About Us

WBC Community Development Corporation is a 501 c 3 non-profit corporation located in the Forest Park community of Northwest Baltimore in Maryland, where we believe quality of life should be afforded to all residents, and, in partnership with residents and other stakeholders, we care for our communities. Forest Park strives to be a community that preserves its rich heritage as a suburban enclave in the city. WBC CDC is working to re-create the unique sense of place that once existed in Forest Park with shops, restaurants, and meeting places and spaces offering amenities to connect people.

In support of this vision, WBC CDC is committed to investing in middle market neighborhood potential.

Mission

Engage our diverse community, cultivate a harmonious sense of place, and enhance quality of life.

Vision

WBC CDC creates and supports solutions to meet the evolving needs of middle market neighborhoods.

Leadership

Laurence F. Campbell

Chairman

Tracy Evans

President

Larry C. Smith

Vice President

Astrina Calame

Treasurer

Kisha D. McCrae

Secretary

Kisha McCray is currently the Senior Manager of Academy Resources at the National Head Start Association (NHSA). With nearly two decades of experience, her journey in education began in 2005 as an Early Childhood teacher, and she has since devoted her career to enhancing the well-being of children and families within the community. Kisha found her passion for Head Start in 2007 and has held numerous leadership roles including Associate Executive Director.

Her expertise spans organizational development, strategic planning, and leadership, demonstrated through her impactful work with various organizations. She has also held other community-focused leadership roles, including Navy Respite Care Coordinator, Program Coordinator for Community Partnerships, and Vice President of Community Impact at the Maryland Food Bank, working across Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Kisha is also a social science adjunct professor, often integrating real-life community-based experience and systems thinking into her teaching.

In addition to her professional roles, Kisha is an active community volunteer. She previously contributed to the Maryland Head Start Association's public policy committee and served as Coordinator for the Maryland Health Managers Network. In 2019, she took on the role of Chairperson for the Baltimore County Tobacco Coalition, a position she held for four years, and she currently serves as secretary for the WBC Community Development Corporation.

Kisha’s dedication to leadership and advocacy is reflected in her achievements. She graduated from Leadership Baltimore County in 2019 and received the Daily Record's Leading Women Award that same year, followed by the Women Who Lead recognition in 2020. She holds a Program Design and Management Credential, completed the Yale School of Management’s Women’s Leadership Program, and is a graduate of the UCLA New Director Mentor Program. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. A self-care advocate and accomplished speaker, Kisha has delivered conference keynotes, multiple trainings, and is a TEDx speaker.

Kisha is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, as well as other professional and academic organizations including the National Association of Social Workers, the National Society of Leadership and Success, Phi Alpha Honor Society, and Phi Alpha Theta International Honor Society. She resides in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband and three children.

Don T. Bridges

Karen M. Forbes

Mereida Goodman

Donna Grigsby

Seema D. Iyer, PhD

Rita Fayall Presley

Robert E. Young

Billie Marie Malcolm

Jennifer V. Huggins

Leila Kohler-Frueh

Michael A. Gaines

Since 2016 Michael has served as the President/CEO of the BRIDGES Community Development Corporation. With experience in managing large commercial real estate portfolios, executing plans for multi-phased mixed-used development projects and planning for local economic development projects, it’s his vision to effectuate change in urban communities with an innovative mind set to foster revitalization and growth. With a focus on the Park Heights community, BRIDGES is undertaking projects to renovate vacant homes, build a community resource center to expand their food pantry and constructing an 83 unit affordable rental housing project with a total investment in projects of over $50 Million. In addition, BRIDGES is sponsoring programs to assist in the overall health and wellness residents in the Park Heights community in healthcare and student education.

In 2015 Michael joined the team at Trout Daniel & Associates (TDA), after distinguished service in the O’Malley Administration. TDA is a full service commercial real estate firm, specializing in leasing investment sales, consulting and property management. Michael’s focus has been in the area of investment sales and consulting.

