Kristina Cross Tatum is the President, CEO & Founder of Kimmie's Place of Love, Joy & Peace Inc. NFP. Growing up on the southside of Chicago she attended Dixon Elementary and Mother McAuley High School. Kristina began her acts of service at a young age with her involvement with the Southside Girl Scout Council and Junior Rotary club. In college she continued her acts of services by becoming a member of Alpha Phi Omega ( National Service Fraternity), President of the Black Student Organization, and member of ALPHA which was a mentoring programming that supported young African American female students excel in their studies their freshman year of college. Kristina then earned her Undergraduate degree at McKendree University with a BA in Social Work and a Minor in Psychology. 

After graduation, Kristina joined the NABSW and began her 6 years of service in the non-profit world with the YMCA. She had various roles surrounding operations and team management. Her specialization was in standardizing programs and forecast management for budget options in the organization. With her role in the last few years with the YMCA she began her focus on culture development and community engagement. Kristina developed strategies for staff development where she was selected to speak at Regional conferences for Leadership and succession planning.

Kristina's passion for black mental health and her understanding of the lack of programs for her community motivated her involvement in researching resources and accessibility in black communities. With her experiences in the corporate non-profit sector, Kristina understood the needs of organizational change and development in order to run programs in the Chicago area.  In her past roles she developed relationships with many social services to provide resources for individuals who suffered from domestic abuse and home insecurities.

With her commitment to Community Impact and Engagement Kristina has developed the research based curriculum for comprehensive services for women and their children who suffer from domestic & substance abuse. The tragic loss of her aunt and the dissatisfaction of the resources she was given during her substance abuse relapse was unacceptable for Kristina's understanding of quality care. Kristina believes in basic resources not being a barrier, that everyone should have access to. It is her goal and mission to create a program that provides full circle care that helps women overcome their trauma and unfortunate circumstances.

Alexondria Randell is Quality Assurance Manager for an international airline caterer at Chicago’s O’Hare National Airport.  Ms. Randell has been in her current position for 2 years but has served in the food and beverage industry for over 7 years. Prior to her entry to her career, she received her Bachelor of Business Administration in the field of Management. Inclusive of her 4-year degree, she is a certified Food and Safety manager for the state of Illinois, City of Chicago, and is a Certified Auditor of FSSC and ISO 22000 processing internationally.  With these tools under her belt she has assisted the company in receiving awards for Best Food Quality (Cathay Airlines) and Best Food Safety Standard (Cathay Airlines and Qatar Airlines) since she has been in the industry. 

Alex not only has a passion for food but also is for expanding the minds of the people she encounters on a daily basis.  During her career in food service, she has managed and trained over 300 employees throughout the United States.  She receives pure joy from teaching people skills from different cultures, ages, and backgrounds and seeing them put to use in their personal lives as well.  When she is not devoting her time to food quality, Ms. Randell devotes hours of service to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to help feed as main families in need  but also devotes time to providing hot meals to the homeless within the city.

Why Kimmie’s Place? Alex chose Kimmie’s Place for its ability to help women and children THOROUGHLY.   Too many times do we see people help for a moment but most of the problems will not simply be fixed by giving one meal and 2 days of shelter to fix issues that have been created over time.  I believe in the extensive programming (mental health counseling, job training, financial literacy...etc) that Kimmie’s place provides so that these women and children will not have to step back into the noxious conditions in which they have been left behind. 

As a final point, Alexondria has joined the board for KPLJP so that she can assist in sustaining the vision and mission with her knowledge and experience of communication on an inclusive platform.

Melanie Jefferies, PMP is the Director of Global Development at Milhouse Engineering and Construction, Inc. Accountable for revenue, sector P&L, and acquiring of financing for real estate deals across the United States and Bermuda.  Melanie is responsible for creating, imagining, controlling and orchestrating developments deals across seven markets, managing a diverse portfolio of real estate worth over $30 Million in revenue.

Melanie has over 6 years of A&E industry business leadership experience, having lead many projects and departments to success. During her career she built a reputation for operational excellence, innovative and solutions based problem solving, with a focus on diversity and inclusion of black people and women of color in male-lead industries.

 Melanie is excited to join the board of Kimmie’s Place. Other than her personal life long friendship and support for the President/CEO, she believes that women, especially those of color go through unique challenges. Many in which set them back way below men and women of any race. She believe that a safe space like Kimmie’s Place will help women find a path back to successful livelihoods for themselves and their children.