Ellen Collins serves as the executive director for the Alliance.  In this role, Ellen provides leadership and support to nonprofit and philanthropic organizations in their efforts to strengthen Mississippi’s children, families, and communities. Her work involves interaction with nonprofits organizations, foundations, United Ways, public sector entities, and businesses throughout the state. She is also responsible for day-to-day operations, working to ensure the organization is effectively executing on its long-term strategy, consistently improving performance and productivity, and regularly identifying opportunities to enhance organizational effectiveness. Ellen previously served as associate director for the Alliance, as well as various roles in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, including the director of the Prosperity Center for Midtown Partners, Inc. She also served as a senior program officer for the Chicago-based McCormick Foundation and director of programs for the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson (now the Community Foundation for Mississippi) where she was instrumental in helping launch the Women’s Fund of Mississippi (now the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi), the only nonprofit foundation in the state that focuses primarily on women and girls’ issues. A native of Starkville, Miss, Ellen holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Mississippi Valley State University; a Master of Science in education from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; and additional studies and certifications in family services and leadership development. She was a member of the Leadership Greater Jackson class of 2008-09 and has served on various boards for nonprofit organizations in the Metro Jackson area. Ellen is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. and the Junior League of Jackson. She loves photography, traveling, and conducting genealogical research.

Sandra Lewis Hodge serves as our Chief Program Office for the Alliance.  Her primary responsibilities include designing and implementing Alliance programs and services, expanding our outreach, building strategic partnerships, developing special projects and initiatives with external partners, and fostering trusting relationships with community partners, members, the public, and other stakeholders.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Sandra served as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Tougaloo College. Sandra provided strategic leadership, direction, and oversight to the Division of Institutional Advancement. In this role, she developed, created, and implemented effective Institutional Advancement fundraising plans and secured significant philanthropic support in alignment with the mission, vision, and goals of the College.

Prior to Tougaloo College, Sandra served at the Piney Woods School as Chief Advancement Officer, at Jackson State University as Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director for the JSU Development Foundation and the American Red Cross as the Regional Chief Executive Officer for the Mississippi Region and Executive Director of the Southwest Chapter. Prior to joining the American Red Cross, she served as the CEO and Managing Partner of the Mariah Group, Director of Investor Relations at ECD/Hope Community Credit Union and a Community Development Specialist at Jackson State University’s Mississippi Urban Research Center.

Sandra has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Jackson State University in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration in Public Administration from the University of Phoenix. She is a member of the Jackson State University Alumni Association, the West Jackson Rotary Club, the American Marketing Association, Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) and Leadership Mississippi Class of 2013 just to name a few.

Sandra is a Certified Grants Specialist (CGS) and trained leadership volunteer for the American Red Cross. She is actively engaged in numerous community service projects and supports local community nonprofits.

Currently serving as the Director of Policy and Strategic Partnerships, Jamie manages the affinity/policy groups that focus on increased learning, collaboration, and funding around critical policy issues. These affinity groups engage both non-profit and philanthropic partners to develop and implement strategies and public policies that produce positive impacts for children, families, and communities in Mississippi.

Jamie, a native of Kosciusko, MS, has a BS in Management from Belhaven University and a Masters in Health Promotion from Mississippi State University. With a background working in the private healthcare sector, she has been in roles overseeing corporate giving, national strategic partnerships, colleague engagement and activism, and government relations. Over the last 15 years she has invested in many organizations around the metro area with a focus on health and wellness, social justice, community development, and youth leadership. Jamie serves on the board of Unite Mississippi Foundation, Mississippi Christian Living Magazine, CASA of Hinds County and The Devoted Dreamers Foundation, with previous board leadership with Midtown Public Charter School and the Metro YMCA. Over the last 20 years she has given countless hours of her time to support many local nonprofits with fundraising and volunteering. She is a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network alumni and a graduate of Leadership Greater Jackson and  Leadership Mississippi.  She was most recently recognized by the Mississippi Business Journal as one of the Top 50 Distinguished Leading Women in Business.

