Kalamazoo Defender Board Members

Robert Hill, M.D. BOARD President

Robert Hill, M.D. is currently a Physician Advisor for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Hill is board certified in Emergency Medicine. He practiced 25 years at Ascension Borgess Hospital where his career has touched many lives in the Kalamazoo area. Dr. Hill previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Ascension Borgess Hospital.

Kate Miller
board vice president

Kate Miller is a servant leader who focuses on creating and growing programs, teams, and cultures with a high importance on psychological safety.  She is a resident of Kalamazoo’s Douglas neighborhood and currently serves as the Director of Career and Continuing Education at Kalamazoo Valley Community College where she is charged with demand driven programming, removing barriers to accessing education, and empowering individuals to achieve success as they wish to see it through their own lived experiences and strengths.   She takes a collaborative approach and believes there is too much good work in our in our community to do to compete with each other.  But rather, through listening and inclusion, we have the opportunities to strengthen our local workforce by not leaving anyone behind.    Kate is most proud of her two children, Liz and Braxton who are working their way toward the Kalamazoo Promise by attending Kalamazoo Public Schools. 

PEGGY KINGSLEY BOARD Treasurer

As a graduate of Loy Norrix/KAMSC and Kalamazoo College, Peggy has deep roots in the Kalamazoo community. She is a certified licensed accountant at KPMG, LLP, a global tax and accounting

firm. Previously Peggy worked on the global tax accounting team at Stryker Corporation. Peggy’s work with Stryker took her to the Netherlands for two years, where she and her family gained firsthand experience with differences between the US and European domestic and professional cultures. Prior to joining Stryker, Peggy worked as a CPA with KPMG in San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon.

Peggy lives in Kalamazoo with her husband and their two sons.

Dale Brown, PHD board Secretary

Dale Brown directs Western Michigan University’s college-in-prison program, Higher Education for the Justice-Involved. He recently earned his PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from WMU, where he also earned an MA in Educational Foundations and an MA in Philosophy. For his work in the field of higher education in prison, he was named a K. Patricia Cross Future Leader by the American Association for Colleges & Universities in 2022. Brown serves as the secretary for the Michigan Consortium for Higher Education in Prison and is a member of the Philosophy of Education Society. He is a father, a husband, an avid camper, and an unapologetic proponent of the humanizing and transformative potential of higher education.

Babajide Daranijoh BOARD MEMBER

Babajide Daranijoh is a senior finance expert with over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of major corporate finance. His current position is Director of finance at Stryker Corporation. His prior experiences include finance & accounting roles with Princeton Financial Systems, Dow Jones & Company both in Princeton New Jersey and Arthur Andersen & Andersen Consulting in Lagos Nigeria.

Babajide lives in Portage with his wife and their three sons. Outside of family & work, Babajide is also a soccer coach, his love of the beautiful game keeps him busy all year-round coaching, watching, or playing soccer.

Byron foster BOARD MEMBER

Byron Foster’s professional career prior to retirement consisted of human resources management positions with several major corporations, vice president with an executive search firm (focused exclusively on retainer searches), Managing Director of Inroads/Chicago, a not-for-profit internship development organization.

Following retirement from Kellogg Corporation, he managed independent consulting projects focused on career transition coaching and training, professional staffing, valuing differences, DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) training, and professional development program design & facilitation.  In addition, Byron was a Student Advocate in KVCC’s Student Success Center.  During that time at KVCC, he prepared and facilitated a series of presentations for students in human resources classes, which was beyond the position responsibilities.

Among his passions for giving back to the community he serves on several boards.  These boards include Ministry with Community, Goodwill Industries Southwest Michigan, & SHARE (Society for History and Racial Equity. Several committees on which he serves include Community Investment Committee (Kalamazoo Community Foundation), HR Committee and Anti-Racism Committee (Ministry with Community), HR Committee (Goodwill Industries).  Prior boards/committees served on are Borgess Foundation Board & Tree of Love Committee, ARTT (Anti Racism Transition Team) at Kalamazoo Community Foundation), and Douglass Community Association Board.

