For Immediate Release

For additional information, contact:
Elmere Campbell
Office of Fund Raising and Development
601-969-1500 ext. 11

Tuesday, May 28, 2008

--Jackson, MS-- Riding on a tidal wave of success from its 10th Year Anniversary and Founders’ Day Celebration, Veronica Hartwell, President & CEO, announced today The Nominal Group, Inc. [TNG]’s efforts to keep its partners, sponsors, supporters and friends engaged in the organization’s mission.

In the coming months, TNG will highlight "little known" facts about the organization. TNG will highlight major partnerships, fundraising events, trainings, and unveil its new Division of Evaluation & Research Services (DERS).

To begin with, Hartwell says, I know that people did not know that our Division of Capacity-Building Training and Technical Assistance:

• Provides weekly and monthly in-house performance management that helps nonprofit administrative personnel move their organizations to the next level of operation and service delivery
• Writes grants for organizations, including faith-based, community-based, nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
• Conducts 3-day trainings on Grants Writing.
• Has written grants for more than 20 agencies with over 20 million dollars in total grant awards.
• Maintains a team of subject matter experts that conducts technical reviews of grants written by organizations.
• Conducts 1-day trainings on Broad Development.
• Develops Comprehensive Core Management Plans for organizations to use as a tool to improve staff relations, expedite service delivery and improve operational performance.
• Develops 3-5 year Comprehensive Business Plans [Strategic Plans].
• Conducts Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis.
• Develops logic models and coaches organization personnel on how to manage programs by objectives, and how to utilize Earned Value Management Techniques, Critical Path Models and Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT) Charts for program management.
• Is available to implement, monitor and evaluate programs for continual growth and improvement.
• Is available to attend meetings, trainings, conferences and workshops to network with others in your field to learn and transfer best practices to your program staff.
• Can adapt any of its services to your office, program, agency or organization’s specific public health performance management needs and outcomes.
• Can assess your organization’s current federal grants outcome measures and data collection techniques and discuss their future relations to the new National Outcome Measures (NOMs).
• Is the Grant Writer for the Georgia Black Chamber of Commerce www.gablackchamberofcommerce.org.
• Is a Consultant for the Georgia Center for Nonprofits.
• Is a member of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals.
• Is the Capacity Building Training and Technical Assistance provider and Business Solutions developer for Hotep and Skinnymen Productions www.skinnymen.com.
• Is the Capacity Building Training and Technical Assistance Provider and Grant Writer for Be Someone, Inc. www.besomeone.org
• Is the Capacity Building Training and Technical Assistance provider to more than 12 Community-based and faith-based organizations in Georgia and Mississippi.
• Is a Resource Partner for the Atlanta Urban League Economic Empowerment Center and Urban Entrepreneur Partnership. http://www.atlantaecc.com.

To learn more about TNG, read about our services and other tidbits in the archive section on our website at www.thenominalgroup.org. We can also be reached at 601.969.1500.

 For Immediate Release

For additional information, contact:
Elmere Campbell
Office of Fund Raising and Development
601-969-1500 ext. 11

Monday, August 27, 2007

--Jackson, MS-- Internationally recognized Jazz Drummer Quinous Johnson will perform at The Nominal Group, Inc. 10th Year Anniversary and Founders’ Day VIP reception and banquet. Banquet attendees are in for a real treat, says Veronica Hartwell, President & CEO. Johnson has been actively involved in the music industry for more than 25 years. He has credited the late Mississippi Delta Blues artist, Sam Chatman with jump-starting his career. At the age of nine, Johnson accompanied the singer/guitarist on a drum set made of boxes. His professional career started to flourish when he began touring the nightclub circuit at the prohibited age of 14.

Throughout his early career, Johnson performed with support acts for such artists as Rufus featuring Chaka Kahn, Kool and the Gang, The Chilites, The Four Tops, The Bar-Kays, Ray Charles, Larry Graham, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly and Earth Wind and Fire to name a few.

Johnson soon left the nightclub circuit to enter Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. (1975). After graduating with honors in (1978), he landed a full-time position on the Berklee College faculty (1979-1981). There he provided classroom instruction in Ear Training, Jazz Arranging, Jazz Harmony and Listening Analysis. He also conducted small band ensembles which included such notables as saxophonist Branford Marsalis, drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, bassist Victor Bailey. Private Study with drummers Marvin "Smitty" Smith, (Tonight Show Band) and Keith Carlock. (Sting / Steely Dan)

Johnson has performed as a drummer for such artist as Thelma Houston, Percy Sledge, Milt Hinton, Teddy Edwards, Donald Byrd, Katie Webster, Moses Allison, Tiger Okoshi and Mike Stern. He has recorded and co-produced for Malaco, JVC and ACE record labels. He has performed as a percussionist for the stage plays; West Side Story, A Good Man Is Hard To Find and God’s Trying To Tell You Something.

