is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), and Registered Nurse (RN), with 27 years of experience as a health care professional. Her initial exposure to health care was as a RN in dialysis and critical care settings in the Bahamas for five years. After undergraduate studies in social work at Texas Christian University, Rosena worked for three years in St. Louis, Missouri as a community-based social worker assisting mental retardation-affected adults develop independent living skills. She returned to Fort Worth in 1988 and spent the next eight years as a medical social worker in acute care and mental health settings prior to functioning as a social work educator at Texas Woman’s University for eight years. She has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Social Work and is a candidate for the Ph. D. in Health Education at Texas Woman’s University.

For the last two and a half years, Rosena has been employed in Community Health research, Quality Management, or Health Education positions in Home Health Care and university settings. She is currently employed as Quality Management Director to Apex Home Health Care and as a Research Associate with TWU, to assist the Texas Statewide Coordinated Statement of Need Committee, as they develop HIV/AIDS Initiatives in the State of Texas.

Rosena has served as a volunteer for the Sickle Cell Association, member of the Circle T Council for Girl Scouting Board of Directors for six years, and as a member of the Inaugural Executive Committee of the Black Alumni Alliance at Texas Christian University. She comes to GPRC to help with GPRC's youth leadership program that is geared toward bridging inner city youth from the Fort Worth and Denver areas with their Native American counterparts in the Great Plains Region.

Rosena Clarke-Turner is co-parent to two beautiful children, Valencia, 10 and Jay Edward, 7. She enjoys music and singing and one of her greatest joys is Kindergarten choir at First United Methodist Church with some 20 kids on a Sunday morning.

“Both the development of such a program and the leadership training focus, as the kids become ecosystem participants and are challenged to use self-help initiatives to care for themselves, their community, and the environment, are critical components of making the Buffalo Commons a practical reality.”

with his wife Deborah, wrote the article "The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust" (Planning, December, 1987) which put forward the controversial Buffalo Commons thesis that has stimulated national debate about the future of the Great Plains. The Poppers' continuing Buffalo Commons work received the American Geographical Society's Paul Vouras Medal for regional geography in 1997, when Frank also received the Rutgers Presidential Award for Distinguished Public Service. Frank holds both a masters and doctorate degree from Harvard.

“I can never think of my favorite time or place in the Plains. The gunmetal skies of North Dakota winter mornings, June noons with the Kansas hills in glistening bloom, the somber-serene horizons of Staked Plains Texas any time of year – who could choose among these or any other forty choices the Plains always offers? One of the fine things about America is how it often gives you second, third, and fourteenth chances. The Buffalo Commons is a wonderful example. It is part proposal, part metaphor for a long-term series of land-use changes, and an appeal for rethinking Plains possibilities. We want to offer something to the people of the Plains, not take something away.”

Dr. Popper's Bio at Rutgers University
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

a Port Arthur, TX native, is a commercially successful artist and youth mentor who is very concerned with the state of health of our communities and the environment. She is particularly interested in the healing communication offered by art and compassion. Her work consists mainly of collages influenced with cubism. Color, texture and shape are the core of her collages. Inspired by images that she sees in her sleep, Evita translates these visions through mixed media, with various handmade papers, acrylic paints and found objects. Pulling from experiences and children's stories, she creates whimsical images that provoke laughter and also enrich the soul. Her work has been commissioned for the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, Dallas' Deep Ellum Film Festival, the 30th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the 2000 Daimler Chrysler calendar, and is sought by many in the entertainment and media industries as well as the homes of professional football and basketball players.

Evita mentors teenage girls who need help and direction and come from broken families. She takes these young women under her wing and works with them long term. Evita is a vegan member of the Black Vegetarian Society of Texas, and also a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Evita Tezeno graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas in 1984. Evita is helping GPRC network, raise funds, produce public and media awareness, and implement program work, as well as use the power or art and creativity in projects helping move the Buffalo Commons movement, and youth involvement in that, forward.

“Creativity is a noble word, like justice, or compassion. Its essence is a basic component of right living, for it is nothing less that a love of learning, a love of action, an echo of God’s creative power. Art in all of its many forms makes me feel connected to something grand. Exuberant movement and rotating images imply energy and space beyond boundaries of the applied surface.”

“Life as we now know it may be very chaotic, but if we concentrate on the little things, an open field, a small prairie dog, a beautiful sunset... if we work together to keep the things of Nature safe it would make this chaotic existence a little more pleasant. The Buffalo Commons project is one of these
components to a peaceful existence.”

www.evitatezeno.com

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Jarid Manos is author of Ghetto Plainsman, and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Great Plains Restoration Council. He has been published or written about in the New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Denver Post, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, USA Today, Smithsonian, Congressional Quarterly, Houston Chronicle, Albuquerque Journal, Grist, Yes! and many others, and is a featured guest speaker nationwide, having spoken at churches, organizations, rallies, conferences, businesses, chambers of commerce, and schools and universities, including MIT. He is also a health advocate and youth worker. Through his guidance, GPRC has helped found the new Ecological Health movement which helps young people heal themselves through healing our shattered prairies and plains. A vegan athlete, he also serves on the Board of Directors of the Black Vegetarian Society of Texas. Mr. Manos resides in Fort Worth and Houston, Texas, and he and Karla are parents to 11 year old Kaiden. Ghetto Plainsman is his first book.

