Board of Directors

Chynna A. Phillips, MSW, MPH, is a former community organizer turned philanthropist with over a decade of nonprofit  experience and a professional career that tells a story of advocating for and alongside vulnerable populations. She is now the South Carolina Jurisdiction, Senior Advisor for Foster America, where she provides comprehensive support to SC Department of Social Services to build out their prevention initiatives. She began her career working for a school that equipped children who fall below the federal poverty guidelines with private education and work experience through a work-study program. She later served as a servant leader intern for the Children’s Defense Fund to aid in their efforts to dismantle the cradle-to-prison pipeline before continuing her career journey in South Carolina in community health, teaching students a health based youth curriculum in four different school districts within the Midlands. Ms. Phillips then worked her way up to the Senior Director of Policy and Research for a Foundation devoted to alleviating poverty within the state of South Carolina, where she led the Foundation’s public policy and advocacy work, collaborating with leadership to strategically set policy priorities, and bring awareness to systems-level poverty drivers.

Currently, Chynna acts as an advisory body member for the Cypress Fund, a political organizing home for North and South Carolina community members focused on building political power for marginalized communities. She also serves on the board of directors for the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, and the Richland County Public Education Partners. In partnership with her husband, Ms. Phillips is also a proud small business owner of Regal Lounge Men’s Barbershop and Spa, located in the heart of downtown Columbia, South Carolina. For her commitment to health equity Mrs. Phillips received the 2023 Gerry Sue Arnold Alumni Award from USC, Arnold School of Public Health. Nationally, her leadership was recognized as a 2022 Association of Black Funding Executives Fellow, statewide as the SC State Newspaper’s 2020 “Top 20 under 40, Young Adult Honorees”, and locally as the Columbia Business Monthly “Best and Brightest: 35 and Under” -Class of 2019. She is a graduate of Xavier University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and the University of South Carolina, where she obtained her Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work. She is a proud immigrant from Nassau, Bahamas, mom of one, loving wife, sister, and friend to many.

Skilled in policy analysis and stake-holder advocacy, Brenton is a professional committed to ensuring community growth and development. His leadership abilities have been utilized to make policy recommendations, programmatic evaluations, and research-based community advocacy initiatives.

In his current professional role, as Chief of Staff for the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs, Brenton provides strategic counsel to the agency's Executive Director and Board of Commissioners. In addition to providing strategic counsel, he oversees inter- and intra-agency projects and tasks, and create and maintain cross-departmental relationships to ensure success. Furthermore, Brenton is the agency’s governmental affairs and community advocacy liaison, which includes developing its legislative and policy agendas; and partnerships with other state agencies, federal agencies, elected officials, the business community, and community and civic organizations.

Brenton has demonstrated success in finding solutions for social, economic, and political issues, and experience solving organizational and situational challenges. Furthermore, he has extensive experience working as a liaison between program administrators and stakeholders to achieve demonstrable results and organizational improvement.

Other professional experience and abilities include public speaking and professional development facilitation, with a focus on the analysis of local ordinances, and state and federal rules, regulations, policies, and laws.

Amanda Loveday’s passion for meeting new people and building relationships is what has made her a powerhouse in politics and communications. A decade of experience in broadcast journalism and politics taught her the importance of getting to know the community and how to interact with people, especially those with different personalities and backgrounds.

Amanda graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and started her television career at Dateline NBC as an Assistant Producer in New York City. She moved back home to work with SCETV, the statewide PBS affiliate, on their successful Ready to Vote campaign, where she interviewed all 20 candidates for President during the 2008 election cycle, and the weekly news magazine program, The Big Picture. During her television tenure, Loveday covered the 2008 Presidential Republican and Democratic Primaries, the 2008 Democratic NationalConvention and even served as the emcee for then-Senator Barack Obama’s rally with Oprah Winfrey at Williams Brice Stadium. After spending time covering politics as a journalist, Amanda found her calling in politics and became more involved on a partisan level. She effectively managed campaigns from the statehouse level to the statewide level and served as the Executive Director of the South
Carolina Democratic Party. Prior to joining NP Strategy, Amanda served as the Communications Director to Majority Whip James E. Clyburn.

