Our Board

Dennis Burroughs (Chair): Dennis was born and raised in the Black Bottom section of Philadelphia. Active with the Promise Zone since 2016, he has engaged in community work both in West Philadelphia and in the North. He is also a member of the Penn Advisory Board and the Baring Street Community. His greatest education is understanding the people whom he serves.

Rita Nelson (Secretary): Rita has been a West Powelton resident for over fifty years and is a member of Saunders Park/ West Powelton CDC. She became interested in community engaged research after attending PZRC meetings in 2018 and after working as a Promise Neighborhood Surveyor, where she really learned a lot about the community.

Jimmy Allen: Jimmy is the former executive director of the Mantua Community Planners, and former President of the Philadelphia Crime Prevention Association. He attended Temple University, where he earned a B.S. in Education, and where he was President of Veterans in Public Service. Currently, he is the outreach director of Management and Environmental Technologies Inc, and outreach coordinator for Mantua Civic Association and Promise Neighborhood Youth Committee. His greatest ambition is to improve the quality of life in his community, and to bridge the gap between communities, universities, hospitals, and companies.

Amy Carroll-Scott: Dr. Carroll-Scott is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health and Prevention at the Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding and addressing urban health inequities and underlying social inequities. This research consists of social epidemiological and mixed methods studies applied to the lived experience of urban neighborhoods and schools, and driven by community-based participatory research approaches.

Gweny Love: Gweny serves as the Executive Director of Mantua Worldwide Community, Inc, working on projects ranging from public health, the arts, to environmental sustainability. Her special areas of interest involve COVID-19 education and prevention, anti-violence and anti-gun violence prevention programming, youth gardening programs, cleanliness, and community beautification. She is an organizer of health, wellness, and chronic disease prevention programs when she is not a performing artist and poet, leader of afterschool programming, host, and moderator. 

Juanda Myles: Born and raised in Philadelphia, Juanda is a Citizen Planner who emphasizes sustainability, historical preservation and affordable housing. She is a community activist for good causes, an advocate for urban agriculture, and a professional volunteer. She has been with PZRC since its inception in 2014.

Sharon Nichols: Sharon is a resident of the community. She started attending Promise Zone Research Connection meetings in 2018 in the interest of community-based participatory research, in order to engage investigators to help ensure safe practices, integrity, and health of the community by following the guidelines for Human Subjects Research.

Hyden Terrell: Hyden is a community resident living in Belmont. She has worked for the Promise Neighborhood for five years and now works as a Data Lead for the organization. She also currently works for the Promise Zone as an Assistant Community Researcher and for the West Philly Community Power Academy as an Academy Associate. She has interviewed 16 Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) in Philadelphia about their protocols and standards for conducting studies in the West Philadelphia area. She is a skilled interviewer with a strong commitment to her neighborhood and the causes she stands for. She is an active member of several civic organizations, including the West Belmont Civic Association, the 16th District Police Department Advisory Council, and the Neighborhood Advisory Council as a block captain. She participates in the captain’s meeting and local community events.