JTIE History & Committee
History
Inclusive Excellence Boone County intentionally fosters equity, diversity, and inclusion by creating educational experiences, raising awareness and providing training and strategies to bring together a community committed to inclusive excellence.
Inclusive Excellence Boone County was created to be a catalyst for positive change, and since our beginnings in 2017, we’ve been driven by the same ideas we were initially founded on: bringing people together for collaboration, addressing implicit biases, and facilitating change in our community.
This initiative is directed at everyone in the community.
The committee formed following a presentation focusing on implicit bias observed in expulsion rates in early childcare centers. Attendants requested a follow-up event centered around local data and strategies to address implicit bias in our community. The committee's goal: facilitate change through collaboration.
Coming together from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, our skilled team of professionals is the backbone of Inclusive Excellence Boone County. Their ideas help shape the direction and mission of our organization as it continues to develop.
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D’Andre Thompson (He/Him/His)
D’Andre Thompson is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Administrator with the City of Columbia in the City Manager’s Office. He also considers himself to be a social activist who is regularly involved in community initiatives advocating for the inclusion of diverse perspectives in developing a thriving and welcoming community. He is a graduate of both the University of Missouri-Columbia and Columbia College with degrees in General Studies and Business Administration (MBA) respectively. His commitment to the community of Columbia and Boone County is evident through his acts of community service and engagement with populations that are most vulnerable and in need.
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Hilary Aid (She/They)
As a children's librarian at the Daniel Boone Regional Library, I connect members of our community to one another and to local resources. Serving on the JTIE committee gives me a truer vision of the many members of our diverse community, which challenges me to grow personally and professionally.
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Lauren Williams (She/Her/Hers)
Daniel Boone Regional Library
Libraries provide access to information and welcoming spaces for all people - inclusion is a foundational value of my profession and informs my work as Adult and Community Services Manager. I'm dedicated to the Journey's work because I want to be a part of creating a community where everyone can thrive. -
Alejandra Gudino (She/Her/Hers)
I center my work on inclusion and equity around the vision of connecting with each other to honor and celebrate our stories, to lead and hold space to grow, and to “exist” in our diversities. I am a DEI consultant.
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Fontella Jackmon-Jones (She/Her/Hers)
Fontella Jackmon-Jones is the Community Employment Manager & Work Incentive Practitioner at Woodhaven. She is passionate about learning and expanding her knowledge of disability services related to competitive, integrated employment in the community. Fontella is dedicated to promoting cultural understanding and embracing diverse perspectives and talents, fostering inclusivity.
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Kerby Webb
Kerby Webb is the Program Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Specialist with the Boone County Community Services Department. Her work involves the administrative support of the Boone County Children’s Services Fund and Domestic Violence Fund, with an emphasis on equitably inclusive solutions for the County’s funded agencies and programs. She is also involved in the Boone County Upward Mobility project which convenes stakeholders, policymakers, and community members around the idea that everyone deserves the chance to improve their lives and economic well-being, to be valued and feel like they belong, and to have power and autonomy.