Meet Our Board Members

Charlisa R. Thomas, MHSA

Founder, NiaImani CHOICES • Founder & CEO, VECRA, Inc.

Charlisa Thomas is the Founder of NiaImani CHOICES, Inc. and Founder & CEO of VECRA, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned, woman-owned, and minority-owned management consulting firm delivering health management consulting, program management, and technology-enabled solutions to government, nonprofit, and corporate clients.

Charlisa is an award-winning senior leader with more than 30 years of management and healthcare consulting experience, analyzing, developing, and implementing high-level solutions for government and commercial clients alike. As a former U.S. Army nurse, she has dedicated the majority of her career to serving disadvantaged and vulnerable women and children, and is a recognized leader in both the healthcare and nonprofit sectors for her vision and management skill.

Prior to founding VECRA, Inc., Charlisa served for more than seven years as Founder, President, and CEO of CRW & Associates, an award-winning, CVE-verified, service-disabled veteran-owned, woman-owned management consulting firm specializing in health management consulting, outreach and education, organizational development, and information technology, certified under the SBA 8(a), MDOT MBE/DBE, and Virginia SWaM small business programs.

Charlisa founded NiaImani CHOICES, Inc. to bring healthcare resources and, more recently, technology-driven solutions to underserved women, children, and families across Maryland and beyond — work that now includes the organization’s flagship HIV Access Network platform serving Prince George’s County and Baltimore City.

Charlisa holds a master’s degree in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University.

Latecia Walters Lampkin, CISSP, PMP

Executive Director, NiaImani CHOICES

Latecia Walters Lampkin is the Executive Director of NiaImani CHOICES, Inc., where she leads the organization’s technology-driven approach to HIV care access, family support, and community wellness. Under her leadership, NiaImani CHOICES built and launched the HIV Access Network — a free, anonymous, privacy-first platform connecting Prince George’s County and Baltimore City residents to HIV testing, prevention, treatment, support, and Medicaid navigation, with zero data collection at every step.

Latecia leads NiaImani CHOICES with a technology-first operating model, building automated, scalable systems that allow the organization to deliver real impact to underserved communities without the overhead of a traditional nonprofit structure. Her focus spans program strategy, board development, grant and partnership development, and the day-to-day execution that has moved NiaImani CHOICES from concept to an active, operating organization serving Prince George’s County and Baltimore City, with a national scaling vision to reach the next highest HIV-burden communities.

Latecia brings over a decade of experience in technology program leadership and information security, having worked across multiple companies and roles within the Big Tech sector, holding both CISSP and PMP certifications. She is also a Certified Ethical Hacking Instructor and Master School Instructor, reflecting a career-long commitment to technical education and mentorship alongside her security leadership work.

Beyond NiaImani CHOICES, Latecia has served on the Board of Directors for Seeds of Courage (2023–2025), supporting financial assistance for survivors of domestic violence, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for G{Code} House, an organization supporting women and non-binary people of color in technology. She has also mentored first-generation college students and immigrants entering the tech sector through Streetwise Partners (2023–2024).

Lisa Askew, MBA, LSSBB

Director, Board of Directors, NiaImani CHOICES • President, VECRA, Inc.

Lisa Askew is a Director on the Board of NiaImani CHOICES, Inc. and President of VECRA, Inc., a management consulting firm delivering tailored solutions to government, nonprofit, and corporate clients.

A consummate professional with over 30 years of experience in the human resources field, Lisa brings deep expertise in leadership, business development, human capital analysis, strategic planning, staffing, government contracting, operations, and public speaking. Her business development work has supported the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal, state, and local agencies.

Prior to joining VECRA, Inc., Lisa spent 19 years in the government contracting industry, directly supporting proposals across the defense, commercial, energy, and healthcare sectors that realized more than $20 billion in awards. She previously led strategic talent initiatives at Lockheed Martin, including the HR New Business Model instituted across the corporate enterprise to accelerate the role of human resources in business development.

