Percy L. Kennedy Jr.
He is passionate and called to help children living in single parent families. S.P.I.R.I.T. is a family mentoring program making it a unique initiative. Today the majority of single parents were also raised in fatherless homes therefore they too benefit from activities.
He became a single parent as a sophomore in college attending Lamar University on a football scholarship in his hometown of Beaumont, Texas. Percy graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Business Marketing and plans to purse a Masters degree in the future. His career experience in corporate was as an account manager in pharmaceutical sales. He is the older sibling of 3 brothers. Percy’s father and mother both reside in his hometown Beaumont, Texas.
30 years of Professional Experience with Fortune 500 companies: LinkedIn Profile (WalMart, UPS, Bayer and Novartis Pharmaceuticals)
A message by Derek Prince on loving your neighbor as yourself Percy heard at age 26 ignited his passion for serving. The message encourages caring for orphans, widows, the poor, and the oppressed. He knows from personal experience the need for support from family, friends, and your local church. He’s the proud father of his 25 year old son Alex.
He believes his experiences from parenting as a single parent these past 25 years have given him wisdom and insights to benefit single parents. He’s grateful for the love and support he received as a single parent from his immediate family and trusted friends.
He believes S.P.I.R.I.T. is more than a cause; it’s a call to the fatherless in our nation and around the world. (Psalm 68:5-6, Jeremiah 1:5 & Jeremiah 29:11) He’s currently an active member at Woodsedge Community Church located in Spring, TX under the leadership of Pastor Jeff Wells.
Jay Nicholson
Jay grew up in Searcy, AR and at the age of 9 became one of four children raised by a single mom. He knows firsthand of the struggles that single parents face and watched as his mother worked 2 to 3 jobs to support Jay and his brothers and sister. The difference in his life and the lives of his siblings was the involvement of coaches, Sunday school teachers, employers, and other friends that helped keep all four kids from being just another statistic related to poverty, crime or lack of education.
Jay graduated from Ouachita Baptist University with a BS degree in Biology and a minor in Psychology. While there he played tennis and soccer and is pretty much regarded as the Bo Jackson of OBU. He received his Master’s in Business Administration at Regent University in 1987, worked briefly at Phillips Snow Products before reaching his dream of working in the pharmaceutical industry. He has been with Novartis Pharmaceuticals for 23 years in various leadership roles, won multiple national awards which include the Masters Club – which is the highest award given to a manager at Novartis. He is currently leading a team of 9 specialists across 10 states in the Midwest in Novartis’ Dermatology division.
Jay is married to the former Sally O’Connell and they will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in May of 2015. They have 4 daughters and are fully aware of the current cost of weddings. Claire just graduated from the University of Tulsa, where she was a four year starter on the women’s soccer team, and is finishing up her bachelor of science in Nursing and plans to pursue a career in healthcare. Sarah Grace is a sophomore at Drake University where she is studying marketing and graphic design and is a two year starter on their soccer team. Emily is a high school senior who will enroll at Texas Christian University in the fall of 2015 where she plans to study international business and Spanish. Jill is a sophomore at Olathe East High School where she participates in many activities including soccer and tennis.
Jay has a heart for kids of single parents and single moms and helping them get through the challenges he faced growing up.
Theresa McKenna
Theresa McKenna is a graduate of Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. with a Masters in Applied Theology. She is the author of The Hidden Mission Field: Caring for Single Parent Families in the 21st Century as well as a comprehensive curriculum entitled One Parent Plus Kids for single parents and their children. She is also a contributing author for Zondervan’s Thoughtful Parenting: A Manual of Wisdom for Home and Family.
After ten years on staff at Westminster Chapel as pastor to single parent families, care and adult education, McKenna moved into full-time Executive and Business Coaching. She is Profession Certified Coach credentialed by International Coaching Federation.
Within the community, McKenna serves on the Leadership Board for two non-profit organizations. She is also a popular motivational speaker at conferences and retreats around the country where she encourages people at every stage of their lives, to be “everything that God created them to be.” You can read more about McKenna, her values and her coaching at: www.empowermentstrategiescoaching.com.
Presley Sims
Presley is a registered representative for the Wealth Design Group, a financial planning firm located in downtown Houston. He works with individuals as well as business owners to build protect and preserve their financial assets. Presley believes people don’t plan to fail, Instead they fail to plan. He is active in the community volunteering his time to coach youth football and basketball. He is a member of 2nd Baptist Church in Kingwood, TX. Presley has been happily married for 9 years to his college sweetheart Carletha. Together they have been blessed with two amazing children, Aniya and Presley.
George Scott
George Scott is a creative, results-driven, entrepreneur with 2 decades of experience providing technology services and marketing under his belt. He has held multiple functional roles, and has experience supporting business in many diverse industries and environments. As the founder and principal owner of Techfiniti, a Houston-based technology and marketing firm, George enjoys regular interaction with both business and technology leaders – from sole proprietors to C-level executives. TechFiniti was initially launched to provide strategic technology consulting services to small businesses and startups in the Lake Houston Area. George is also actively involved in the daily management and product/project development activities of FurrayLogic, a New York based IT consulting firm that primarily works with large banks and financial firms.
George has a passion for developing people, a passion he pursued as an adjunct professor at Lonestar College (Kingwood) for several years before resigning to focus on development projects under the umbrella of Scott Community Building and Development. His latest project, GrowLocals (http://growlocals.com and http://growlocals.org), aims to provide marketing tools as well as educational materials for local-focused businesses and consumers.
George takes pride in being a change agent and problem solver. With a strong understanding of technology and it’s applications for business problems, he is adept at grasping the big picture, conceptualizing, developing, and implementing solutions while partnering closely with business leaders. His combination of experience, business savvy, technical know-how and passion for community development uniquely position him as an ideal contributor to S.P.I.R.I.T.’s efforts.
“A wise person will learn more from a warning than a fool will from a thousand lashes”