Board Of Directors

A native of Harrisburg, PA, Monica Shockley-Porter moved to Kent County, Delaware in January 2019. Since her family’s relocation to Delaware, Monica has become an active member of Network Delaware, Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, Fund for Women at Delaware Community Foundation and National Coalition of 100 Black Women (DE Chapter).

With over 20 years of combined experience in both social services and business development, Monica has been responsible for marketing, outreach and management of several programs during the course of her career. In previous roles, Monica served as Community Relations Director, Director of Business Development and Director of Therapeutic Foster Care. Monica earned a BS in Criminal Justice from Savannah State University and MS in Administration of Justice from the University of Louisville. She resides in Clayton with her husband, US Army retiree, Justin and daughter, Justice Marie. Monica is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

Jeffrey Richardson is a green entrepreneur, organizational consultant, public speaker, educator and activist/organizer. His leadership guides Imani Energy, Inc. that develops and manages the installation of solar power systems with a primary focus on expanding solar access and the training and employment of residents from Low-income and People of Color communities. In 2013, he joined the University of Delaware as an instructor on topics of race and the environment in the Department of Africana Studies.

He was trained in community organizing through the Jobs With Peace Campaign, in Los Angeles, a massive precinct-based campaign to reduce excessive and wasteful military spending in order to direct more funding to housing, education, healthcare and basic human needs. Richardson directed a Pittsburgh organization that challenged police brutality and won a ballot initiative to establish a Citizen Police Review Board. He wrote on social justice and other topics during his career as a professional journalist for the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation’s oldest Black newspapers. He was also the Director of Foundation Relations for the United Way in Pittsburgh. As Leadership Development Director for the National Congress for Community Economic Development in Washington D.C. he directed a team providing economic development best practices for job creation and partnerships between the private sector and community economic development organizations. He is also a singer/songwriter, whose CD “Another World Is Possible,” is an uplifting fusion of driving Afro-Latin and R&B rhythms that carries a message of hope and change for our world.

Erika is the Co-Coordinator of the Safe Communities Campaign. Full bio coming soon

Britney Gulledge is a communication strategist deeply committed to social justice and facilitating communities to tell their own powerful stories. Currently, she is a student in Howard University’s Communication, Culture and Media Studies doctoral program with research interests in health disparities within communities of color.

She earned a bachelor’s in journalism from Hampton University and a master’s in management from Wilmington University. Over the years, she has consistently developed avenues to participate in public service including terms on Network Delaware's steering committee and communication team.

Mona Bayard retired from the Wilmington Police after 20 years of coordinating services to crime victims and serving as a social work resource to the Department. This came after many years' work in the criminal justice system in Delaware, including the Superior Court Pre-sentence Office, the Women's Prison and in a community-based youth program.

In addition she spent many years on the Boards of Wilmington Friends School, the Delaware Center for Justice and the Delaware Theatre Company. In retirement, she volunteers three mornings a week and worries about the state of the nation. Having been educated in London and Paris before going to college in California, Mona brings an outsider's perspective to Delaware. Mona has lived in the city of Wilmington since 1972.

Darlene Battle is the Executive Director of Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement (DACA) where they champion issues such as Same Day Registration, global warming awareness, drivers' licenses for undocumented Delawareans, and minimum wage increases. Since 2009 she has recruited and trained over 500 volunteers to provide no-cost tax preparation services for low income working families and organizes and hosts volunteer jobs training sessions as well as training volunteers to engage in community outreach.

Darlene had traveled across the US to march and to action on those who prey on the disadvantages. Her resend action took her to Jackson Hole, WY to stand up against the Federal Reserve interest increase on the working poor, unemployed, homeowners, and student loans.

Throughout her career of helping others, Darlene has unselfishly advocated for the needy, always pushing for the rights and laws that impact low and moderate income families. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work, including being inducted into 2015 Delaware Commission for Women, Hall Fame. She is well known and widely respected in Dover as a trail blazer who never settles for the status quo and is always willing to sacrifice her time and energy, no matter how long it might take, to have the voices of the vulnerable heard.