Andetra Fennie is Executive Director of Great Plains Restoration Council. With a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix-Houston, she manages all aspects of GPRC's business operations. She also holds a teaching certificate in early childhood education. Originally from Houston, TX, she joined GPRC in 2008, having previously worked at House of Blues in Los Angeles, and  as a special needs educator at Varnett Charter Schools in Houston. Working with GPRC allows her to combine her passion for rigorous business leadership with service to others. Andetra is committed to helping people understand the importance of the ecological crisis and to become more active and responsible for solutions that ultimately support their own health as well.

Lorenzo Wilborn, GPRC Youth Director, has several years experience working with children in a diverse range of settings. A graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, specializing in Outdoor Education, he has had the pleasure of working with summer camps as an instructor for multiple activities such as rock climbing, canoeing, and rappelling. He served in the United States Army as a medic for three years before returning to finish his degree.

He began his teaching career in the Houston Independent School District for Camp Olympia Outdoor Education Center. He reports: “This unique environment allowed us to teach different subjects for the fifth graders who would stay with us for a week in cabins and use the outdoors instead of a classroom.

“I believe that student involvement in their own learning process is crucial. Therefore, I am a strong advocate for hands on learning. I hope to positively impact children with a desire to accumulate knowledge and to make learning an enjoyable experience.”

Lenon Phillips is the Physical Education and Health teacher, as well as the lead coach for the athletics program at Metro Academy of Arts of Science. Originally from Waco, Texas, he attended Baylor University where he received a B.A. degree in Sociology. He chose to pursue a Sociology degree because he has an interest in finding ways to understand society, and helping our youth function within it.

Lenon is currently in the process of attaining his teacher certification through the Texas Teachers program. He will be eligible to receive his full teaching certification this year in Physical Education. He plans to obtain a Masters in Education in order to continue the elevation of his service to our youth.

Lenon has worked with children for a total of 15 years. While in college he began working for the Boys and Girls Club and interacting with youth. He reports: “That particular experience opened my eyes to the plight that our youth have been facing. Since that time I have worked in various arenas of education, including teacher, coach, assistant principal at Alta Charter School, Houston, and principal at Varnett Charter School, Houston. This led me to wholeheartedly give myself over to the ever growing issue of a socially and educationally failing generation. My predominant goal is to fill underachieving students with the knowledge needed to enhance learning. I believe that our goal as educators is to extend the critical gift of teaching students how to learn.”

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Never one to follow, Brian is well known for being a true leader in the creative industry. His inventive philosophy and entrepreneurial spirit have helped him produce innovative, award-winning work of the highest caliber. As creative director, Brian shapes the creative vision for Great Plains Restoration Council.

Brian Blankenship joined the GPRC over two years ago as creative director and has already played an integral part in creating and revamping the entire GPRC print and online presence. He oversees all print and interactive initiatives and leverages his 12+ years of business, design and marketing experience to help GPRC reach its goals.

Prior to GPRC, Blankenship ran his own creative shop and started several successful Internet companies. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Texas and is a long-standing member of the American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) and Dallas Society of Visual Communications (DSVC).

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Bio coming soon...

Tarla Crumb is the Chief Development Officer for a Houston, Texas faith-based entity, and an educator. Born August 24, 1955, Tarla grew up in Des Moines, Iowa with her parents and two siblings. Tarla firmly believes that investing in youth is a way to invest in the future and that educators have a responsibility to facilitate learning for all.

Tarla attended public school in Des Moines graduating in 1973 for Abraham Lincoln High School. After high school graduation she matriculated to Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee graduating in 1977. Discovering a burning need to make a difference she enrolled in University of Tennessee’s Public Administration program where her MPA was conferred in 1978. Her focus and zeal in graduate school facilitated an opportunity for an internship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (LBJ/NASA-Houston), in 1978. This catapulted her career in the public sector.

Years later, Tarla heeded her call to make a difference in the lives of our children and began her teaching career in Houston’s Alief Independent School District. After teaching for 6 years, the opportunity arose to become a Central Office Administrator. Tarla’s educational career continued to the non-traditional public school arena where she served as Acting Superintendent of a Houston-based Charter School. Today, Tarla continues to impact the lives of our youth facilitating training sessions for Houston’s Educational Service Center (Region IV).

Tarla’s foresight and vision regarding education is reflected in the work manifested in her current position and contributions to youth. A significant portion of her time is devoted to meeting with community stakeholders and staying abreast of school districts’ needs, best practices, and environmental/societal implications for young people.