Lisa is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Distinguished Lockheed Martin Celebration of Excellence Award and the Hyatt Regency Bethesda Hotel Manager of the Year Award. She is Certified in Organizational Communications from Bowie State University, a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Rutgers University, and a recognized Kenexa Brassring expert.

Beyond NiaImani CHOICES, Lisa serves as HR Committee Chair on the Board of Directors for the Housing and Urban Development Federal Credit Union (HUDFCU). Her volunteer experience includes Upward Bound at North Carolina State University and service as PTA Vice President at the Thomas Pullen School of Performing Arts.

Lisa holds an MBA in Global Technology Management from American InterContinental University and a BS in Business Management with a focus in Law & Public Policy from the University of Maryland University College.

David M. Simpkins, MS

Strategic Advisor, Colorblind Marketing Group

David Simpkins is the founder and president of Colorblind Marketing Group, LLC. He is a seasoned marketing executive with more than 21 years of progressive senior management and leadership experience working with national non-profit organizations, community-based health systems, public health agencies and Fortune 100 corporations. His achievements include an extensive background and expertise in strategic and business planning, branding, marketing, communications, community relations, and wellness program development.

He was worked with organizations to successfully implement broad, multi-channel strategies that build constituent relationships and drive revenue growth. Mr. Simpkins has developed full scale marketing plans for a diverse set of clients that include the Reginald F. Lewis Museum for African American Culture and History and United HealthCare. He led the development of two, highly successful, consumer-focused advertising campaigns which received the Alfred J. Knight and Aster Awards by the Society of Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.

Mr. Simpkins is a strong advocate for the elimination of health care disparities and has developed innovative coalitions of community-based organization to affect sustainable change and improve health status in communities of color. In 2011, he chaired Baltimore’s first African American Men’s health Conference with more than 20 community-based organizations and physicians. The Health Conference attracted more than 700 participants and provided health screening to more than 400 men across Baltimore. In 2007, he developed a comprehensive faith-based initiative to address heart disease disparities among minority women. Within five years, the program had expanded into a state-wide network of more than 100 churches, health providers and partnered community organizations.

Simpkins is a graduate of Towson University with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Management and a Master’s Degree from Johns Hopkins University in Management. He also received a certificate from Johns Hopkins Leadership Program for Minority Managers. He is an active member of The 100 Black Men of Greater Washington.

Cassandra Redd-Williams

Treasurer, Board of Directors, NiaImani CHOICES

Cassandra Redd-Williams serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of NiaImani CHOICES, Inc. She currently serves as Controller for a small, woman-owned cybersecurity business, where she supervises accounting, financial reporting, and related financial operations.

Cassandra brings more than 30 years of senior-level management experience across government, nonprofit, and public-sector organizations. Her expertise spans Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales, accounting and financial leadership, process improvement, operational efficiency, capital-project and acquisition feasibility studies, and guiding clients through complex audits.

Cassandra was drawn to NiaImani CHOICES by the opportunity to apply her financial leadership and governance experience in support of the organization’s mission and the communities it serves.

She holds an Associate Degree in Legal Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance. Cassandra is also an entrepreneur, holding 51 percent ownership in CRW and Partners, LLC. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys spending time with her granddaughter and developing her skills on piano and acoustic guitar.

Chetan Pathade

Technology & Innovation Director, Board of Directors, NiaImani CHOICES

Chetan Pathade serves as Technology & Innovation Director on the Board of Directors of NiaImani CHOICES, Inc. He currently works as a Security Engineer at Amazon Web Services, where he focuses on GenAI security — assessing third-party AI risk and researching vulnerabilities in large language and vision-language systems, including adversarial attacks, model red teaming, and the guardrails that keep AI deployments trustworthy at enterprise scale.

Chetan holds a Master’s in Information Security (Cyber Operations) from Carnegie Mellon University, is a member of IEEE, and publishes research on adversarial machine learning, LLM and vision-language system security, and federated learning privacy. Alongside his work at AWS, he mentors engineers entering offensive and AI security.

