Meet The Board of Directors
Daphne Denis (aka Dee Journey) | President
Daphne Denis (aka Dee Journey) has always had a passionate love for storytelling as a performing art for as long as she can remember. Her most recent work was published in the Power in the Pen 2020/2021 anthologies. A Whispering Rage (2020) and Save The Children (2021) is a collection of spell-binding story-writing performances. She was featured in the PNMC Debut Readers Series: Highway 8 as the leading protagonist.
Brooklyn native and soft-spoken as a child. Then she had a shift that led to dream visits from spirits. She is glad to be used as a gateway to give voice to voiceless spirits and interpret their thoughts, ideas, and messages into a symbolic performance. She is a licensed clinician and a doctoral candidate. She is presently working on her first graphic novel which will be released in 2023.
Margo Janet Johnson McKenzie | Vice President
After retirement as an educational administrator with the NYC DOE, Margo Janet Johnson McKenzie acquired her MFA in creative writing, developed a website, and started an editing business, Trinity Author Services. Her writing has appeared in Our Time Press, Faith-Fill Family Magazine and Stay Focused Magazine. Her church, Bethany Baptist of Brooklyn (Pastor Adolphus Lacey, PhD) has published my poems in our monthly newsletter. All her writing is predicated on Paul’s advice to the Colossians, “Whatever you do whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (3:23NIV). She also has a few unpublished book projects in the works.
Gail Stanback | Secretary
Gail Stanback serves as the manager of Glucose and Me, a public health consultant firm that focuses on Type 2 Diabetes and chronic health issues that impact communities of color. She joined Empire State College in June 2001 under the leadership of the late Dean Nancy Bunch. She attended CUNY/John Jay College and completed her degree with the State University of New York where she received her Associates Degree in Public Policy in 2004, and a Bachelors[GS1] Degree in Public Administration in 2005. Gail went on to receive an MBA from St. Joseph’s College of Brooklyn in 2009. In April 2020 she received a Doctorate in Public Health with a research focus on Type 2 Diabetes and Gun Violence. She is a proud recipient of the Lisa Berry Scholarship. She is a long-time member of Brown Memorial Baptist Church of Brooklyn under the pastoral guidance of Pastor Clinton Miller.
Dr. Stanback is an advocate for education and has served on the Education Ministry at Brown Memorial Baptist Church. She continues her work at the Metropolitan Center of Empire State College. Gail Stanback has recited her poetry for audiences at SUNY Empire State College, and her most memorable moment is when Nikki Giovanni approached her and said how much she enjoyed her poem, “The Black Church.”
Diane Ortiz | Ambassador
Diane Ortiz was born and raised in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene projects in the 50’s. Diane is the third child of nine siblings and attended P.S. 67. Diane graduated from New York City College of Technology with a Bachelors of Science in Hospitality and Management. Diane is a mother of three, and has two grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Ms. Ortiz believes children have plenty to say if we just let them speak. Diane has worked in childcare for over fifteen years and when the children spoke to her they were always very funny, honest, and they never ran out of questions to ask.
Diane feels that if the belief that “Children should be seen and not heard” wasn’t so deeply seeded in most black and brown households, her niece would have never been molested and felt like she could not tell anyone.
Ms. Ortiz is currently writing her first book, a memoir of her life and the effects her niece’s sexual abuse has on her family. It is through Diane’s bravery and her honesty that she aims to stop the generational curses in her family and others to finally let the children be heard everywhere.