In 2007 Michael was appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley to the position of Assistant Secretary for Real Estate for the Maryland Department of General Services (DGS). In this position, he was responsible for managing the State’s portfolio of nearly 11 million square feet of office space – owned and privately leased, the acquisition and disposition of real property and managing special projects around the State such as the $1.6 Billion Transit Oriented Development of State Center in Baltimore, $200 million relocation of the Public Health Lab to East Baltimore and the relocation of DHCD to Prince Georges County. Michael was appointed to this position to assist in leading the Real Estate division of DGS in a direction that would enhance the value-added services provided to State Agencies as well as finding new ways of leveraging State assets for value creation and economic development across the State and in local communities.

Before his appointment in 2007, Michael served as Senior Vice President of The ROC Realty Group, a private real estate brokerage. He was responsible for providing ROC’s clients with a variety of professional real estate advisory services including leasing, development and strategic planning. Michael joined ROC because of its commitment to the success of its clients through hard work and innovative approaches to problem solving. Michael is a seasoned leader with vision having lead organizations as small as 10 people to 120. While at ROC his experience proved beneficial in managing projects of various sizes and coordinating activities to meet client needs. Michael’s expertise in financial analysis, market and site analysis and real estate transactions enabled him to provide value added services to ROC’s clients.

Michael’s diverse career includes running a non-profit organization in 2001 funded by the Hoffberger Foundation to assist women leaving public assistance to receive job training and placement with local companies, including M&T Bank, The University of Maryland Hospital and Johns Hopkins. Under Michael’s leadership, the Maryland Center for Arts and Technology (MCAT) trained over 400 women and placing them in full-time jobs that paid family supporting wages and benefits. In addition to MCAT’s success in placing formerly unemployed women in full-time positions, under his leadership, the City of Baltimore participated in a national competition sponsored by the Hewlett Packard Corporation to fund technology grants to Cities that would assist in bridging the digital divide. Under Michael’s leadership and collaborative efforts of Mayor Martin O’Malley’s administration, the City was awarded a $5 Million grant to close the digital divide in underserved communities.

In the late 90’s Michael served as Vice President/General Manager of The Rouse Company’s, Harborplace and The Gallery in Baltimore’s, famed Inner Harbor. He provided overall leadership and management for a mixed-use complex containing 300,000sf of retail, 265,000sf of office space, an eleven hundred car garage and 600 room Hotel. Considered a premier Rouse Company project, the center drew an estimated 15 million visitors per year. He directed a team and staff of 140 in marketing, operations (which includes engineering, maintenance, janitorial and security) and leasing with total operating budgets of over $35 million and retail sales of over $140 million. Michael led is team through a major $14.0 million renovation project of Harborplace which lead to increased sales for the center. His responsibilities included all phases of leasing, tenant coordination and property management. He successfully met the company’s financial goals while satisfying the needs of over 300 tenants.

Prior to joining The Rouse Company Michael served as the President and CEO of the Council for Economic and Business Opportunity, Inc. (CEBO) from 1990 to 1995. CEBO was a 31-year-old non-profit consulting organization whose mission was to provide economic and business development services for small businesses and community groups. He directed technical assistance and financing programs for small and minority businesses. Under his leadership, the organization:

established a healthcare business initiative that led to the creation of several minority owned firms, one with sales of $10 million per year;
lead the re-development effort for the Historic American Brewery Complex creating senior housing, retail and commercial space
assisted in the creation of a micro enterprise lending program which helped to start 10 new micro enterprises
the organization assisted over 50 firms in expanding or growing their businesses.

Michael’s career includes working for the Baltimore Development Corporation from 1985 to 1990 at which time it was named Baltimore Economic and Business Development (BEDCO), where he served as a Business Development Officer. In this position, he was responsible for assisting company’s with financing and providing consulting services. His efforts led to the expansion of Parks Sausages into the Park Circle Business Center and the growth of many businesses in Baltimore City.

Early in Michael’s career, in 1976, he and several partners launched a company to open and run several Subway Sandwich Franchise Stores. They opened the second franchise store in Baltimore in the 2500 Block of St Paul Street, which was actually the 75^th store operating in the Franchise Company’s early history, which now has more than 37,000 stores open worldwide. His company operated three stores and was responsible for initiating new product offerings like the Subway Salad.

