Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Virtual Panel

Join the City of College Park and our panelists for a thought-provoking discussion on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s teachings and legacy.

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/98187966180

Learn more about how the City is honoring Dr. King's legacy this year at www.collegeparkmd.gov/mlktribute.

Panelists:

Mr. Kenny Young began his tenure with the City of College Park, Maryland in September of 2021. Mr. Young brings with him more than 25 years of progressive leadership experience in the private sector and local government across the country. Kenny is well-known for his expertise and experience in economic and community development and working in communities undergoing rapid growth and transformation. Speaking-subtopic: One Community, One Love

Dr. Adam Payne earned a Doctor of Education in the Penn Chief Learning Officer program from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018. Adam is also a musician, and he has recorded six albums while contributing to several other albums and projects. Payne currently serves as President/Chair of the University of Pennsylvania Chief Learning Officer Alumni Network Board of Directors and serves as an end-of-life doula for Hospice. Adam firmly believes that love is the common denominator that can unite all of us toward a brighter future, and this is inspired largely by the central message of Martin Luther King, Jr. Love is the common denominator and education is the vehicle. Adam has been teaching since 2005 and now serves as an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the School of Sciences and Humanities at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Speaking-subtopic: One Community, One Education

Karen Sheares, MD, Ph.D. is a lifelong student on Dr. King's writings and speeches, Karen Sheares has spent her career advocating for and practicing a Kingian ministry of radical love and oneness as a practicing pediatrician working with children growing up in impoverished and oppressive circumstances, as a researcher striving toward a more effective, patient-centered and equitable healthcare delivery system, as an educator of medical students, pediatric residents, health services researchers, and as a volunteer in various communities. Dr. Sheares holds a Ph.D. from Yale University in Integrative Medicine and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Washinton School of Medicine, St Louis. Dr. Shaeres is the Director of Quality Measurement Program at Yale University. Speaking-subtopic: One Community, One Healthcare

Ram Surendren, AIA, NOMA, NCARB, LEED is an architect & urban designer. Ram dedicates his time and energies to supporting his community as a “citizen architect”, recognizing the impact that architects’ insights and training can contribute in building inclusive communities. Beyond architecture, Ram practices Nichiren Buddhism of Soka Gakkai. He has served on various committees and held multiple leadership positions on local green building council board and Buddhist organizations. Ram has organized or participated in numerous projects centered around the unconditional love promulgated by Dr. Martin Luther King and love-centered global citizenship. Ram is a Project Manager at Military at Mason & Hanger. Speaking-subtopic: One Community, One World

Moderated by Councilmember Llatetra Brown-Esters, who has chosen College Park as her home since 1999. She and her husband have lived in the Oak Springs neighborhood since 2014. She is a higher education administrator who has worked in the field for over 25 years. Her professional experience has helped her to develop leadership skills necessary to deal with complex situations, make critical decisions, and engage with people from all walks of life.

Llatetra has served on the College Park Advisory Planning Commission, and she has served as an Election Judge in Precinct 21001 at Paint Branch Elementary School.

Llatetra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Adelphi University, A Master’s degree in Student Personnel from New York University, and a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration/Community College Leadership from Morgan State University.

Speakers:

Congressman Glenn Ivey is an attorney who served on Capitol Hill as chief counsel to the Senate Majority Leader, as counsel to Senator Paul Sarbanes during the Whitewater investigations, Chief Majority Counsel to the Senate Banking Committee, and on the staff of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). He also worked for U.S. Attorney Eric Holder as an assistant U. S. Attorney, and as chair of Maryland’s Public Service Commission. He was twice elected as State's Attorney for Prince George's County where he worked with the Obama Administration to cut crime.

Congressman Ivey established Ivey & Levetown in 2020, and recently represented a Lafayette Square protestor, arguing that the facial recognition software used to identify him compounds discrimination against dark-skinned people. The Department of Justice threw out the case. As chair of the County Executive Angela Alsobrooks’ Police Reform Taskforce in 2020 Ivey led the committee that examined the police department’s internal policies.

Ivey grew up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where the schools of his hometown were still segregated when he started attending. But he watched his mother, a librarian, desegregate four different white schools, as well as his father, who worked for a federal War on Poverty agency that helped unemployed workers in eastern North Carolina get job training and find jobs.

It was then Ivey saw the power of public service and the impact that advocates can have on social justice. And ever since, he has been a tireless fighter for our community. As Prince George's County State's Attorney, he created a first-of-its-kind Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit and pushed for stronger witness intimidation penalties. When the real estate market went south, he established an award-winning mortgage fraud unit that stood up for homeowners.

Ivey resides in Prince George’s County with his wife, Jolene, a County Councilmember. His son, Julian, serves as a Delegate for District 47A in the Maryland House of Delegates. Ivey is a graduate of Princeton University (A.B. 1983) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1986).

Mayor Patrick Wojahn is an advocate for trails and safe bicycle and pedestrian networks as Director of Government Relations at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. Previously, Patrick worked as a policy and legal advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and for people living with HIV/AIDS in the DC metro area. Patrick has served in various leadership roles in the past, including as Chair of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board and as chair of the National League of Cities Transportation and Infrastructure Service Policy Committee. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the College Park Community Foundation and served on the Boards of Directors of the College Park Community Food Bank and Equality Maryland.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Patrick received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2002. He has lived in College Park with his husband, Dave Kolesar, for over twelve years. He also completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Public Policy and is a graduate of the spring 2012 class of the Prince George's County Citizens Police Academy and the 2014 class of Leadership Greater Washington.