DeLorean King is the Learning and Capacity Building Associate for the Mississippi Nonprofit Alliance. DeLorean is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in both Finance and Risk Management and Insurance. DeLorean received her MBA from Millsaps College in Finance.  She is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Society. DeLorean is actively involved in church. In her spare time, DeLorean loves to travel, read, spend time with her family, and do volunteer work.

Jason Easley serves as part-time bookkeeper for the Alliance with the primary responsibility of ensuring all financial transactions are properly recorded and reported, and also works closely with the executive director to forecast cash flow and prepare budgets for the current year and beyond.

Jason earned both his BSBA in Accounting and MBA from Mississippi College. He has been a CPA for 23+ years, spending most of his career in State government and is recently retired. Jason worked for Public Safety, the Office of the State Auditor, the Department of Health and the Department of Rehabilitation Services as an Accountant, Auditor and Director of Internal Audit and Quality Assurance.

A native of Summit, Mississippi, Jason became an avid golfer at North Pike School District and went on to play for the Mississippi College golf team. Jason loves college sports, enjoys movies and TV shows on demand, and eating out or grilling with friends. He and his wife Holly have two children.

Baylee Bible currently serves as the Membership and Constituent Services Associate for the Alliance with the primary responsibilities of membership recruitment and retention as well as constituent support.

A graduate of Meridian Community College and Mississippi State University, Baylee has an Associate of Applied Science in Marketing Management as well as an Associate of Arts from Meridian Community College. She continued her education at Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Event and Hospitality Marketing with a focus in Public Relations and Social Media Marketing. Baylee has extensive knowledge and experience in event planning and marketing. Throughout college, Baylee held multiple positions within the DECA, Inc. organization throughout the state of Mississippi. She represented her state on the international stage and took home multiple first place international titles in Social Media Strategy as well as Advertising.

Baylee is a native Mississippian with roots in Collinsville located just north of Meridian. She is a 2016 graduate of West Lauderdale High School. After college, Baylee got her start in the nonprofit sector working for a local domestic violence shelter as a victim advocate and community coordinator, where she spent her days advocating for victims’ rights on a local and state level.

Melissa Butler serves as Sr. Marketing & Communications Manager for the Alliance.  In this role, Melissa is responsible for helping develop, establish, and promote the Alliance’s brand and annual communication’s plan and strategy; stewarding brand coherence, and engaging stakeholders in strategic communications that broaden the awareness of Alliance programs and services and increase visibility of the organization.

Melissa works collaboratively with leadership and the program team to market and promote key Alliance initiatives, programs, and trainings, developing supporting content and materials communicating member benefits and programming through all media. She is also responsible for writing, editing, creating and managing the distribution of all printed materials, including brochures and annual reports, and four monthly e-communications including our member-only newsletter The Ally, our civic advocacy, action and policy piece Under the Dome, Programming Spotlight promoting upcoming trainings, events, webinars and certifications, and Alliance Links bringing awareness and connecting both member’s and potential members to external resources.  She also maintains the Alliance website and all aspects of the Alliance’s social media presence through content creation, scheduling, monitoring and reporting on online engagement analytics.

Melissa is a lifelong Mississippi native and has worked in the metro Jackson area her entire career. She earned her BS in Marketing Management from the University of Southern Mississippi (SMTTT).  With over 25 years of marketing and communications experience, predominantly in the telecommunications industry, in most recent years she began freelance consulting her extensive marketing and brand management experience to previous employers and other profit, nonprofit, and higher education organizations established through her volunteer service, social engagement and church involvement.  She also became a small business owner in 2013.   Melissa is the proud parent of two wonderful children, and is active in the Women’s Ministry at Broadmoor Baptist Church where she has been a member for over 30 years. She enjoys tennis, photography, gardening, and all aspects of both interior and exterior design.