He holds a B. S. degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he played football on athletic scholarship. He serves and has served on numerous boards and committees.

Rhonda Wilbon

Dr. Wilbon LCSW-C, LICSW, is a licensed clinical social worker, professor, author, and a certified John Maxwell Leadership Coach. She is currently serving as the acting chair of doctoral programs in the School of Social Work at Morgan State University, where she has been on faculty for over 28 years.

Dr. Wilbon’s research has progressively evolved to incorporate the role of technology within social work, as evidenced by her experience in developing a patent-pending mental health application and assisting community members in creating an app called "Fight Blight Baltimore," which identifies and targets blighted neighborhoods. The proposed research is a natural progression of her current projects at the Center of Equitable AI and Machine Learning Systems (MLS), where we explore the ethical implications of social workers using AI in decision-making processes and investigate how social work educators and students utilize AI. Dr. Wilbon began her career in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault. She’s been awarded over 2.5 million dollars to conduct research and evaluations in her areas of expertise. In 2019 she received a $300,000 grant from the US Department of Justice, Office of Violence Against Women to support the implementation of policies and procedures to address issues of violence on college campuses. A proven expert in interpersonal violence, she has served on the Advisory Board for The House of Ruth Maryland, the largest Domestic Violence Prevention Program in the State of Maryland, and as a contract therapist for the DC Rape Crisis Center, working with adult survivors of rape and child sexual abuse. Dr. Wilbon began her practice career as the Executive Director of a shelter program for battered women and their children in Arlington Virginia and Coordinator of the crisis hotline for the Howard County Sexual Assault Center in Maryland. It was during these intense practice experiences that she developed expertise in child maltreatment and sexual abuse and began her life-long commitment to helping adult survivors of sexual abuse and maltreatment. Her latest edited textbook, Trauma and Mental Health Social Work with Urban Populations: African Centered Clinical Interventions was released in January 2022. In 2015, Springer Publisher released her first edited textbook, Social Work Practice with African American’s in Urban Environments. She has served on the Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education, for the Council on Social Work Education.

In August 2022, she traveled to Dakar Senegal in West Africa as part of a team of mental health professionals to train physcians and medical students to use a mental health techinique called Brainspotting. In January 2018, she was selected to be part of a delegation from the State of Maryland USA, invited by the South African government, Division of Social Development, to develp the plans to meet the objectives of an MOU between the State of Maryland USA and the South African Government. As part of this project, she worked with the South African Division of Social Development to establish iniatives to strengthen social work programs across universities, strengthen child welfare systems, and helped establish protocals to address issues of substance use disorders. She currenlty serves as a peer reviewer for Southern African Journal of Social Work and Community Development. In November 2011 she was invited, by the Rev. Prof. Samuel K. Adjepong, the Principal of the Methodist University in Accra Ghana, to provide leadership and consultation for the development of social work programs at the Methodist University. In April 2012 she was invited to return as the opening Keynote for the International School Social Work Conference hosted by the University of Ghana at Legon.

A native of Flint Michigan, USA she has over thirty-eight years of professional social work experience and is a Full Professor in the Ph.D. Program in the School of Social Work at Morgan State University, where she served as the inaugural chair of the Masters in Social Work Program for over five years, leading the program through its’ initial accreditation process with the Council on Social Work Education. She has been on faculty at Morgan for twenty-four years and taught in the undergraduate, masters and PhD. Programs. She is currently assigned full time to the PhD Program and has chaired over 17 dissertation committees and served over 15 other committees. She teaches theory and a dissertation prep course.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Michigan State University and a Masters and Doctorate degree in Social Work from Howard University. She has served as the liaison for the Morgan State University Head Start Program. From December 2009 to March 2010, she hosted an on-line radio show “Real Talk” with Dr. Rhonda on Familynewsradio.com.

She has taught in the Afro-American Studies Program at the University of Maryland at College Park and in the MSW Program at Howard University. For over eight years, she was the Principal Investigator for a quality child care initiative grant to evaluate the quality of child care programs where she received over 1 million dollars in funding, through the District of Columbia, Department of Human Resources, Early Care and Education Administration. In 2000 she was appointed by Governor Parris Glendening to serve on the State of Maryland Judith P. Hoyer Blue Ribbon Commission for the Funding of Early Child Care and Education Programs; she is a past member of the United Way of Central Maryland Success By 6 Committee; and served on the State of Maryland Child Care Advisory Council from 1997-2001.

