Mary Torrence

Founder/Executive Director
CEO/Total Marketing Solutions

Mary Torrence is CEO of Total Marketing Solutions where she handles the marketing efforts for several clients including Legacy Chevrolet, Legacy Ford, Legacy Hyundai and New Balance Atlanta. Mary has more than 20 years experience in the Marketing/Advertising Industry. Her background includes co-founding Media Strategies with her husband, David, in 1999 after gaining extensive experience at several of Atlanta’s top advertising agencies.

She worked in the areas of strategic planning and buying for McCann-Erickson, West Wayne, Earle Palmer Brown and The Reiman Agency. Account responsibilities included Georgia-Pacific, BellSouth Mobility, Atlanta Gas Light Company, Scientific-Atlanta, Contel Cellular and SunTrust Banks. Mary also worked as Account Manager for Cox Radio.

Mary and David reside in Sandy Springs.

Renee Alston

Board Member
Account Manager, CBS Radio

Renee Alston, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently is a Senior Account Manager at CBS Radio Atlanta / V-103. Over the past 12 years, Renee has formed professional relationships with some of Atlanta’s top business executives and corporate figures. She has been effective in the field of advertising and marketing by creating successful radio campaigns for some of the most prestigious clients in the country. Renee currently resides in Atlanta and has 3 adult sons. Renee’s most prized goal is to continue to serve as a role model for other women and youth & to encourage education and growth in order for them to reach their full potential. Renee is founding member of SWM and is responsible for developing community partnerships and acquiring corporate sponsors for SWM.

Connie Griffin

Board Member
Quarterly Donations Chair
Stay-at-Home Mom/Volunteer

Connie is a stay-at-home Mom and an active volunteer. Connie spends most of her time helping out at her kids’ school. She helps with implementing logistics of fundraising events and organizing an annual effort to provide gifts for special needs kids at an inner city school. She is a long-time volunteer with Students Without Mothers.

Connie’s background includes a career in advertising sales where she worked as an Account Executive/ Team Manager for Katz Communications. Prior to that she worked in local TV sales for WVEU-TV.

Connie and her husband Daniel are the proud parents of three teenagers. They reside in Virginia Highlands.

Maria Howell

SWM Secretary
(Singer/Actress/Voiceover Artist)

Throughout her career, she has shared the musical stage with legendary artists like Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Ray Charles and Earl Klugh. After a very successful stint in Asia, Maria relocated to Atlanta, GA and performed weekly at Sambuca Jazz Cafe for 9 consecutive years, 2002 to its closing in December 2010. She and pianist Bill Wilson held the distinction of being the longest running act at the Atlanta location. She has released several CD recordings, with the most recent release titled "Reflections", a retrospective collection.

As an actress, she has also appeared in Tyler Perry’s "Daddy’s Little Girls", "Meet the Browns" , and "House of Payne", Lifetime’s hit shows, "Army Wives" and "Drop Dead Diva", the CW’s "Vampire Diaries", FOX’s "Past Life", ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7, as well as the acclaimed theatrical release "The Blind Side", starring Sandra Bullock. Most recently, she worked alongside, Mario Van Peebles and Wendy Raquel Robinson in an episode of BET’s hit series "The Game".

Maria is not only a singer and actor, but a voiceover artist as well, lending her voice to numerous TV and radio commercials and narrations. For a full bio and additional information, please visit the following website: www.mariahowell.com

Tricia Anbinder

Board Member
Psychotherapist, Private Practice

Tricia Anbinder is a private practice psychotherapist with almost a decade of experience as a social services advocate. She attended Emory University and earned a B.A. in sociology. Tricia began her career in 1999 at the DeKalb Rape Crisis Center as the Director of Communications and a Victim Advocate. She excelled in providing crisis counseling and found her passion. Tricia also attended the University of Georgia where she obtained a Master of Social Work Degree. Tricia has established herself as a private practice psychotherapist and enjoys providing psychodynamic therapy for individuals and families. Tricia is an advocate of Social Work and is the Co-chair Elect for the Professional Education Committee of the Georgia Society for Clinical Social Workers. One of the newest SWM board members, Tricia is already making significant contributions to the organization.

Carolyn B. Parks

Life Coach Director
(President/CEO Rising Starz Productions, LLC)

Carolyn Parks is the President/CEO and Lead Coach of RisingStarz Productions, LLC. She retired from AT&T after 36 years in December 2009 and started her second career as a life coach providing leadership and managerial coaching with a primary focus on college students planning to enter the corporate arena. Her aspiration is to address a critical need in our community to help future leaders develop strategic and tactical skills to complement their technical knowledge for both personal and professional success.

In addition to leadership coaching, Carolyn’s company also provides fundraising for non-profit organizations. She endeavors to teach non-profits how to create and implement a successful fundraising program not only for immediate results but to build and maintain a solid foundation for long-term fiscal fitness even in a tough financial climate.

Carolyn received her certification in Leadership and Management Coaching from Kennesaw State University in 2009.

She attended the University of Alabama in Birmingham and earned her MBA at the George Washington School of Business.

In addition to her coaching endeavors, Carolyn serves as vice -president of the Pyramid Chapter of American Business Women’s Assn, Chairman of the Atlanta Area Council of Business Women and Director of Life Coaching and board member for the Students Without Mothers foundation. She is a lifetime member of the Telephone Pioneers - a volunteer organization focused on the well being of children and an active member of Beulah Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga. Carolyn also serves as Social Affairs Chairman for the Atlanta Urban League Guild.

Carolyn is the proud mother of two talented sons and the "Honey" of three adorable grandsons - (no "Grandma" for Carolyn). She is married to Nathaniel Parks, her lifetime friend and soul mate.

