Ridegeley Hudson, Jr.

Advisory Board Member

“Called to Serve, Blessed to Lead” is the life motto of Ridgeley, a minister, mentor, and community activist. A 2020 graduate of Martin Luther King, Jr. Senior High School, where he received over 50 college acceptances and 3.5 million dollars in scholarship offers. Currently, a freshman at Michigan State University, where Ridgeley is studying Secondary Education and Political Science.

Mr. Hudson is a 2019 recipient of the Detroit Youth Spirit of Community Award awarded by the City of Detroit. He is also the 2020 recipient of the John Conyers’ Peace & Justice Award.

He currently serve on many boards and in many leadership roles; DPSCD Leadership Council, Kings & Queens of MLK Mentoring Program, State Representative Michigan Youth in Government, NAACP Youth Council, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, Mack Alive, Perfecting Triumphant Church Minister, Michigan Coronavirus Taskforce, and so much more....Just recently, Ridgeley was highlighted to be honored with a documentary on his life of overcoming struggles and making success stories out of them.

Monica Tysell

Advisory Board Member

Monica Tysell is an EVP/Brand Leader at Doner Advertising. She’s a senior marketing and diversity executive with over 35 years of proven success in marketing and communications, transforming culture, building integrated workflow systems and developing progressive diversity, equality and inclusion strategies for leadership accountability and employee engagement and retention efforts. Monica leads the Doner DE&I employee resource group which is responsible for shaping the Agency’s mission, policies and strategies to create a more supportive and inclusive work environment.

Her efforts have led to positive wage equality and family leave equality policy changes. Monica has honed her strategic and process thinking abilities supporting culture and business leading brands such as Coca-Cola, Consumers Energy, Cox Communications and Sirius/XM to name a few.

Monica is a graduate of Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and a Masters of Arts in Communications. She resides in Novi with her husband Mario and their beloved dog Tillie. She’s proud of her children Nick and Isabel who are pursuing their own careers in Detroit and New York respectively. A serious foodie, Monica and her husband are partners in the Peterboro restaurant in Detroit. To work off all those calories, she’s finding a new love in pickleball.

Justin Remington

Advisory Board Member

Justin Remington is Chief Operating Officer of The Remington Group (TRG) which is a leader in philanthropy consulting. Founded in 1995, TRG has helped regional and national nonprofits raise over $4 billion for causes that bring about real change in the organizations and communities that TRG serves. 

Justin has been with TRG since 2009 and oversees day-to-day operations including communications, client relations and grant writing. He is the primary liaison between staff, clients and volunteers throughout the firm’s portfolio.

Currently, among other client’s, Justin manages all operations for the Michigan Education Excellence Foundation (MEEF) which has raised $80 million since inception for education initiatives and currently MEEF is focused on the Detroit Promise Scholarships.

The Detroit Promise is a nationally recognized, model program that guarantees tuition-free, post-secondary education for every graduating senior from a Detroit high school. Justin is a seasoned networker who serves on several community organization boards and committees. His current affiliations include the Detroit Economic Club – Yong Leader Board, United Way Emerging Philanthropists Committee, and The DIA’s Founders Junior Council. Justin previously served on former Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Justin Verlander’s Win for Warriors organization and the Detroit Athletic Club’s Intermediate Council. He was also secretary of the University of Detroit Mercy’s Detroit Titan Athletic Club, and recently completed his first year as a mentor in the Leadership OU (Oakland University) program.

Justin received his undergraduate degree at Oakland University with a B.A. in Communications. He is a proud Alumni of the Young American Leaders Program hosted through the Harvard Business School. Justin has received past awards through Oakland University, Young Alumni 10 within 10 and Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Future Leaders. He has also achieved fundraising certificates in Principles and Techniques of Fundraising and China Philanthropy Summit.

Justin currently resides in Royal Oak, Michigan with his wife, Emily, daughter, Sloane, and their beloved dog Ambassador.

Yuntian Han

Advisory Board Member

Yuntian is a passionate activist for racial justice and immigrant and refugee rights. She has advised and worked with multiple nonprofits, including U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Cleveland and Techie Camp. She is currently leading a research in understanding factors that prevent young people from taking actions to support causes they care about.

Yuntian is motivated to apply her human-centered design skills and consulting experience to find innovative solutions for LIFE and other nonprofits. She is also a strong believer of mentorship and has mentored multiple students in the past six years. She is currently an analyst at Deloitte Consulting and has been a partner with L!FE since January 2020.

Joshua Edmonds

Advisory Board Member

Directly reporting to the CIO at the City of Detroit, Joshua Edmonds is responsible for developing and implementing a citywide, sustainable digital inclusion strategy on behalf of the 100,000+ residents lacking fixed-broadband access. This position is a unique partnership between the University of Michigan and the City of Detroit with support from the Knight Foundation.

He is a graduate of Howard University's Graduate School of Political Science. He specialized in Public Policy and International Affairs, primarily researching technology policy and international security. Utilizing the participant observer methodology, his Master's thesis examined ways Sonora, Mexico could improve fiscal policy within the agricultural sector.

Frankie Piccirrilli

Advisory Board Member

Adrienne Wolff

Advisory Board Member

Adrienne Wolff graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 2020 with a B.A. in Urban Studies. After graduating from high school and prior to matriculating at Brown, Adrienne took a gap year, spending a few months as the media director on Lincoln Chafee’s 2016 presidential campaign before attending cooking school.

Adrienne has studied mayoral policy as it relates to urban green spaces and she has served as a policy advisor for local campaigns.

Caroline Blanck

Advisory Board Member

Caroline Blanck graduated with honors from Brown University in 2019 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Economics. In spring 2020, Caroline received an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, where she focused on the politics and policy of urban sustainability. 

Caroline has experience working in politics, in policy and organizing, including her role as the deputy regional organizing director for Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign and her role as a climate policy advisor on other local campaigns.