Dr. Rowe is a retired administrator from ESC Region 12 where she served as the teaching and learning executive director and also twice served as interim superintendent for Waco ISD. Her educational journey has included leadership roles at the campus, district and college levels. Currently, she serves on boards for Waco ISD Education Foundation, Prosper Waco, Waco Symphony, and Education Credit Union. Additionally, she is a 50+ year member of Second Missionary Baptist Church. Personally, her commitment to students is evidenced through her mentoring of secondary students to transition into post-graduation career paths.

Christy Perkins acts as a Community Health Worker for the Waco-McLennan County Health District and is heavily committed to public service in the Waco community. Currently, she volunteers as a parent volunteer at Brook Avenue Elementary School demonstrating her dedication to serving the broader community. Perkins, who spearheaded the garden development at Brook Avenue Elementary School, is a mother of two students at that school and brings a parent’s outlook to the board.

As a parent and community leader, Mary lends a parent’s perspective to the TW Board. She decided to join the board to be an advocate for students and parents and she desires to help students in the community. Bonner-Fisher often tells her kids, 'I'm your voice, I'm your ears. I'm your eyes.' This is what she wanted to represent for all the children and all the parents of the Waco community as far as the board.

Malcolm is a community leader previously serving as the mayor of Waco and past city councilman. He has extensive civic leadership experience serving as a board member for the Waco Foundation, Waco Housing Authority & Affiliates and City Center Waco, as well as the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, McLennan County Library Foundation, Chamber of Commerce and Waco Business League.

In addition to his role on the Board of Transformation Waco, Dr. Stephen Reid acts as the Professor of Christian Scriptures at Baylor University. Previously he served as Academic Dean and Professor of Old Testament at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Indiana. He joined the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary faculty in 1990, after serving almost ten years as an associate professor of Hebrew Scriptures and Biblical Theology at Pacific School of Religion.

Melli is community advisor working to improve public schools and bring more affordable housing to Waco. She is a lawyer by trade, having received both her Bachelor's and Juris Doctorate degrees in Minnesota and her LL.M. in Real Estate Law in Chicago. She began her public service career working with the Minneapolis Empowerment Zone helping to increase the number women and minority owned businesses. During law school she coordinated the Street Law Program across the Twin Cities elementary and middle schools as well as helped expand the program to local shelters educating vulnerable populations on their legal rights and responsibilities. After law school, Melli continued her public advocacy efforts while serving as a judicial law clerk in the civil and criminal district court. Thereafter, she moved to Chicago, choosing to use her law degrees alternatively and assisted in the oversight of the Chicago Housing Authority’s 25,000 unit Plan for Transformation – managing the policy development, community planning, and compliance reporting for the public housing rehabilitation and redevelopment projects. In her career she has served several years as the Constituent Ombudsman for the Milwaukee Public Schools as well as the school board’s designee for charter school contracts.

She currently juggles multiple community leadership appointments, including serving on the Board for the Waco Foundation, as well the Waco Housing Authority and Affiliates. She strongly believes the compilation of all her professional experiences led her to her role as Board Member for our very own Transformation Waco. Melli often can be heard saying, “Transformation Waco, is much more than students and teachers is it the transformation of a lives, working to bring stable homes, thriving schools, safe neighborhoods, and ample opportunities for upward mobility within reach.” She holistically looks at all aspects of items that come before her and thinks strategically to help shape the future for Waco at-large. When she is not working she enjoy spending family time with her four daughters and her husband, Dr. Eliot Wickliff.