Before retiring in June 2018, Carol Burger had served as the first female and first African-American President and CEO of the United Way of the Capital Area for 34 years. Under her leadership, the United Way developed what it called the “community impact model” for measurable accountability in programs that address education, income and health.

Carol began her career as an educator, first teaching at Carver High School in Collins. She went on to be the first African-American teacher in Pearl River County when she began working at Nicholson Elementary in Picayune. Prior to joining United Way, Burger worked as a human services administrator for former Governor Cliff Finch and as the assistant director of Hinds County Department of Public Welfare. Prior to her appointment as President and CEO of the United Way, she was its director of community services.

At 15, Carol enrolled at Tougaloo College; she graduated with a B.A. in elementary and library education. She later earned graduate degrees from the University of Missouri and the University of Southern Mississippi. In addition to serving as the vice chair of the Refill Jackson Initiative’s Board of Directors, she is the chairperson of Visit Jackson and the chair of the Greater Arts Council’s Governance Committee. She serves on the boards of Springboard to Opportunities, the Boys and Girls Club of Central Mississippi, Mission Mississippi, and the United Way World Retiree Association. She has formerly served as the chair of the St. Dominic Health Services Advisory Board.

Carol lives in Madison and has one son, Marcus, and two grandchildren, Nicholas and Logan.

Catoria “Torri” Martin is a native of Jackson, Mississippi, and currently is the Director of the Office of Personal Service Contract Review for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration. She is responsible for oversight and approval of government contracts and directs state agency executives on compliance with state and federal procurement laws.

She received Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and French from Maine’s Bowdoin College, studied abroad in Paris, and returned to France to teach after college. In 2007, she graduated cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Law and was admitted to practice in all Mississippi State and Federal courts.

Torri has previously served as President of the Mississippi Women Lawyers Association, on the Board of Directors for the University of Mississippi Law Alumni Chapter, and on the Mississippi Bar’s Women in the Profession Committee. She was a member of the 2015 class of the Mississippi Bar’s Leadership Forum, and she currently is a member of the Capital Area Bar Association, Jackson Young Lawyers, the Junior League of Jackson, and the LeFleur’s Bluff Mississippi Chapter of the Links, Inc.
Torri resides in the heart of Jackson with her husband, Alex Martin; their three children, Anna Rose, Alexander III and Elijah Parker; and their dog, Ava.

James Carter is a commercial lender at Trustmark Bank in Fondren, where his primary focus is small business lending – which involves start-up businesses, investment properties, commercial properties, etc. James has roughly six years of banking experience and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Accounting and an Associates of Arts in Hotel and Hospitality Management from Tougaloo College. Currently, Mr. Carter resides in Brandon with his wife and three daughters and attends Word of Life Church.

Jeff Good is the President of Mangia Bene Restaurant Management Group, the owner/operator of BRAVO! Italian Restaurant & Bar, Broad Street Baking Company, and Sal & Mookie’s New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint. The restaurants operate a full-service catering business, Mangia Bene Catering, with partnerships in dozens of venues throughout the Metro Jackson area.

A true believer in community service, Jeff has many achievements to his credit. To name just a few: member of Mississippi Top CEOs class of 2018; one of Top 50 Influential People in Mississippi, 2017; recipient of the City of Jackson’s City with Soul Award, 2017; recipient of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership’s Pat Yarbrough Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, 2017; recipient of Dress for Success’s Strength Award, 2017; Mississippi College School of Business Entrepreneur in Residence, 2016; and Innovate Mississippi’s Mississippi Innovator to Watch, 2016.

Jeff moved to Jackson from Salt Lake City, Utah, in the summer of 1980, when his father became the Dean of Students at Millsaps College. He completed his senior year of high school in Jackson Public Schools, attending Murrah High School. He attended Millsaps College and graduated in May of 1986 with a degree in Business Administration. Jeff’s wife Debbie is an adjunct professor at Mississippi College. They are proud parents of twin adult daughters, Alexandra (Alex) and Caroline (Carly).

Since 2011, Kellye Smith has worked with Ross & Yerger’s corporate benefit and property & casualty insurance clients to strengthen the skillsets and proactive risk management profiles of HR and Safety departments. Often praised for her ability to take complex topics and explain them in laymen’s terms, she has also been touted as having a unique ability to take very boring topics and make them entertaining and understandable. Kellye is a PHR, Certified Administrator of Integrative Leave Management, and leads Ross & Yerger’s team of Resource Consultants.

Betsy Smith realized early in life that social service is her ministry. Over the course of her 40-year career, she has served as a social worker at the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS), the United Way of the Capital Area, and Youth and Family Services (St. Petersburg, Florida), before landing at Catholic Charities where she served for 29 years. Her work with the Domestic Violence Services Center at Catholic Charities was the most rewarding because she worked with survivors to develop individual plans that enabled them to obtain stable housing, increase self-determination, and increase their skills and income.

Betsy’s continued desire to further assist in the community brought her out of retirement and on to the staff of Refill as Vice President of Social Services. Betsy’s expertise and knowledge of social service providers and experience working with individuals and families enhance Refill’s holistic approach to providing support to our members.

Betsy is a Jackson native. At Jackson State University, she earned her degree in sociology with a minor in social work, as well as a Masters in community and agency counseling. A licensed social worker and certified community support specialist, Betsy has served as board chair of the Hinds County Human Resources Agency and currently serves as board chair for True Yokefellow Laborers, a faith-based nonprofit social service agency serving sexual assault and domestic violence victims/survivors. Additionally, she is a member of the supervisory board of the MDHS Federal Credit Union. Betsy is a proud mother and grandmother. She enjoys spending time with family, traveling, participating in some form of dance, and experiencing different cuisines.

