About Us
School Board
2011-12 ATLANTA PREPARATORY ACADEMY BOARD
Hakim Hilliard, President
Sherise Ratcliffe-Bunbury, Vice President
Dr. Dekisha Pendergrass Drayton, MD, FAA, Treasure
Neil Shorthouse, Secretary
Karcheik Sims-Alvarado , Ph.D.
James Yates
Scott Cook
Mr. M. Hakim Hilliard is a partner at the law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge with a practice focused in state and local government law, specifically in the areas of land use and zoning, police licensing and permitting, economic development incentives and procurement. Prior to joining McKenna Long, he served as an assistant City Attorney for Atlanta, providing counsel to the Mayor, City Council and various city departments, including among many the Bureau of Planning Development and Neighborhood Conservation. Hakim serves as Adjunct Professor in the Criminal Justice Department of Georgia State University. He has a number of professional accolades including named to the 2006 Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Stars list. Hakim’s passion and long standing commitment to education was first inspired by his parents, well known education leaders, scholars, and public servants, Asa and Patsy Jo Hilliard.
Ms. Sherise Ratcliffe-Bunbury is an entrepreneur working as a residential builder and business management consultant. Sherise’s experience in construction is in both infrastructure and development of building plans. Her expertise in onsite new construction, team building, and organization development, with further focus on strategic development and achieving revenue goals, Sherise analyzes data, financial budgets, and coordinate the operations for her company. Sherise formulates policies to utilize the best use of material and human resources. Some of her other initiatives are community support housing placement for battered women, adults with drug related issues, and HIV/ AIDS.
Born and raised in NYC, Sherise Ratcliff-Bunbury has her AAS in Business Administration from Manhattan Community Collegeand is completing a degree at Georgia State University in Economics and Public Policy. After leaving NYC in 2001, Sherise became an investor and worked in the banking industry and starting a business in building development. Currently, Sherise serves as a member of NYC community development in Bedfordstuyvesant, Brooklyn, the Board of Directors of Suvant Park Subdivision, and an advocate for children education in Atlanta. Sherise has been married for 17 years to Ozzie Bunbury Jr. and has three sons.
Ms. Dr. Dekisha Pendergrass Drayton, MD, FAAP is founder and practicing physician at Princeton Lakes Pediatrics, LLC in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Drayton graduated with honors from Spelman College in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. She then went back to her home state of South Carolina to study medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. At an early age, Dr. Drayton knew she wanted to become a pediatrician and her focus did not change throughout her medical training. In 2003, after completing her medical residency in Pediatrics at Brody School of Medicine in North Carolina, Dr. Drayton returned to Atlanta where she began her career as a practicing pediatrician at Cumberland Pediatrics in Marietta.
Early in her career, Dr. Drayton discovered that she had a passion for more than just the art of medicine. She strived to make a connection with the child and the family to obtain a better rapport and ensure the greatest success of the child from all aspects of life: health, safety, education, and social development.
Currently, Dr. Drayton continues her community outreach by serving as a mentor for students at Westlake High School’s Healthcare Academy, serving as speaker for the annual Tiny Babies Foundation Breastfeeding Awareness Conference, and by educating expecting moms and dads on basic care of the newborn before their baby arrives.
As the parent of three young daughters, Dr. Drayton’s focus on the positive development of the child as a whole. Her belief is that if even one child fails to reach his or her full potential in all aspects of life, then we as adults have failed in our job to mold and shape the next generation for the better.
Dr. Drayton’s expertise in the normal, healthy development of the child, her love for children, and her fresh approach could be an added benefit to any organization that shares her desire to see all children succeed.
Mr. Neil Shorthouse is President of Communities in Schools (CIS) of Georgia. CIS currently operates in 28 states, serving nearly two million students nationwide by bringing coordinated community resources directly to students in public schools. Mr. Shorthouse serves on the boards of directors of Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Kids in Need—Metro Atlanta, Kids Voting Georgia, and serves as Chairman of the Georgia Charter Schools Association.
Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, Ph. D. is the Director of Exhibition Research for the Center for Civil and Human Right and is a visiting lecturer at Georgia State University, Department of History. She has also served as a professor at Agnes Scott College, Clark Atlanta University, and Morehouse College.
Ms. Sims-Alvarado is an expert of Nineteenth-Century U.S. and African-American History. She serves as the Executive Director of Historic Sites Commissions, Post 1 At Large, for the City of Atlanta, where she works to identify and document historic African-American sites from the pre-Civil War to post-Civil Rights eras. She has appeared on a number of television programs filmed by WSB-TV and has served on a number of panels hosted by the Atlanta History Center.
Her dissertation, “The African-American Emigration Movement in Georgia during Reconstruction” tells the narrative of nearly 1,200 newly freed slaves who emigrated from Georgia to Liberia, West Africa from 1866 to 1868. She is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards and fellowships included the W.E.B. Du Bois Summer Institute at Harvard University, the Southern Regional Educational Board Dissertation Fellowship and the Ford Summer Institute at Indiana University.
Ms. Sims-Alvarado entered into the museum profession in 1997 and worked for seven consecutive years with Morris Brown Art Gallery, the Atlanta History Center, and the Herndon Home Museum. From 1997-1999, she also served as a slave archeologist on the plantation of President Andrew Jackson.
Ms. Sims-Alvarado is also a visual artist. Her works has appeared in a number of juried shows, museums, and galleries throughout the U.S. Her patrons consist of Victoria Rowell (Young and the Restless) and CUNY Law School in New York.
Ms. Sims-Alvarado resides in the Washington Park community of Atlanta with her husband, Joel Alvarado, and six -year old son, Nation. There, she owns and operates “Tea Cakes Bed and Breakfast.” Her business was recognized by the TODAY Show, MSNBC, and Real Simple as “One of the 50 to Stay in the US for under $150.” Ms. Sims-Alvarado is the youngest bed and breast owner in Georgia and operates 1 of 20 Black-owned bed and breakfasts in the entire world.
Mr. James (Jim) Yates is a Human Resource Development and Training Consultant. For the past 30 years he has establish himself as an expert in workforce development strategies and issues for; nonprofit organizations, local, county and state governments. Before retiring from the State of Georgia, Yates was a Program Operations Manager with the Georgia Department of Labor, where he served on special workforce and economic development initiatives for Georgia’s Labor Commissioner, Michael Thurmond. Prior to joining the Department of Labor, he was a Training Specialist with the Georgia Lottery Corporation and also served as a Career Development Specialist for Literacy Action Inc.
Jim has donated countless hours serving on several Boards that include the: The Atlanta Preparatory Academy; Soul Food Museum, Butler Street YMCA, Southwest Atlanta Youth Business Organization (SWABO), Atlanta Job Corps Community Advisory Council, and the Atlanta Rio de Janeiro Sister Cities Foundation.
Professional memberships and organizations include: American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and Society for Human Resource Management (SHIRM). Mr. Yates was selected and featured in the 2009 Special Edition of Ebony Magazine as one of Ebony’s Super, Sexy, Singles. He also appeared in the 2007-2008 Edition of Atlanta Tribune Magazine’s feature story: Baby Boomers Redefine Retirement with New Careers.
Yates received a B.A. degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey. A native of Passaic, New Jersey, he enjoys traveling extensively both domestically and internationally.
Mr. Scott Cook is the President of Capitol Corporate Cleaning, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. Capitol Corporate Cleaning is a full service commercial janitorial company, which has been servicing the Atlanta area for more than 30 years. Scott is also the Chief Executive Officer of Celairo Wireless Solutions, also headquartered in Atlanta. Celairo, a business class wireless internet provider, provides wireless solutions in Atlanta, and areas in Florida, Texas, and Utah.
Scott is in charge of all facets of Capitol and Celairo including the daily operations, long term planning, and sales initiatives.
Scott is a native to Atlanta with a daughter at The Lovett School. He is active in Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, Lovett Alumni, youth sports, and is a past president of The Atlanta Touchdown Club. Scott is a member of the Board at Bobby Dodd Institute. Scott attended The College of William & Mary on a football scholarship and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history.
