Community members appointed to Community Foundation of Greater Flint

FLINT, Michigan — The Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF) recently announced the appointment of six community members to its governance board. In 2021, Joel Feick, Morris Peterson Jr., and Ezra L. Tillman, Jr. joined CFGF’s Board of Directors.

Joel Feick currently serves as Director of Development and Chief Storyteller for The Disability Network. Feick, a resident of Grand Blanc Township, retired from local television after 35 years as an Emmy award-winning news anchor and reporter.
 
Morris Peterson, Jr. is President of the Morris Peterson Jr. Foundation. A graduate of Flint Northwestern High School, Peterson played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before retiring in 2011. He was named Big Ten Player of the Year during the 1999-2000 basketball season after leading the Michigan State University Spartans to the national title.   

Ezra L. Tillman, Jr., Senior Pastor of First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Flint, is active in several national, state, and local Baptist organizations. Under the leadership of Pastor Tillman, First Trinity provided clean water and outreach support to residents during the Flint Water Crisis.    

In 2022, three additional members were appointed to CFGF’s board. 

Ishika Gupta is a senior at Grand Blanc High School where she participates in student government, the National Honors Society, and athletics. Gupta is the owner of Ishika’s Accelerated Learning—a tutoring business she launched at age 15.

Dawn Hiller established the Flushing Urgent Relief Fund in 2020, in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. A resident of Flushing, Michigan, Hiller is a retired community volunteer. She is Chair of the Flushing Area Community Fund Advisory Committee where she has served for nine years.

DeAndra Larkin serves as Chief of Staff to the Office of the President at Mott Community College. She has held positions with the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce and Whaley Children’s Center and is Chair of the CFGF’s Flint Women & Girls Fund Advisory Committee. A graduate of Central Michigan University, Larkin currently serves on the Hurley Board of Managers and is a member of the Flint River Watershed Coalition’s Board of Directors.  

Founded in 1988, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint is an amalgamation of The Flint Public Trust and the Flint Area Health Foundation. The foundation has awarded more than 34,000 grants in Flint and Genesee County.

A complete list of Board of Trustee members can be found by visiting: cfgf.org/About/Our-People
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