Caitlin Brooking is a huge fan of Jackson, and of Jacksonians. As the CEO and President of the Refill Jackson Initiative, she is responsible for day to day operations, fundraising, and supporting a talented staff of 7 in carrying out workforce development training and wrap-around social services for disconnected 18-24 year olds in the metro Jackson area.  Before becoming the President & CEO of Refill Jackson Initiative, she served on the Board of Directors for 3 years. She was most recently the Deputy Director of Volunteer Mississippi, the state agency on volunteerism. She worked closely with the team of staff there to lead the AmeriCorps Mississippi program portfolio, the Mississippi Hub Network for nonprofits and volunteers, and the state’s volunteer and donations efforts in the wake of natural disasters. Her experience in this role has refined her skills in developing community solutions through service and building partnerships across nonprofit, private and public organizations. Her work focused on program development, developing and meeting program outcomes, and programmatic and fiscal compliance with federal regulations.

 

She arrived in Mississippi from Boston in 2007 and served as Director of Programs for Hands On Gulf Coast in Biloxi, overseeing programmatic strategy and implementation, including a sizable AmeriCorps State program and regular large-scale community service projects, to affect community volunteerism and disaster response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Before relocating to Mississippi, Caitlin served as the Special Assistant to the CEO & President at City Year, Inc. in Boston, MA, and Assistant to the Dean of Students at Boston University. She has earned a BA in Psychology from Boston University, and an MA in Sociology from the University of Mississippi. She is originally from Methuen, MA, and she wasn’t born in Jackson but she got here as soon as she could. 

 

Chanika Ceaser has spent her working life in service to others—at restaurants, hospitals, and hotels across the Jackson metro area. This experience made her well-suited to be a member of the original Refill Cafe front-of-house team. Her position with Refill has evolved as the organization responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and members’ needs. Now Chanika serves two roles. As the transport coordinator, she ensures that one of our members’ most pressing needs is addressed, and as an on-the-job trainer, she accompanies members to their external work experience sites, providing supervision and real-time feedback.

A native of Jackson, Chanika attended Lanier High School. She enjoys cooking and above all else, spending time with her two daughters and fiance.

After graduating from Millsaps College with a degree in Sociology and Anthropology in 2016, Devin Winsett taught english as a second language in Mexico City. He later returned to the United States by way of New Orleans where he served as a City Year Corps member at a middle school in the Ninth Ward community.

It was through teaching middle school math that Devin recognized his passion for working with young people and realized that his greatest joy stemmed from empowering young people to overcome barriers that they were facing. To pursue these passions, Devin accepted a position as a case worker for a youth residential group home in Brooklyn, New York. Wishing to advance his education in social work and to return to the south, Devin earned his Masters of Social work from Jackson State University in 2021.

After returning to Jackson, Devin served as a residential care specialist at a youth residential treatment facility while completing his graduate education. Devin completed his field placement with the Refill Jackson Initiative and fell in love with the work of supporting young adults in the context of workforce development. He joined the team full-time as a Social Worker and Instructor in May of 2021.

Devin also teaches at Millsaps College as an Adjunct Professor of Sociology. In his free time, Devin enjoys traveling, cooking, attending local arts and music events in Jackson.

Throughout her career, Jordan Butler has focused on education, both in and out of the classroom. She began her teaching career with Literacy AmeriCorps in the Recovery School District of New Orleans before moving to the Arkansas Delta where she started her middle school’s first art program and provided phonics instruction to struggling readers. While studying food environments and their impact in graduate school, Jordan moved out of a traditional classroom setting to teach hands-on, nutrition-based cooking classes to low-income families.

Jordan was brought on to the Refill project in July 2017 to lead the planning process. She developed Refill’s training program and recruited a network of partner organizations to support members as they move through the program, graduate, and join the workforce. Now, as Vice President of Education and Training, Jordan is responsible for the ongoing development of the training curriculum and leading classroom instruction.

A native of Jackson, Jordan is a proud graduate of Murrah High School. She earned her undergraduate degree in art history from the University of the South. A desire to gain a deeper understanding of social determinants of health led her to Little Rock where she earned a dual Masters in public health and public service. Jordan has a passion for cooking and the outdoors and is an avid lover of dogs, especially her nine-year-old Border Collie, Ella.

Kelly currently serves as Federal Programs Manager for Refill Jackson Initiative. As the former Director of AmeriCorps Programs at the MS Commission for Volunteer Service and a Federal Grants Manager, her current role at Refill has her working to expand National Service here in Jackson by implementing a VISTA project as well as designing an AmeriCorps State program to enable Refill to offer even more resources to the members it serves. A proud Mississippian, Kelly was born here in Jackson, raised in Clinton, and now resides at the reservoir with her husband and daughters. When she is not reading the Code of Federal Regulations, Kelly enjoys spending time outdoors, reading psychological thrillers, playing with her cats, and visiting her grandchildren. 

Stephanie Burks currently serves as the On the Job Trainer and Transportation Coordinator for RJI, and works hard to ensure that our members have access to on the job experiences that provide the real-time feedback and coaching that sets Refill apart from other workforce development programs. Stephanie is a native Jacksonian, graduate of Callaway High School, and has work experience in home healthcare and food service. She is also an active community member in Jackson – she is a domestic violence activist, a member of the Women of Knowledge group, supports voter registration efforts and the Ladybug Club in her free time, and is always looking for ways to help folks in the community. She attends church regularly, and is a dedicated mother, sister, auntie, and friend. Stephanie always reminds the RJI team to “face forward, and just get on the van!”