Toni Francois | Advisory Board Member
New York JETS Suite Partnership Coordinator
Toni Francois brings zeal and years of experience as a personal mentor to young women in her family and community at large. As an avid volunteer of various organizations, such as Make A Wish Foundation, Ms. Francois believes in the empowerment of young women and is committed to enriching the quality of their lives. She is presently engaged in securing resources for orphaned children in Haiti. Ms. Francois is especially committed to issues of teen pregnancy and the impact it has on young women.
Ms. Francois envisions, PNB as a resourceful and positive outlet that can educate and guide young women , making them aware of the preventative measures that can be taken.
James Kinney | Advisory Board Member
Principal and Founder-Kinney Group Creative Inc.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, with a BA in Political Science, James brings over ten years of experience in marketing and brand strategy. He served as a Wall Street analyst at GDS New York where he developed programs alongside the U.S. Department of Energy on energy efficiency and green technology. He served as marketing manager at Winstead PC—a top 5, Texas business law firm—where he oversaw the direct marketing activities of 70+ attorneys. In addition, as an entrepreneur, James built one of New York’s fastest growing experiential and digital marketing firms, KGC. Clients include Nike, Oakley, Sprite, FIJI Water, Morgans Hotel Group, and The ONE Group. As a musician James toured the US and Europe with multi-platinum and Grammy Award winners Jamie Cullum and The Roots.
Amy Scherber| Advisory Board Member
Founder and Owner of Amy’s Bread
Amy Scherber, owner of Amy’s Bread, is known nationally for her commitment to making hand-made, traditional breads. With three great New York City locations Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and Soho; Amy’s Bread is a well-loved New York City bakery. Providing New Yorkers with award winning bread, sweets, cakes and sandwiches for 19 years!Amy’s Bread has been featured in the NY Times, New York Magazine, Time Out N.Y., Gourmet, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, La Cucina Italiana, Wine Spectator, Crave NY, and many others as one of the top bread bakeries in New York, and the U.S. Amy has philanthropic attitude and gives back by to the community in several ways.
Melvin R. Thompson, Ed.D. | Advisory Board Member
New York Department of Education, Director of New Teacher & Supervisory Mentoring
Dr. Melvin R. Thompson is currently an administrator with the New York City Department of Education and has been employed by this agency for the past 28 years.
He has risen among the ranks beginning his career as a classroom teacher. After 11 years of teaching, Dr. Thompson moved on to hold the following positions: Staff developer, District-level Coordinator of 9 Magnet Schools, Director of Professional Development, Asst. Superintendent for Contracts and Grants and Regional Director of New Teacher Induction-Region 3. Dr. Thompson’s present title is: Instructional Manager. He manages the Mentor Tracking System, an on-line city-wide data-base, used for documenting and tracking the support provided by mentors assigned to mentor First-year teachers.
Dr. Thompson is an alumnus of Teachers College, Columbia University. He graduated with a doctorate in International and Trans-cultural Studies in 1999. He is an avid reader and traveler having made over twenty trips to the continent of Africa…Ghana, West Africa-in particular.