Cheryl Bobbit

Board Member
Manager – Publishing & Design Services, AT&T

Cheryl Bobbit is currently employed with AT&T as the Manager of Publishing and Design Services. With over thirty years of experience in the Telecommunications Industry, Cheryl is known as a highly motivated professional with an accomplished history of leading and developing successful teams. She has a keen business knowledge and sense for incorporating company goals and values and assuring that strategic plans and goals are met. She is a creative multi-tasker with success in fostering and developing results-driven campaigns. She is an innovative and critical thinker with strong communications and interpersonal skills. She is also an expert in strategic planning and directing diverse groups of people. She is a strong advocate for the power of networking.

Tiffany Cochran Edwards

Board Member
Communications Director, The Cochran Firm
Atlanta Office

Tiffany Cochran Edwards is the Communications Director at the Cochran Firm’s Atlanta Office. She is a Los Angeles native and she attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, California where she obtained a B.A. in broadcast journalism. Tiffany’s distinguished career began in 1991 at WFXG in Augusta, Georgia. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, the Atlanta Press Club, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Council of Negro Women, and she is on the Board of Trustees for Morris Brown College. Tiffany is an advocate for raising the public’s consciousness about brain tumors, and she enjoys working in the community and mentoring young people. Tiffany and her husband, Javarro Edwards, live in Stone Mountain. As a SWM board member, Tiffany is responsible for media awareness.

Cynthia Smith

Scholarship Reception Co-Chair
(Silent Auction Items Committee Chair)

Mother, grandmother, and a maverick for social action, impressive words to describe a woman, who describes herself as an ordinary person. As Regional Manager of Diversity Outreach and Minority Recruitment, and diversity liaison for the internationally known American Red Cross, Cynthia Smith is anything but ordinary. Responsible for recruiting and engaging minority blood donors across the state of Georgia.

Cynthia works tirelessly to increase blood donation among minority communities through-out the Southern Region, and build partnerships between the American Red Cross Blood Services and the minority community.

Serving as an advisor to the National Diversity Board for the Red Cross, Cynthia has made it her special mission to educate and build awareness to as many people as possible on the importance and difference one blood donation can make, especially in the African-American community and now states that it’s imperative that we focus on other minorities!

In addition to her work in blood services, Cynthia uses her diversity and cultural competency training to help victims of disaster, serving as a community advocate and cultural liaison. She is the recipient of the 2006 American Red Cross Tiffany Award, the highest award given by The American Red Cross for executive achievement.

Cynthia earned her award for her exceptional mentoring, training, negotiating, diversity, special projects leader, community involvement, and her energetic contribution to the role she played as community advocate doing Hurricane Katrina, and Rita!

Always mindful of the challenges she faced as a woman striving to succeed in the business world, Cynthia honed her highly valued "people skills" working in various leadership positions. She spent more than 20+ years as a senior executive for several cosmetics companies and retail industries, working to expand market share and developing new business in highly competitive areas.

She learned early the importance of connecting with people, the value of leveraging your assets and the significance of maximizing every opportunity. Managing, both small and large teams, Smith have always been the "go to" person when it came to making it happen and getting it done. Cynthia has been consecutively featured in Who’s Who in Black Atlanta and other Atlanta publications, and has earned other highly visible community awards.

Cynthia Smith makes her home in Mableton, Georgia with her husband Bobby. Few who know her or meet her believes that she has four children and 6 Grandchildren.

She attended Grambling State University, Louisiana State University (LSU) and earned a bachelors degree in Operational / Retail Management and is proud to be a member of Mount Paran Church of God in Atlanta.

Susan Henderson

Secretary Volunteer, Court Appointed Special Advocates

Susan Henderson was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay-area. After high school and attending college she met and married Dr. Vernon Henderson and started a family. She worked in advertising at the Wall Street Journal for several years before deciding to become a stay-at-home mother. In 1998 Susan and her family relocated to the Atlanta area for a job opportunity for her husband. In 2001 she became a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for DeKalb County and used her skills as a mother to compassionately fight for the rights primarily of the children and families involved. Susan is the Secretary for SWM Board.

Reggie Prime

Board Chair
Director of Environmental Affairs,
Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.

Reggie Prime is the Director of Environmental Affairs for Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. He is responsible for the development and implementation of strategic direction, tactical execution and leadership for Coca-Cola Enterprises' environmental compliance and sustainability requirements within the company's North American Business Unit. Reggie is a graduate of the University of Central Florida with a B.S. in environmental engineering. Reggie enjoys community service and teaching young people about business protocol and development. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. Reggie and his wife, Lynn, reside in Lilburn. As a SWM board member, Reggie is responsible for Corporate Sponsorships.

Marc Rawls

Vice Chair Executive Committee
Attorney, Sutherland

Marc practices in the areas of corporate mergers and acquisitions, securities issues, including public and private offerings, and general corporate matters. In addition to corporate responsibilities, he has experience in the areas of banking and corporate finance, particularly the representation of commercial banks and other financial companies in unsecured and asset-based lending transactions.

Marc is a member of the American Bar Association. In 2008, he was selected as a top performer by Stakeholder 100,
which works with law firms to select and invest in top performing associates of color. In 2005, Marc was selected
as a “Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Star” and is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Atlanta Bar Association
Business and Finance Section.

Susan Stine

SWM Chair Scholarship Selection Committee
(Development Director; advising Universities & non-profits)

Susan Stine has extensive experience working for and advising universities, non-profit organizations, and foundations on strategic planning and development issues. She earned a bachelors degree from Michigan State University and masters degrees from MIT and Ohio State University. As a member of the Board of Students Without Mothers, Susan often helps scholarship recipients with financial aid and curriculum issues, and navigating the higher education system.