About

Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving yoru community and world better than you found it. Marian Wright Edelman

I have given Duluth, the region, and the state of Minnesota more than 35 years of volunteer service in support of making our part of the country the best it can be for all of its citizens.

Some of my local and statewide work has included serving on numerous committees within ISD 709 for the hiring of executive-level positions, equity-based education, and more; being developer, senior producer, and host of the “People of Color with Henry Banks Show;” and serving as moderator and facilitator of Opportunity Starts at Home-MN. I’ve also been a cultural consultant for In Black Ink, a consultant for the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage; an instructor and facilitator for the University for Seniors educational program at UMD; vice president for the Duluth Transit Authority; founder and first co-chair of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial; former president for the Damiano Center of Duluth; a graduate of the Blandin Community Leadership Program; a graduate of a program at the Move the Mountain Leadership Center in Phoenix; a nationally certified anti-racism educator; and a trainer and organizer through Crossroads Chicago and the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond in New Orleans.