Quinous Johnson is also the Director of RhythmStick Productions. A multi-faceted production company involved in record production, music education and live entertainment.

His work abroad includes Venezuela, Bermuda, Argentina, Indonesia, Bahrain, Oman, Japan, Holland, Spain, Italy, and Belgium.

Johnson is a 1995 graduate of Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi with a Masters degree in Music Education. In addition to traveling the world, Johnson is also an Instructor at Jackson State University.

For more information about The Nominal Group, Inc., and becoming a part of this celebration, interested person may call (601) 969-1500, or visit the organization’s website at www.thenominalgroup.org.

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For Immediate Release

For additional information, contact:
Elmere Campbell
Office of Fund Raising and Development
601-969-1500 ext. 11

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

--JACKSON, Miss… Plans for The Nominal Group, Inc.’s 10th Anniversary Founders’ Day celebration were announced today, with the prideful affirmation that Lora H. Cole, Deputy Commissioner of the Community Corrections Division of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) will be the guest speaker for the Founders’ Day banquet.    As the main event of the organization’s day-long celebration, the banquet will be held at the Marriott Hotel, Downtown Jackson, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., on October 6, 2007.  A VIP reception from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., featuring music by Quinous Johnson Jazz Trio and chess talk by the chess master Orrin Hudson will precede the banquet. 

As Deputy Commissioner of the MDOC Community Corrections Division, Cole  oversees the division  responsible for protecting public safety through the supervision of probationers and parolees in the community.  Comprised of approximately 500 employees, the Community Corrections Division is responsible for residents in four restitution centers and inmates in seventeen community work centers.  

Cole is a graduate of Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss., with a BA in Criminal Justice and a M.Ed. in Guidance and Counseling.  She has held adjunct instructor positions at Jackson State University and Hinds Community College. 

Other festivities of the day-long celebration commemorating The Nominal Group’s 10th year of service to west Jackson youth, their families and communities will include “Community, Family and Youth Day,” to be held at 120 Rose Street, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon on October 6th.  

Since 1997, The Nominal Group has addressed health and safety prevention and education needs of minority youth and their families in west Jackson, MS, and provided technical assistance and training to community-based organizations, churches, and other nonprofit agencies which enable them to provide targeted services.   The organization’s “Reducing the Risk to West Jackson Youth” prevention and education program includes both after-school care and summer enrichment program components. 

For more information about The Nominal Group, Inc. and becoming a part of this celebration, interested persons may call (601) 969-1500, or visit the organization’s website at  www.thenominalgroup.org.

      #

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

--Jackson, MS… “Our long term investment in the youth of West Jackson Mississippi continues to pay off,” says Veronica Hartwell, Chief Executive Officer of The Nominal Group, Inc., (TNG),  expressing her obvious pride in the Grove Park Cubs 9-4 baseball tournament championship win over the Grove Park Reds, on June 9, 2007.  The Cubs, composed of inner-city youth ages 11 and 12 years, is affiliated with the Grove Park Boys Association and recently finished the 2007 season with a 10-2 record. 

The Little Cubs, ages 6-8, finished the season with a 4-5 record.  TNG is the primary sponsor of both Cubs teams.  “There is great potential in these young people, and we look forward to observing their growth over the years,” Hartwell says.

TNG continues to provide financial contribution to The Cubs, to help them to meet such needs as purchasing uniforms, Gatorade, a first aid kit, trophies, balls and equipment, an equipment bag, and to sponsor an end-of-season banquet.  

Desmond Funchess, volunteer coach for The Cubs for the past five years, and The Little Cubs for the past year, expressed his pride as well of both teams.   Funchess emphasizes: “In a time when our young people are dealing with issues like drugs, teen pregnancy, and violence, it is up to us as leaders in our various communities to start caring and sharing.  Being a part of something worthwhile can teach a child life lessons.  I’ve discovered that instilling the value of teamwork at an early age builds skills that will follow a child the rest of his/her life.”

Veronica Hartwell, Founder and CEO of TNG, stated, “The Nominal Group has provided programs for youth since it was founded in 1997, addressing such concerns as prevention of youth crime and violence; prevention of alcohol and other substance use and abuse; and prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. We are proud to be able to sponsor both teams and thereby extend our efforts and services to youth, their families and our community.”

