Meet Our Advisory Board!

ELLEN WISE is an artist, poet and writer whose professional career in includes 20 years of fundraising for higher eduction. She has held positions as Director of Major and Planned Giving for St. John’s College, Washington College and the University of Delaware. She earned her BFA  degree in Fine Art from Virginia Commonwealth University and her MA in English and Creative Writing from Washington College. 

RASHIDA GEORGE is a social worker, Criminal Justice Reform advocate and REstorative Justice Practitioner. Her over 20 years' expreience in the helping profession began with work in the New York public school system where she worked for District 75 Correctional and Adult Education division.  Her time in the classroom as an educator led her to deepen her work with young people and families. Rashida earned an MsW from Columbia Univerisity School of Social Work which set the foundation for her work in Restorative Justice leadership and training. 

JANIQUE MUCKELVENE is the co-founded of Warriors Fighting For His Cure, a non profit started by Janique and her sister in honor of her father who passed away of prostate cancer in 2010. Janique is a Prince George's County Creative - The author of two books : Getting Lost and The Very Awesome Adventures of RuRu & Rudy.  In addition, Janique is also the Host of “Remember September” Open MIC soon to be relaunched in 2024.   She is also a teaching artist where she teaches visual arts to youth and adults in contract with Maryland Parks and Recreation.   Last but not least, Janique has overseen several summer programs with Youth Poets and Artists including but not limited to Expressions Camp, Virtual Expressions Camp, and Virtual Poetry SYEP Program.

PATRICK WASHINGTON is the Executive Director of Dialect of Prince George’s County & was recently named Poetry Director for Hip-Hop Nonprofit, Words Beats & Life, which runs the Washington DC, Arlington, Virginia and Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate programs. This current position places him at the helm of the entire DMV’s Youth Poet Laureate programming, giving young people everywhere the opportunity to collaborate with county & city officials & serve as poetic ambassadors for their community.