Staff

Bill Greene, Chair, Board of Directors

Bill Greene serves as chairman of the board of directors at the Ruth Ellis Center.  He became involved with the Center in 2005 as a board member and has served as board chair and vice chair previously.

Bill is Founder and President of W. K. Greene and Associates, a strategic market research and consulting firm in Ferndale, MI.  Bill is also an associate at Opus Dynamic, a global leadership and team optimization firm located in Troy, MI.  Bill has devoted time and resources to several other initiatives including the Wyndell Kyle and LaKeysha Michelle Greene Family Memorial Scholarship at The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and The Templer Foundation.

Margaret C. Warner, Interim Executive Director

Margaret joined the Ruth Ellis Center as Interim Executive Director upon Laura Hughes’ departure in January 2013. Warner is tasked with providing leadership and a steady hand through the transition process while a national search is conducted for Executive Director, in addition to overseeing the vision, goals, and objectives of the center, it’s 24 staff members, 40 volunteers, and thousands of young people who utilizes the services the Center provides each year.

Warner worked 44 years with the Michigan Department of Human Services, where she worked throughout the state in a variety of management and administrative roles, but primarily in Southeast Michigan in the field of child and public welfare. She is noted for creating and co-chairing the Michigan Department of Human Services LGBT Workgroup, which helps train and counsel child welfare workers on considerations specific to LGBT youth. Warner became involved in Ruth Ellis while taking an integral role in the Center becoming a contracted agency with the State of Michigan.

Mark Erwin, Community Collaborations Coordinator

Mark joined the Ruth Ellis Center as Director of Programs in August of 2011. Erwin is responsible for building strategic relationships within the community to create awareness of the Center’s programs for youth under 18 years of age.  He is also working to expand the Center’s role as trainers of LGBTQ homelessness proficiency and awareness within the community.

Erwin previously served as the General Manager of the well-known after school program School of Rock in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, serving more than three hundred youth and their families. While at School of Rock, Erwin helped to establish a comprehensive scholarship fund on which more than 15% of the youth and families of the School now depend in order to participate.

Erwin graduated from Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan and the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Michelle Anderson, Director of Residential Programs

Anderson is responsible for the operations of Ruth’s House, the Ruth Ellis Center’s full-time residential program that is a State of Michigan licensed Child Caring Institution. She will also manage the work the Center conducts with the Child Welfare System and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Anderson has more than 12 years of experience in social work and previously held positions at Affirmations, the Visiting Nurse Association and Lutheran Adoption Services.

Jessie Fullenkamp, Director of Drop-in Services

Jessie joined the Ruth Ellis Center as Program Coordinator in October of 2010. She is responsible for managing all services provided through the Center’s Second Stories Drop-in Center, which include support groups, on-site mental health therapy and testing. Fullenkamp has been instrumental in activating street and venue based outreach services, instituting the Center’s community mental health contract, and implementing positive youth development and trauma-informed care.

Fullenkamp studied in Kumasi, Ghana and graduated with a BSW from Xavier University of Cinniciati, Ohio. Fullenkamp lived and worked in the Federated States of Micronesia on projects pertaining to education, HIV and women’s issues.  Following this experience, she completed her Masters in Social Work focusing on Social Policy and Evaluation from the University of Michigan in 2010.

Henry Walker, Youth Leadership & Volunteer Programs Coordinator

Henry joined the Ruth Ellis Center as Youth Leadership &Volunteer Coordinator in August of 2011.  Walker is responsible for the creation of youth leadership and advocacy curricula.  Walker also provides support for the more than 50 volunteers who help with the Center’s day today operations.  Previously, Walker served as a substitute with Chicago Public Schools, as the Program Manager for Columbia College Chicago’s GEARUP College Prep Program, and as the Post-Secondary Coach for Morgan Park High School.  He has a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from Columbia College Chicago and a Master’s in Interdisciplinary Studies from Chicago’s Roosevelt University.

Miranda Casero, Residential Manager

Miranda joined the Ruth Ellis Center as Residential Manager in February 2012.  Simmons is responsible for all aspects of Ruth’s House, including the tailoring of a strengths-based residential program that uses a transitions framework to meet the needs of African American LGBTQ youth who are preparing to exit foster care.  Simmons graduated with a BA in Politics & Government and Journalism from Ohio Wesleyan University.  She completed her MSW at the University of Michigan in 2011.  Simmons also provides professional development training about LGBTQ issues to youth-serving organizations around Southeast Michigan.

Kenneth Wilson, Gifts Officer

Kenneth joined the Ruth Ellis Center as Gifts Officer in October of 2010.  Wilson originally joined the Center on a volunteer basis in November of 2009 and then joined the staff of Ruth’s House.  Today, Kenneth is responsible for the stewardship of all gifts and serves as the point of contact for several major campaigns including the successful Emergency Food & Shelter Grant from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.  Wilson graduated from Kubasaki High School in Japan.

Nicholas Piotrowski, Office Manager

Nick joined the Ruth Ellis Center in August and has taken on the role of Office Manager. Piotrowski manages the work behind the scenes at the Ruth Ellis Center which enables us to be so successful and assist so many LGBTQ youth. His responsibilities include human resource management, monitoring of cash management, overseeing accounts payable/vendor relations, donor tracking, and support of outside services.

Before joining the Center, Piotrowski was the executive assistant to Slows Bar BQ owner Phillip Cooley, he is a freelance graphic designer, and worked for the University of Detroit Mercy and Detroit Collaborative Design Center.