justice Names Tracey Syphax, Debra Jennings and Hosea Johnson to board
AC JosepH Media
WOODBURY – The human right organization Salvation and Social Justice, led by Rev. Charles Boyer, announced this week that it has added Tracey Syphax, Debra Jennings and Hosea Johnson to its board of directors.
Tracey Syphax
Syphax, an entrepreneur, community activist, and motivational Speaker, is president and chief executive of Capitol City Contracting, Inc. and The Phaz Group, LLC in Trenton. Capitol City Contracting, Inc. is a construction company specializing in roofing, siding, windows, and doors and, The Phax Group, LLC. is a real estate development company.
He also serves as co-chair for Trenton New Jersey’s Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training (MOET), and co-chair of Union Baptist Church Trustee Ministry.Â
Syphax is a history-making, path-breaking figure in the African-American community with an incomparable record of accomplishment both personally, professionally and philanthropically. Once identified in his youth as inmate #226926 today he is known as the first African-American to receive the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Princeton Chamber of Commerce.
READ: Rev. Charles Boyer pushes for social justice
Syphax tirelessly continues to give back with passion and vigor to his New Jersey community. His mission: to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs. Embracing entrepreneurialism on many levels Tracey is one of the founding board members of the highly successful Minding Our Business (MOB).
Founded in 1997 MOB is a community outreach program of Rider University College of Business Administration. The purpose of MOB is to advance the personal and vocational development of Trenton youth through entrepreneurship education and mentoring. Since inception, MOB has trained and mentored more than 1300 Trenton middle school students, ages 11-14, in starting and running their own businesses. The skills needed to run a business successfully are also important life skills.
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Syphax is a board member of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ). He is also a former founding Chair of the Board for Fathers & Men United for a Better Trenton. In his autobiography, From the Block to the Boardroom, Tracey shares with author Detric “Qadiriyyah†Goss his powerfully uplifting story of the success that comes from faith, love and the second chances given to those who were formerly incarcerated.
Debra JenningsÂ
Jennings is the executive co-director of the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, a non-profit organization committed to working with parents and professionals to attain the educational rights of all children, thereby enabling them to become fully participating and contributing members of our communities and society. A graduate of Northwestern University, Jennings is completing further graduate study as the Kellogg Foundation Nonprofit Management Opportunity Fellow of the Seton Hall University Center for Public Service master’s in public administration program.
Jennings has more than 15 years’ experience working with schools, parents, and communities in school improvement and other initiatives benefiting children and families. Jennings chaired Governor’s Family Involvement Committee in New Jersey and participates on the NJ Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, NJ Teacher Quality Enhancement Consortium Advisory Board, the National Center on Special Education Monitoring & Accountability Advisory Board, the NJ Association of Partners in Education Board, the NJ State Improvement Grant Management Team, the Child Behavioral Health/Children’s System of Care Implementation Advisory Committee, the Board of the NJ Parents’ Caucus, and the Improving Minority Achievement Network Initiative. Â
She is the founder of Concerned African American Parents and has served as a School Board member. Jennings directs SPAN’s START (Statewide Technical Assistance Resources Team), funded by the NJ Department of Education in part through NJ’s State Improvement which provides technical assistance and support to parents in local communities to develop and/or strengthen parent support groups.
At SPAN, she has developed numerous informational materials, including Parent Involvement, Choice and Notice under NCLB and Other Federal Laws; Parent’s Guide to No Child Left Behind; the Family Guide to Selecting Supplemental Service Providers (2003). She has also developed numerous trainings, including No Child Left Behind & IDEA: Tools for Student Achievement; Choosing and Using Supplemental Service Providers; Parent-Professional Partnership in Developing your School’s Parent Involvement Policy; The Parent’s Role in Teaching and Learning; and Using Data to Make Decisions for School Improvement.
In addition to organizing people and projects, her professional background also includes economic development, real estate finance and construction. Â Â
Hosea Johnson
Johnson is the founder and president of Johnson Associates Systems Inc. Johnson Associates Systems is an orthotic and prosthetic company that provides support to our nations’ military veterans within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Johnson is also the owner of WSI – We Simplify the Internet, a professional and innovative information technology company dedicated to providing quality products and services in Internet marketing, systems design and development, systems engineering, network and data communications and project management.
Johnson graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Morehead State University, Morehead, Ky. Johnson began employment with International Business Machines as a computer programmer and worked as a system engineer. Johnson Associates Systems and the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a partnership for the recruitment and provision of professional staff (certified Orthotists and Prosthetists) to operate the Automated Fabrication of Mobility Aids.
This initiative allows Veterans Affairs to; facilitate accessibility; improve the timeliness of service; reduce travel and production time; decrease cost; and serve to facilitate revenue generation for the Department of Veterans Affairs.Â
Johnson is actively involved in the community of Southern New Jersey. Mr. Johnson serves and has participated in the following organizations:
•   New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission-Governance Committee
•   2002 Garden State Employment and Training Public Service Award
•   Gloucester County Workforce Investment Board, Chairman- Executive Committee, Chairman- Coordination Committee, Chairman
•   Washington Township Board of Economic Development, Chairman
•   Washington Township Planning Board- Development Review Committee- Redevelopment Committee, Chairman
•   Gloucester County Special Task Force for Employment Opportunities at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
•   Gloucester County One Easy Link Executive Committee
•   Gloucester County College Advisory Committee
•   Camden County College Advisory Committee
•   Freeholder; Task Force for Evaluation of Education Academy Status
•   Courier-Post Summit on the Future of South Jersey, Member
•   Gloucester County Minority Coalition, Chairman
•   St. Matthews Baptist Church, Trustee
•   Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity
Johnson is a consummate professional committed to providing quality service and performance in all his endeavors. He is dedicated to the continued development of his community and businesses.
Photo courtesy of Salvation and Social Justice.
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