25 Phenomenal Women

BY DOMINIQUE SHAW
OUTLOOK STAFFWRITER

Meredith Clark

Meredith Clark is associate editor for the Tallahassee Democrat . She has been fulfilling her position since May 2007. Clark completed her internship with the Tallahassee Democrat, which she received through Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication.

“It’s challenging every day and I learn something new,” Clark said. “There is never a boring day.”

Clark mentors with Leon County Public Schools and Team Democrat. Whenever she is approached by youth inquiring to learn, she is always ready and willing to assist. She doesn’t get the chance to work one-on-one with interns at the Democrat but the editorial board is open to working with students who want to learn more about editing.

“Every day in a different way it dawns on me how important my role is at the Democrat. It’s a major responsibility and one I’m glad to have.

Claudette Harrell

Dedicated to service, Claudette Harrell is coordinator of the Haitian Relief Efforts project at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. Since January she and other panelists have been gearing up to aid those affected by the hurricane in Haiti.

“Serving is a gift God has given to me,” Harrell said.

She continues to work with her committee in keeping Haiti on the forefront. The panelists she helps to coordinate in the restoration of Haiti spotlight: temporary rehabilitation, protection status and sustainability. They are also working on a position paper to distribute to state and federal members in hopes to shed light.

“It’s intriguing and exciting. Working with the different panelists is a wonderful experience knowing that something very great will come out of this,” Harrell said.

Harrell is also working on attaining her Ph.D. in education leadership from Florida A&M University. From her previous profession and education, she is learning to develop strong background skills in leadership, planning and organization.

“It’s a nice fit in professional development,” she said. With everything she has going on, Harrell still glows at the thought of service. “That’s my world, I love to serve.”

Lari Parham

Serving to better assist is Dr. Lori Parham, Florida’s AARP State director . From her Tallahassee office she spearheads helping AARP Florida to resolve issues affecting the most vulnerable populations.

Parham’s career at AARP began in November, 2004 and since then majority of her career is dedicated to progressing the lives of senior citizens. Parham now serves on boards such as the Florida Council on Aging, the American Hiking Society and is a member of the Safeguarding Our Seniors Taskforce.

Before Parham began working at AARP, she served as a legislative analyst for the Florida Senate, providing technical expertise to the Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care. Her duties incorporated oversight of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Florida Medicaid program along with analyzing and summarizing legislation to determine its effectiveness and the impact of its passage on the state and its citizens.

Cherry Alexander

There are too many books to count willing to tell the story of Cherry Alexander, retired Director of library services at Tallahassee Community College. Alexander was a fulltime employee at TCC for 36 years, 10 of which she spent as Director.

During her time as Director, Alexander began TCC’s African- American History Month calendar. The idea turned out to be a successful and prideful addition to the TCC family.

Bill Law, president of TCC, and the African-American History Month Committee decided to honor Alexander by renaming the calendar: TCC-Cherry Hall Alexander African-American History Month Calendar which begins with this year’s tenth edition.

As another honor, TCC named a scholarship after Alexander that will serve to help minority students attending the college. Alexander felt that giving to this scholarship will give someone the opportunity for a college education that they wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.

Helena Barrington

Anointed by God and doing His will for more than 30 years, Dr. Helena Barrington touches lives throughout the country with her music and intuitive teaching and preaching. She is a mentor to various artists, writers and ministers.

Because she has written thousands of songs, including musicals, cantatas and oratorios, she is thought to be one of America’s pioneers in the sounds of praise and worship popularly known today. Barrington also composed award-winning soundtracks for PBS documentaries and was acknowledged as the first woman to conduct a band or orchestra on national television in the mid- 70′s as music director for the Miss Black America Pageant.

She established the nation’s first Christian Performing Arts Academy. Barrington also served eleven years as the Dean of Seminars and Advisory Board member for the National College Choir Black Gospel Workshop and on the Urban League Board of Directors. She’s also a founding Board member of the Prophetic Music and Arts Conference. Ultimately she seeks to please God in any way she can.

Carla Braveman

A major move for terrific reason, Carla Braveman, is President and CEO of Big Bend Hospice located in Tallahassee, which services over three hundred patients a day and has a freestanding inpatient unit with 12 beds.

Braveman moved from Massachusetts where she was executive director of VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickerson Hospital, where she oversaw a home health and hospice agency. Braveman has been a nurse for 32 years and she’s held administrative and management positions for the past 27 years.

Braveman is a Board Member and former officer of the Hospice Association of America and a member of The Hospice and Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts and a member of an Advisory Group for Medicare.

Braveman has been published numerous times in multiple national hospice and health care journals.