Amanda has been honored with The State Newspaper’s, “20 Under 40” award and has been named a “Top Political Influencer” by Campaigns and Elections Magazine. She also sits on numerous local boards including being appointed by Governor Henry McMaster to the State Election Commission, where she served until late 2019. During the 2020 election cycle, Amanda served as a senior advisor to Unite the Country, the pro-Biden SuperPac.

Michael C. Strange has over 30 years of experience in the banking and affordable housing industry. Currently, he served as the Executive Vice President for Community Development and Public Affairs. He has worked for Security Federal Bank for a total of eight (8) years, previously as a commercial lender. Previously, he served as Executive Director for TN Development, Columbia Housing Development and Eau Claire Development Corporations for the City of Columbia for eight years. All three entities are 501 c(3) affordable housing component units for the City of Columbia with combined assets totaling $19.5 million. In this role he was responsible for property management and development of multi-family housing, single-family housing for homeownership, home rentals and commercial development. He is certified as an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) with the National Development Council. His previous banking experience, all in commercial lending, includes Vice President at Security Federal Bank, VP at Wells Fargo and VP at Bank of America. He attended NC A&T State University with a concentration in Finance and is currently an active member in the South Carolina Association of Community Economic Development, National Development Council and the International Economic Developers Council. Michael also currently serves as Youth Leader for The Brook Church. He is married to Gilbrina Strange and they have two children Christian and Jordan.

Morgan Boykin has a passion for educational program design, community engagement and fundraising strategies to marry the two. She has experience in the public-school setting and non-profit sector. She has led efforts to develop programming
through community-based partnerships and volunteer engagement. Her career began in education in Richland Two School District. She later joined Girl Scouts of South Carolina as manager of program delivery with responsibility for community partnership cultivation, volunteer management, and STEM curriculum development. There she oversaw program delivery for 22 counties in South Carolina with regards to quality specifications, staff delivery and risk management. She excelled in planning large-scale engagement opportunities designed to provide students meaningful resources and connections. She later joined the Carolina Youth Coalition in Charlotte, North Carolina, as Director of Community Programs  and Engagement, overseeing student recruitment, programming, and community partnerships.  Guided by the belief that every person deserves an equal opportunity for success, Morgan maintains active memberships in community organizations with similar missions, including Junior League and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She serves as a board member with PITCH803, Inc. , The DREAMS Foundation , The Southeastern Professional School of The Arts and on The Palmetto Club Social Committee . In her spare time, Morgan enjoys traveling with her family exploring international destinations and tailgating Clemson football games.

Dr. Jabari Bodrick is a community-engaged educator who is passionate about creating educational environments where students can learn within and beyond traditional classroom settings.  He is committed to empowering historically marginalized populations and doing his part to create a more equitable society. Jabari has over 10 years of experience working at institutions of higher education. He earned his bachelor's degree at Florida A&M University, his master’s degree at the University of South Florida, and his Ph.D. at the University of Georgia. At United Way of the Midlands, Jabari oversees Young Men United and the Midlands Reading Consortium.

Dr. Aditi Bussells is a public health expert dedicated to fostering socio-emotional well-being for children and families. With a background in risk behavior prevention, child maltreatment prevention, and reducing health disparities, she has worked in state government and now serves on Columbia City Council. Dr. Bussells chairs the Taskforce to Prevent and End Homelessness and is vice chair of the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board, overseeing significant investments to combat public health crises. A first-generation American and the first South Asian American woman elected to the Columbia City Council, her work is deeply rooted in her family's experience as immigrants and her commitment to equity and community wellness.

Khali Gallman, born and reared in Columbia, South Carolina, is a public relations and marketing consultant, author, and licensed Realtor with Yip Premier Real Estate,LLC. She is the owner of Epitome. LLC, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in website, app, and small business development. A cum laude graduate of the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University, Khali received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with concentrations in Management and Marketing. She received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. She is also a 2011 graduate of Leadership Columbia, a program through the Columbia Chamber of Commerce dedicated to developing and engaging leaders in Columbia, South Carolina.Khali is the organizer of 803 Day, FYPColumbia (Find Your Place), Black Eats Week 803, and the SC HBCU 5K Run/Walk. She is also the creator of the Soda City Certified® (SCC) and formerly the Not Just Spring Break® (NJSB) mobile apps. SCC promotes restaurants, businesses, events, and attractions in Columbia, South Carolina. She is also the author of Good on Paper, Great in Person, a guide to assist new workforce entrants.