J. RICHARDSON ‘RICK’ JOHNSON
BOARD MEMBER

J. Richardson “Rick” Johnson served as a Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Kalamazoo County from 1993 to 2014 and as the Chief Judge from 2000 through 2007.  He is the original author of the “Criminal Proceedings Benchbook” published by the Michigan Judicial Institute.  Rick has served as chair of the Kalamazoo County Community Corrections Advisory Board and served on the boards of KPEP and the Kalamazoo Criminal Justice Council.  Before joining the Court, he was in private practice and helped organize several local non-profit corporations including the Family Health Center, Housing Resources, the New Year’s Fest and the Kalamazoo Film Society. 

ANTONIA KENNEDY

BOARD MEMBER

Antonia Kennedy (Toni) is a Veteran of the US Army. Toni currently works for Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health (SWMBH) as a Veteran Navigator for Region 4 and currently serves on the Kalamazoo County Veterans Affairs Board. Toni has worked and been affiliated with many honorable organizations including the State of Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency. At the Battle Creek Veterans Administration, she also currently serves on the Mental Health Advisory Council and the Veteran Family Advocacy Council. She has most enjoyed over the years is her work as an advocate for Veterans, with over twenty years of personal and professional experience across multiple platforms. 

She is also a Lifetime Member of the Metropolitan Kalamazoo Branch of the NAACP Board.  She is a Board Member of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and a member of the American Legion Post 36. She is a lifetime member of the Lest We Forget Organization.  She serves as a member on the Veterans Day & Memorial Day Event Committees for Kalamazoo County.  Toni was a recipient of the Distinguished Veteran of the Year Award by the MKB NAACP for 2023 and the Hope Thru Navigation Veteran of Hope for 2024.

Stacey R. Ledbetter BOARD MEMBER

Stacey R. Ledbetter is a community leader in Kalamazoo. After a career in law enforcement, Ledbetter retired and founded Black & Blue Networking & Consulting, LLC. Her consulting group teaches cadets about urban communities of color, and how to have honest conversations. Beyond her consulting work, Ledbetter is also the Law Design Team Lead and Racial Healing Practitioner Leader/Trainer for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation(TRHT) Kalamazoo. TRHT is a comprehensive, national and community-based process developed by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) and 174 national partners to identify and address the historic and contemporary effects of racism — to help communities heal and produce actionable, sustainable change.

Alexander c. lipsey
board member

Judge Lipsey has served the Kalamazoo Community for over 50 years. As a senior at Loy Norrix High School in Kalamazoo, he spearheaded a student-run milage election campaign.

After obtaining his law degree from The University of Michigan, Judge Lipsey was elected to the Kalamazoo City Commission. He became the first African American elected to the office of State Representative representing the City of Kalamazoo. In 2007, Judge Lipsey was appointed to the Kalamazoo County 9th Circuit Court.

Judge Lipsey has served as President of the Metropolitan Kalamazoo NAACP, on the Kalamazoo College Board of Trustees, the Michigan Environmental Council, and several local and state nonprofit organizations. 

Gary Voshell
Board MEMBER

Gary Voshell has practiced law in the Kalamazoo area for over 25 years. Although now semi-retired, he continues his legal practice with a focus on criminal defense work and plaintiff’s personal injury cases. Gary has been a proud member of the Kalamazoo community since 1980 and remains actively engaged in many local affairs. He previously served as an elected Trustee on the Vicksburg Community Schools Board of Education (12 years) and is now on the Brady Township Planning Commission. In his free time, Gary enjoys spending time with his family on Indian Lake and playing golf with his friends and neighbors.

Luchara Wallace, PhD
Board member

Dr. Luchara Wallace is the Dean of Merze Tate College at Western Michigan University and a Professor of Special Education. She previously served as Associate Dean of the College of Education and Human Development as well as the Director of the Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations where she led research and advocacy on topics such as juvenile incarceration, generational wealth attainment, and policies impacting families and individuals with disabilities. Prior to her administrative appointments, Dr. Wallace taught courses in the Learning Disabilities endorsement block and is a PI/Co-PI on multiple grant projects.

matthew Wait
executive director & chief defender

Matt Wait has worked with Kalamazoo Defender since its inception in 2019. Before his tenure at Kalamazoo Defender, Wait served as Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Calhoun County. Wait brings with him decades of experience as an attorney and educator. Wait holds a Juris Doctor degree from Michigan State University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry and Sociology/Anthropology from Olivet College.