Hartwell urges that primary sponsorship of both teams does not mean that all of the needs of these little leaguers are being met.  She urges community-wide support of the teams, both through donations and attendance at their games which are held approximately three-days a week during baseball season at Grove Park, including Saturdays.    

Hartwell adds, “Community-wide support for our youth for positive activities and pro-social behaviors and intolerance of violence and antisocial behavior will help youth in their struggles against the negative life-style challenges confronting them each day. As families, schools, and the community rally around the positive actions of our little leaguers and other youth, community protective social risk factors will be developed.  These protective risk factors will help to prevent youth crime and violence, substance use and abuse, and sexual risk behaviors that can lead to teen parenting, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases.”

To join The Nominal Group, Inc. in sponsoring The Cubs, The Little Cubs or other youth programs, contact Elmere Campbell, Office of Fund Raising and Development, The Nominal Group, Inc., 931 Highway 80 West, Suite 2B-2, Jackson, MS 39204:  phone - (601) 969-1500; fax - (601) 969-1505; email - info@thenominalgroup.org.    If sending a check or money order via mail to The Nominal Group, Inc., please designate “For The Cubs” in your memo section.   Donations for The Cubs teams may also be made payable to “Boys Baseball Association” and sent to Desmond Funchess, 6317 Ashley Drive, Jackson, MS 39213.

The teams will be honored at TNG’s 10th Year Anniversary and Founders’ Day celebration and banquet, Saturday, October 6, 2007, at the Marriott Hotel, downtown Jackson, MS.

Learn more about The Nominal Group, Inc., its programs and services to youth, families, and community organizations, and its 10th Year Anniversary and Founders’ Day celebration plans by visiting their website at www.thenominalgroup.org. 

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

--Hapeville, GA. Veronica Hartwell, Chief Executive Officer of The Nominal Group, Inc. announced today that Reinetta Thompson Waldrop, with expertise in healthcare delivery systems and Dr. Darrin Graham with curriculum design, evaluation, and research expertise, have joined TNG’s Georgia team of "best and brightest."

Reinetta Thompson Waldrop has over 25 years of leadership experience in healthcare delivery systems. Her experience includes project management and implementation, budgeting and financial systems management, strategic planning, programmatic needs assessments, grants writing and contract administration, IT systems software improvements, and infrastructure improvement. She has conducted operational reviews leading to millions of dollars in expense reductions and has worked with healthcare agencies and community based organizations to improve service delivery and workforce productivity. She has held increasingly responsible positions in her health systems career including Deputy Director and State District Health Administrator, CEO of a federally funded 330 community health center, hospital administrator, and director of Management Engineering for a major health system in the Atlanta area.

Mrs. Waldrop completed her undergraduate studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and earned her Masters Degree in Health Systems Management Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2001, she earned a certificate of achievement in Public Health Management from the Management Academy for Public Health (MAPH) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has published numerous articles and has presented at seminars and workshops on health topics both nationally and internationally.

Mrs. Waldrop is active locally and nationally in many healthcare professional organizations including the American College of Healthcare Executives, where she holds Fellow status and is certified in healthcare management, the National Association of Health Services Executives, the Georgia Association of Healthcare Executives, and the American Public Health Association. She presently serves on faculty in the Master of Public Health Program at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Darrin P. Graham holds a Doctorate degree in Curriculum and Instructions from Argosy University, a Masters of Arts degree in Adult Education from Central Michigan University, and a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology from Regents College. His areas of expertise include Curriculum Design, Evaluation, Research, Adult Literacy, and Instructions.

Dr. Graham is a retired U.S. Army Non-Commissioned Officer with 20 years of dedicated service in logistic management. He presently functions as an Adjunct Professor at Central Michigan University and Troy University.

These individuals bring specific expertise to TNG that will assist us as we continue to expand the services we offer.  If we are to be a "resource of choice" solicited to provide consultative solutions for a myriad of needs of today’s organizations, we will continue to tap the best minds that will assure measurable outcomes for our customers, Hartwell said.

To learn more about TNG’s services: Starting a Nonprofit, 501 (c )(3) Organization, Board Development and Training, Program Planning and Development, Project Management, Strategic Planning and Program Evaluation and Analysis, please visit our website: www.thenominalgroup.org. 

To learn more about TNG’s role as a Resource Partner for the Atlanta Urban League Economic Empowerment Center and the Urban Entrepreneur Partnership, go to: http://www.atlantaeec.com/News/Release.asp?RefItem=138.