Zion EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP bios

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With 20+ years of experience in psychology working with and in the state of Arizona, Erick D. Pearson is a leader in many ways. As a wise and compassionate voice for advocacy, Erick is a co-founder of Zion Institute. 

Erick  is an esteemed graduate of Graduate of Clark Atlanta University (HBCU) and is a pledge to Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. 

Erick has more than 20 years with City of Phoenix Park and Recreation Department, primarily focused on Eastlake Park, he also serves as a sports coach, mentor, and guide for community youth. 

Erick is an active member of the South Phoenix and Phoenix metropolitan-area  communities with 15+ years serving as Deacon and teacher in AZ jurisdiction, Church of God in Christ.

Zion Institute Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Shawn Pearson leads the organization's new business development in the nonprofit space with asset mapping, strategic planning, public speaking, and tenacious leadership.

Shawn encourages strategic development and operations for Zion Institute as a social enterprise leveraging new partners / new business development; organizational development and training for micro enterprise businesses; technical writing and proposal preparation; leader training; team organizing for strategic community initiatives. 

Shawn is an advocate for learning and personal growth and has attended the Entrepreneur Academy in San Diego, CA, attended the University of Phoenix, holds a leadership certification from the African American Leadership Institute, handhelds an MBA form the University of Roehampton for business, management, marketing, and support services. 

Meet Zion institute's COO. Mr. Williams has has blazed his own path and has been an accomplished entrepreneur since 1992. This fire for following your personal calling and being a self-made man is a powerful nod to Richard's leadership and vision.

Mr. Williams is an advocate for fitness, health, and wellness. Healthy longevity is a long-time passion and has long been a focus for Richard over his life. 

He started Will to Win Fitness, in 1992 was the owner and operator of Silver Stand Fitness 2000. 

He then formed Supercom, Inc, a wireless communication company in 2002. His work in the wireless industry was centered around acquiring wireless cell site leases and helped facilitate the mergers of Alltel and Verizon as well as T-Mobile and Nextel.

Later, he formed Will to Win LLC , a life coaching business focusing on mentoring and helping young men make better life choices

Dr. Leolani Ah Quin, is a doctor of behavioral health and licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience across the criminal justice, education, tribal, and behavioral health diaspora. Dr. Ah Quin serves as the Clinical Director for The Zion Institute. 

As a trained provider in integrated behavioral health, she is redefining the department’s provision of services and laying the foundation for fully integrated behavioral health in a primary care clinic.

A graduate of the University of Hawaii-Hilo with a degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice, with a Master of Social Work degree at Arizona State University while working for a tribal community with services and care to domestic abuse victims. 

She also has extensive experience working in acute care inpatient psychiatric facilities. She is a Robert Woods Johnson – Clinical Scholar Alumni and was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Native Children as a rep for Native Hawaiian youth.  

An accomplished experienced coach, educator, and athlete, Kelli Johnson has earned the respect of colleagues, clients, administrators, students, teammates, and parents over 37 years of teaching, facilitating, and coaching. She was a public-school educator in California and Arizona for 27 years. Ms. Johnson earned her Liberal Arts degree at Pepperdine University. A certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and have certifications in Diversity Education & Inclusion in the Workplace, and Ethical Leadership.

As an Executive Coach, Virtual and in-person 1:1 and Team Personal Leadership Coaching for Administrators and Leadership Teams for the purpose of unlocking potential and achieving personal and organizational goals. Client-Coach partnerships that focuses on strengthening leadership capacity. 

In her role with Zion Kelli is the Education Leadership Coach, Kelli develops and manages the delivery of meaningful learning experiences for all audiences and consumers of the Zion Preschool Excellence Model and After the Bell Program Model for advancing the Zion’s mission of furthering educational excellence.

Jeannine (Dandridge) Hinds, MD is a physician, minister, and entrepreneur as well as a family medicine practitioner with HonorHealth™. 

Dr. Hinds’ entrepreneurial passions include the launching of her non-profits; Oasis Ministries® and TinyHouseDoc®, through which she offers faith-based community services and mobile healthcare to the homeless, veterans, and at-risk youth in Phoenix and the surrounding areas who have limited access to healthcare. 

A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago as a Doctor of Medicine (MD), Jeannine also studied at Northwestern University with Bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Pre-Med, becoming a board-certified Family Medicine Physician in 2013. 

Jeannine lends her valuable expertise as a medical practitioner to Zion’s Board of Directors to help guide the needs and medical imperatives that help Zion’s community clinic thrive.

A proven Early Education professional for over 20 years, Ms. Thomas has had the pleasure of working as an infant, toddler, and preschool teacher as well as a before and after school program assistant. In 2020 she became a Center Director catapulting into a leadership role where she embraced a multitude of responsibilities. 

Her motivation for being in the childcare field comes from her passion and love for working with children.  

Through years of experience and challenges she's gained invaluable knowledge about early childhood education which has shaped her vision to ensure quality programming is implemented at Zion Early Learning Academy.

Her mission is to create a premier learning environment where the children and teachers thrive together to create a shared vision of excellence. She believes in collaborates with and involves the teachers, parents, and children in the decision-making process which creates a fun and stimulating environment where learning can take place in all forms.

Harold G. Branch III began his work with youth and communities of need over 25 years ago. He is a proud graduate of Maricopa community colleges who also earned a B.S. in Communication, M.S. in Coaching Psychology, & is currently pursuing a PhD. in Performance Psychology. 

Harold’s contributions to the Phoenix community has been recognized in the 2015 edition of ‘The State of Black Arizona’, as City of Scottsdale MLK Dinnerceremony guest speaker,Phoenix’s Martin Luther King, Jr ‘Living the Dream’ award recipient, and Universal Learning Centre’s ‘Courage in Learning Award’inaugural recipient. 

The Michigan Board of Education included him in their 2016 list of ‘100 African American Males You Should Know’and his skills took him to Ghana under a month-long Fulbright-Hayes Fellowshipas an artistic cultural ambassador.

Harold is also a board member for the Scottsdale Police Department’s Use of Force and Major Incident review boards.

Boyd proudly  brings more than 30 years of construction and carpentry experience and expertise to members of Zion Institute's community. His deep skills and talent to see the possibilities of building spaces for community, Boyd maintains campus facilities, trains in workforce development, and offers mentorship to young men. 

Boyd is an esteemed graduate of Spirit of Excellence Business Training. 

Owner of His Perfect Will(H.P.W.) Holdings, LLC, which offers Zion's Gifted Hands carpentry apprenticeship program for young men to hep them learn valuable trade skills and understand how to properly work with their hands and helps others embrace the value of the professional and spiritual benefits of construction.