Staff and Board Members
Beverly Knox, TMI President and Director of Community Health Improvement Network (CHIN)
Beverly graduated from The University of Southern Mississippi and is The Montgomery Institute President. Beverly is a former local TV News Reporter, City of Meridian employee as the Keep America Beautiful Coordinator, Project Director for the MS Tobacco Free Coalition of Noxubee, Neshoba, and Kemper Counties (contracted through the MS State Department of Health); Project Director for East Central Health Network. As President of The Montgomery Institute and Executive Director of the Community Health Improvement Network (CHIN), Beverly coordinates monthly community health education lunch and Learn events. These events target the underserved and underprivileged populations of Lauderdale County and surrounding areas. Beverly also facilitates the collaboration of community partners to create other joint programs to improve and sustain overall health care.
Dennitsha Brooks, Director – The Tobacco–Free Coalition of Noxubee, Neshoba, and Kemper Counties
Dennitsha Brooks is an educator and social services professional pursuing a Higher Education Administration Doctorate at Liberty University. She holds a Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling focusing on Executive Leadership and a Bachelor of Science in Human Sciences from Mississippi State University. She has extensive experience in early childhood education, child welfare, and family services. In her position as Project Director of the Tobacco–Free program, Dennitsha will coordinate events to teach the dangers of tobacco use and vaping, work with the schools in the counties she serves, teach cessation classes and teach tobacco and vape prevention. She will also coordinate events to help adults quit smoking, such as Freedom from Smoking clinics.
Lacey Williams, Director – CDC Drug-Free Communities (DFC) for Lauderdale County, Mississippi
Lacey graduated from Mississippi State University and is the Director of the CDC Drug-Free Communities (DFC) for Lauderdale County, Mississippi. She is the former director of the Tobacco Free program, which the MS State Department of Health contracts. Prior to her roles at TMI, Lacey accrued more than (7) seven years’ experience as a Pharmacy Technician and worked at Fred’s Pharmacy, Rush Hospital, and CVS Pharmacy. In Lacey’s role, she will facilitate programs and events to establish and strengthen the collaboration between public and private non-profit agencies, public schools, and federal, state, local and governments, working to prevent and reduce substance use among youth by addressing the factors in a community that increase risk for substance use and promoting factors that minimize risk for substance use.
Richelle Putnam, Contractor for Arts & Arts Education Programs/Events, Website/Social Media
Richelle Putnam is the Community Arts/Arts Education Project contractor for The Montgomery Institute and holds a BS in Marketing Management and an MA in Creative Writing. She co-founded the Hwy 80 Songwriters Festival through the TMI West Alabama/East Mississippi (WAEM) Mayors’ initiative, implementing five successful annual festivals, and co-facilitated the Creative Economy Forum with Meridian Main Street, Visit Meridian, and The Montgomery Institute. As a MAC teaching artist and her contractor role at TMI, she has worked with youth in Head Start early education centers, K-12 schools, public libraries, the East Mississippi Boys and Girls Club, and the Meridian Freedom Project, integrating music standards (songwriting) into ELA, History, Math, and Science standards. In addition to these initiatives, Richelle develops and manages the TMI website and social media platforms.
TMI Board Members
Name: Beverly Knox
Profession: President – The Montgomery Institute
Ethnicity: Black/African American
_________________________________________
Name: C.D. Smith
Profession: ATT Regional Manager
Ethnicity: Black/African American
_________________________________________
Name: Brad Huff
Profession: Owner/Executive Director M’Prints Promotional Products
Ethnicity: White
_________________________________________
Name: Michael Dudley
Profession: President/CEO Commercial Bank
Ethnicity: White
________________________________________
Name: Lloyd Gray
Profession: Executive Director, The Phil Hardin Foundation
Ethnicity: White
_________________________________________
Name: Soraya Welden
Profession: Retired Educator
Ethnicity: White
___________________________________________
Name: Tracy Alford
Profession: Community Development Director Citizens National Bank
Ethnicity: Black/African American