Our Team

We are led by a dedicated team of professionals and volunteers who have an affinity for the Southeast
Raleigh community. Some currently live in Southeast Raleigh, grew up in Southeast Raleigh, and have family
who live in Southeast Raleigh or are connected through partnerships and service to the community.

Staff

Yvette-Holmes
Yvette Holmes

Yvette Holmes

Yvette serves as the CEO for Southeast Raleigh Promise. In her role, Yvette is responsible for leading a highly effective and dedicated team of professionals and overseeing the fiscal and operational management of the organization. As CEO of a quarterback organization, Yvette’s work involves shaping and leading strategies, attracting and leveraging investment, building relationships with residents and the community, and cultivating cross-sector partnerships to improve the quality of life and create opportunities for Southeast Raleigh residents, small businesses and non-profits. As a thoughtful leader, Yvette comes to SERP with over 30 years of experience as a nonprofit administrator, fund raiser, and public and civic engagement specialist.

As a resident of Southeast Raleigh for over 20 years, Yvette has been instrumental in providing leadership and technical support in the start-up and growth of small non-profits and community-based coalitions focused on improving neighborhoods and addressing the needs of residents. Yvette cares deeply about issues and inequities impacting residents of Southeast Raleigh and views SERP as the conduit through which impactful solutions can be identified and implemented.

Yvette attended Morgan State University, where she majored in Computer Science. She later completed her undergraduate studies at William Peace University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She returned to her HBCU roots where she earned an Executive Master of Public Administration degree from North Carolina Central University. Yvette is a Goodmon Fellow and in 2022, was selected as a Triangle Business Journal Peak 25 inaugeral honoree. Yvette is married and has three sons and three granddaughters. She enjoys spending time with family, creative writing, and trips to the beach. She believes in hopeful possibilities and in the promise that we hold as individuals and as a community.

CEO

Renada Jackson (1)
Renada Jackson

Renada Jackson

Renada Jackson serves as Office Manager with Southeast Raleigh Promise. She is a native of North Carolina and is pursuing a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a focus on Project Management at Liberty University. Renada has 5 years of administrative experience, but has also been an advocate for change. Over the years, Renada has expressed her passion for giving back to her community by bringing awareness to issues such as domestic violence and being involved with various community-based organizations. In her free time, Renada loves being with her children. She loves attending her children’s’ sporting events, serving in leadership at her church, and the beach. She also has a green thumb when it comes to indoor plants.

Office Manager

Photo Coming Soon
Open Position

Resident Services & Engagement Coordinator

Charles_SERP
Charles McCall

Charles McCall

Charles is a native of North Carolina who has had a passion for helping others since he was young. He is a strong advocate for racial equality, social justice, and inclusion.

He has more than 10 years in human services, economic development, social work, system change, and non-profit leadership. In his former roles, he has partnered with various organizations in the private and public sectors to evaluate, initiate and implement initiatives for the people he has served.

In his role with Southeast Raleigh Promise, he will focus on seeking out new alliances with the goal of improving the quality of life for Southeast Raleigh residents.

Director of Community Partnerships & Engagement

Christy Austin (1)
Christy Austin

Christy Austin

Bio coming soon.

Director of Finance and Operations

Richard Johnson03
Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson

Born and raised in Raleigh, Richard brings more than two decades of experience in the nonprofit realm to the table. He's a proud alum of Enloe High School and North Carolina Central University, which paved the way for his initial role as a District Executive for the Boy Scouts of America in Florence, SC. His career path took him to Newport News, VA, and Wilmington, DE, where he undertook the responsibility of steering annual fundraising and capital campaigns. After moving back to Raleigh, Richard contributed his expertise to the Institutional Advancement office of NCCU and held the position of Development Director for the Community Music School. Growing up in Southeast Raleigh has inspired him to join Southeast Raleigh Promise, an opportunity that combines his professional skills with his sincere passion.

Director of Resource Development

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Brenda Williamson

Brenda Williamson

Brenda Sutton Williamson, a social and political activist, believes that adversities in one’s life are merely challenges. A 1982 graduate of Shaw University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in public administration and a Masters of Adult Education degree from North Carolina State University, says that “controversy and challenges are nothing new – it’s been my life story”. One of her major challenges was to receive a degree while working full-time and raising a child. She kept hearing that she did not have the formal education when applying for various promotional opportunities. Brenda decided to get the piece of paper so that excuse could no longer be used. In 1980 she was recognized as recipient of a “Career Development Award,” North Carolina’s First Tribute to Minority Women. Graduation and a promotional opportunity coincided. She was promoted to the position of Human Relations Specialist/Investigator. During her 35 years of public service included Investigating Employment and Housing Discrimination; advocating/working with domestic violence victims; promoting health and wellness checkups for children; and has served as an Assistant Director, Senior Policy Associate, and Program Manager within the Divisions of Workforce Development and Vocational Rehabilitation. She planned, developed and coordinated a Homeownership Training Institute for First Time Home Buyers at Saint Augustine’s University, a HUD/HBCU Grant Program. Brenda worked with non-profits organizations in public policy and advocacy, concentrating in areas that impacted women and their families and has also served as a Substitute Teacher. She has been active in politics on the local and state level -- she says and believes “that politics affects every aspect of our lives whether one believes it or not”. She served as a voter registration commissioner for four terms. Brenda has been active in community, civic, and church activities, worked with youth on various projects, including the P.H.D. Program (Positive Human Development) at the high school level, served as a facilitator for TAPP (Task Force on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention) sponsored by her church. She served as a member of various Task Forces, on Enloe High School PTSA board, various City of Raleigh Advisory Committees and Boards, former President, Shaw University/Raleigh Wake Alumni Chapter, and Raleigh Wake Citizens Association (RWCA), and has served on numerous local, state and national boards. Brenda is a Fellow of the NC Institute of Political Leadership and the NC Rural Economic Development Institute. Brenda is a native of LaGrange, NC and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, has been a resident of Raleigh for 52 years, and has lived in Southeast Raleigh for 51 years. She is the proud mother of a daughter, who teaches special education, a son-in-love who is an education administrator and three adult granddaughters and a teenage grandson who live in the Houston, TX area.

Community Relations Ambassador

Board of Directors

This initiative takes strong leadership, unprecedented partnerships and strong support from community leaders and organizations. Our Board of Directors are vital to reaching our goals.

Ben Young, Chair
Biogen

Sondra Collins, Vice Chair
North State Bank

Jon Mills, Secretary
YMCA of the Triangle

Crawford Crenshaw, Treasurer
Founder, HomeReach

Asa Fleming
Allen Tate Realtors

Mia Bailey
Charter Communications

Thomas Bradshaw, Jr.
Retired, Real Estate Development

Evan Covington Chavez
Capitol Broadcasting/Rocky Mount Mills

Courtney Crowder
APCO Worldwide

Barry Malone
Wake Tech Community College

Maria Spaulding
Retired, Wake County

Astrid Taylor
Truist Bank