Black History Month 2010

Areva Martin

Areva Martin is president and founder of Special Needs Network, Inc. (SNN), a non-profit launched to support families with special-needs children. A graduate of Chicago University and Harvard Law School, she is also a managing partner of Martin & Martin, LLP, which is recognized as one of the premiere African-American, woman-owned law firms in Los Angeles. Through grassroots outreach programs, SNN has created significant gains in the quality of diagnosis and treatment options available to thousands of families of special-needs children in South Los Angeles. The families that have benefited from SNN's efforts include Ms. Martin's own family, as her youngest son is autistic. SNN has received commendations from the U.S. Congress, mayors, county supervisors and the city's top leaders. Ms. Martin has appeared on programs such as Fox News, NPR, and Court TV, and she has also contributed her expertise to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Redbook and Heart and Soul magazine. In 2010, Ms. Martin will oversee SNN's partnership with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital opening in South Los Angeles. Learn more.

Billy Mitchell

Fueled by a passion for jazz, Billy Mitchell serves as the executive director of a music program for at-risk youths that he created called the Scholarship Audition Performance Preparatory Academy (SAPPA). He founded SAPPA in 2002 to teach young, talented musicians to hone their musical skills in a professional atmosphere. SAPPA's success also came from helping students build character, self-esteem and discipline while encouraging excellence. Other groups took notice, and SAPPA eventually partnered with the Music Center Education Division, LAUSD's Beyond the Bell program, and the NAACP ACT-SO program. SAPPA's programs have earned Mr. Mitchell several awards, including the Pasadena Arts Council's "Gold Crown" award and America West's "Jazz for the Next Generation" award. Mr. Mitchell is also the music director of the Music Performance Academy, an international music network based in Alhambra, California. He plans to continue his advocacy during 2010 as the executive director of the newly formed Watts-Willowbrook Music Conservatory. Learn more.

Shonte Henderson

Shonte Henderson is a judicial assistant to Judge Leland Tipton of the Los Angeles County Superior Court in the Bellflower courthouse. With a master's degree in public administration and 20 years of experience, Ms. Henderson brings a strong knowledge of the judicial system to her position. However, her personal victory as a four-time breast cancer survivor and her fundraising efforts for breast cancer awareness and research affords her the greatest sense of pride in her accomplishments. Ms. Henderson is an avid breast cancer advocate and has helped raise more than $6,000 for breast cancer initiatives. As the leader of Team Shonte, she has helped raise $5,300 individually for Avon Breast Cancer Walks. An inspiration to those around her, Ms. Henderson was first diagnosed with breast cancer at the young age of 25 and has persevered with a passion to continue helping others through her example and fundraising efforts. Learn more.

Millicent Hill

After retiring from her 40-year profession as an LAUSD school teacher, Millicent "Mama" Hill continued to educate and empower the at-risk children who needed the most guidance in her community. Ms. Hill taught in many different capacities during her educational career: she was an English teacher, a counselor, and a mentor to many students. She was the driving force in creating and popularizing a special museum dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. at Crenshaw High School. Despite her own academic success, Mama Hill regretted the fact that so many of her students were victims of violent crime in the turbulent South Los Angeles neighborhoods in which she taught. In 2001, realizing that so many youths and their parents had no realistic venues to address the most distressing social and psychological problems plaguing their community, Mama Hill opened up her own home and started an after-school program. She now estimates that, as of the time that she began "Mama Hill's Help," that she has saved as many students as she had lost during her years of teaching. Learn more.

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