Dr. Wilbon is a Co-Founder and former Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Richard Wright Public Charter School for Journalism and Media Arts in the District of Columbia. She has a private psychotherapy practice in DC and Maryland specializing in work with survivors of trauma and couples/relationship counseling. In her private practice she specializes in creative approaches to help clients heal from life wounds. She is a Consulting Editor for Social Work, the top tier social work journal published by the National Association of Social Work.

She is the proud mother of Dr. Azaan Saalim Wilbon, who earned a PhD in Bio Chemistry at the Baylor Medical School in Houston, Spring 2023 and Dr. Jabari Jakada Wilbon, who earned Doctorate in Physical Therapy at the University of Maryland on the Eastern Shore in September 2023.

Expertise

Wholistic Wellness
Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse
Trauma
Healing from life wounds
Financial Wellness
Problem solving
Relationship Building
Mentoring
Team Building
Program Development
Curriculum Development
African Centered knowledge, theory and interventions
Quality Child Care
Popular Youth Culture
School Social Work
Community based academic programs
Discipline without physical punishment
Cultural competence
Child Abuse and neglect

Clinical Consultant

Rhonda Wilbon Consulting LLC (formerly Asili, Consultants, LLC)
Founder & CEO (January 2012-Present)

Provide Wholistic Wellness Consultation
Plan and Facilitate Healing Retreats for small and large groups
Private Clinical Therapeutic Practice, Washington DC & Maryland
Provide Psychotherapy for adults, adolescents, couples and families
Provide Clinical Supervision for clinicians working towards clinical hours

Contact Information

Email: drrhonda@gmail.com

Teddy Coates

Teddy is a Baltimore native who is passionate about helping people and supporting worthy causes. He willingly gives of his time. He offers sound financial guidance while using his unique abilities to help people, organizations, and businesses plan and execute positive change and impact.

Teddy feels blessed in so many ways and embraces the passage,

’ To whom much is given, much is required’.

Teddy proudly served his country for 6 years in the United States Navy. He has spent close to 34 years in the financial service field which included 9 years with SunTrust Bank, 5 years with Merrill Lynch as a Financial Advisor, and then 3 years with Newport Shores as a Mortgage Broker. He then served as the Financial Center Manager for more than 16 years managing and leading 7 different Financial Center over that period.

Teddy has consistently performed community related volunteer work. Teddy helped co-found the Greater Baltimore Leadership Association which is the Young Professional Auxiliary of The Greater Baltimore Urban League. He also served (4 different terms) as President of Black Professional Men, Inc. – a non-profit mentoring organization that is dedicated to ‘Ensuring the Future of the African American Male’.

Teddy has been consistently recognized for his works and has received numerous awards as well as being inducted and included in the 2010 Inaugural Edition of ‘Who’s Who in Black Baltimore’.

Teddy has served on numerous boards such as ‘Echo-House Multi Service Center’, a substance abuse intervention organization and ‘A Step Forward’, an organization providing counseling and transitional housing. He was also a key member of the Maryland United Way Fund Allocation panel. For 20 years, he also served as the President for Coates Unlimited
which is his family’s unity and scholarship organization. In 2013, Teddy, a 1985 Poly Grad, was selected to serve on the board of The Baltimore Polytechnic Institute Foundation Board and in 2015, he joined the Board of Baltimore Healthy Start, Inc.

Teddy resides in Owings Mills, Maryland and is blessed to have four children, Teddy Coates II, Brandy Coates, Jasmine Coates, and Caleb Coates.

Finally, Teddy shares a message of gratefulness “I give all that I am through the blessing and grace of God. I thank my mother, my family, and those key people along the way who gave me both a solid foundation and the blue print of how and what a person of good character should be. I am constantly looking for ways to improve myself, those around me, and the communities that I serve.”

Teddy Coates – teddycoates@aol.com, 443-803-8767