Most of Chetan’s career has focused on making systems safer for companies; NiaImani CHOICES offered the chance to apply that same discipline where the stakes are personal rather than corporate. The HIV Access Network’s promise — no login, no tracking, no barriers — struck him as an engineering problem he knows how to solve. Having grown up in India, he saw firsthand how often shame, not access, is the real barrier to care, and that understanding shapes the privacy-first systems he now helps build.

Davina (Dee) Otalor

Lived Experience Director, Board of Directors, NiaImani CHOICES

Davina (Dee) Otalor is an HIV educator, U=U educator, filmmaker, podcast host, author, mentor, and international speaker with almost three decades of lived experience with HIV. With a degree in public health, Davina has dedicated more than a decade to educating communities, challenging stigma, and using her lived experience to help others understand that an HIV diagnosis does not define who they are or what their future can become.

Davina began her advocacy work in 2015 through her internet radio show and podcast, Pozitively Dee Discussion. She created the show as a platform for people living with HIV to openly share their stories and experiences. What started behind a microphone grew into a much larger journey of advocacy, education, public speaking, and community work.

Her work later expanded nationally and internationally through Prevention Access Campaign, the organization behind the U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable) message. As a Community Engagement Outreach Specialist, Davina educated healthcare providers and their teams, organizations, advocates, and communities about the science of U=U. Her work took her across the United States and internationally, where she presented at conferences, facilitated workshops and trainings, and helped organizations understand how to communicate U=U within their own communities. Davina was also among the early group of Black women advocating for and helping bring the U=U message directly to communities.

Her work has always included a strong focus on Black women, a community she believes must be included in conversations about prevention, treatment, sexual health, and stigma. She created and led Women Need to Know U=U, a two-year initiative focused on educating women about U=U and giving them the knowledge and tools to take that information back into their communities. She continues to mentor women, develop programs, facilitate trainings, and help women find their own voices in advocacy.

Storytelling has also become an important part of Davina’s work. She is the co-creator and director of the documentary Here We Are (Black Women Who Live with HIV), which has been shown at more than 140 venues worldwide and was selected to be shown at the Women Now Conference in Rwanda. Through film, podcasting, writing, speaking, and digital storytelling, Davina has found different ways to reach people and bring lived experiences into public health conversations.

Over the years, Davina’s advocacy has been recognized with several honors, including the ADAP Leadership Award for her podcast, Pozitively Dee Discussion, the AIDSWatch Persistent Advocate Award, the International Stigma Conference Stigma Award, and an HIV Activist Award presented by organizations in Las Vegas. She also received Congressional Recognition from Congressman Steven Horsford of Nevada for her commitment to HIV advocacy, reducing stigma, promoting HIV testing and prevention, and supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

Davina believes that community is at the heart of advocacy. Her work has always been about reaching people, sharing knowledge, using her voice, and helping others recognize the power of their own voices and experiences. Whether she is speaking on an international stage, facilitating a workshop, mentoring a woman struggling with her diagnosis, developing a program, or simply having a one-on-one conversation, her purpose remains the same: to use what she has learned and lived through to help someone else move forward.

One of Davina’s favorite quotes from Audre Lorde reflects the way she continues to approach her life and advocacy: “When we speak, we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed, but when we are silent, we are still afraid, so it is better to speak up.”

And speaking up is exactly what Davina continues to do.

Brionne Walters

Secretary, Board of Directors, NiaImani CHOICES

Brionne Walters serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors of NiaImani CHOICES, Inc. She brings 16 years of federal government experience, all of it with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the agency that administers the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

Over her career, Brionne has managed more than $65 million in federal contracts. She knows how government funding is planned, priced, awarded, and overseen, and she has deep institutional knowledge of federal contract and policy requirements. Her work includes contract price estimation, market research, process improvement, and automation, all focused on helping programs run more efficiently and stay accountable.

At NiaImani CHOICES, Brionne keeps the board’s records and governance in order. She also helps the organization understand how Ryan White and other federal funding sources work, so it can build programs and partnerships that are ready for public funding and stand up to review.

Brionne joined NiaImani CHOICES because she believes people deserve easy, dignified access to HIV care and support, and because the organization is building the kind of practical, technology-driven tools she has spent her career helping public programs deliver.