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Amanda Avalos, Vice-Chair
Commissioner Avalos was appointed to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners in January 2021. She is currently the Senior Civic Engagement Director at Leaders Igniting Transformation. Avalos is a graduate of Marquette University, the Emerge Wisconsin program, the Harvard Business School Young American Leaders Program, and Public Allies (twice). She is a co-Founder of Milwaukee Beautiful, a Legal Observer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, and an activist committed to seeing Milwaukee thrive.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 414-708-0964
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Fred Crouther, D.Min
Commissioner Crouther was appointed to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners in May, 2015. He is the founding Pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church, where he has been preaching, teaching, and shepherding for over 35 years. Under his leadership and direction, the church has undertaken a number of projects and programs aimed at community improvement and citizen empowerment, including a credit union and housing development corporation. Commissioner Crouther completed his undergraduate studies at Alcorn A&M University (formerly Alcorn A&M College) in Lorman, Mississippi and the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree. He also earned a Master's Degree in Religious Studies and a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Strategic Leadership from Faith Seminary in Tacoma, Washington. Commissioner Crouther has served as President of the Wisconsin General Baptist State Convention, Inc., 2nd Vice-President of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., Treasurer of the Board of Directors for OIC-GM, and Chairman of the Community Safety Coalition among other board and leadership appointments. He is a life member of the NAACP and has received a number of awards for his community involvement and leadershp both locally and nationally. Commissioner Crouther has the credentials of a seasoned corporate executive and the humble, caring heart of a servant. A combination not often seen or easily duplicated.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 414-708-6035
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LaNelle Ramey
Commissioner Ramey was appointed to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners in July, 2021. A dynamic and inspirational leader, Commissioner Ramey comes to the FPC with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from Marquette University and significant experience serving the Milwaukee community. He was instrumental in the creation of the Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement within Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), supported the African American Leadership Program at Cardinal Stritch University, and lead a $2 million Academic and Healthy Sports Initiative that provides academic support, career exploration, athletics, and service learning to 2000 members annually with Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. Since 2019, Commissioner Ramey has served as the Executive Director of MENTOR Greater Milwaukee, where he has focused his attention on preparing and equipping mentoring organizations to provide quality and effective mentoring to young people throughout Greater Milwaukee. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at Cardinal Stritch University and most recently was a founding board member of the Inaugural Milwaukee Health Board.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 414-708-3343
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Dana World-Patterson
Commissioner World-Patterson was appointed to the Board of the Fire and Police Commission in December 2021. Commissioner World-Patterson is the founder of a nonprofit organization, Foundations for Freedom, Inc. an organization who recently was given an opportunity to redevelop an eight-unit apartment building into transitional housing for women. She also serves as a mayoral appointee on the Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Commissioner World-Patterson is the chair of the Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee and has been part of this task force for over 14 years. World-Patterson is a graduate of Jackson State University and earned a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. Commissioner World-Patterson is very committed to her work and hopes to use her experience to inform her work as a new commissioner.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 414-708-4262
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Bree Spencer
Commissioner Spencer was appointed to the Board of the Fire and Police Commission in April 2022. Commissioner Spencer serves as a Senior Program Manager on Policing at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a legacy civil rights organization that advocates for an America as good as its ideals. Before joining The Leadership Conference, Bree was the Director of Evaluation and Technical Assistance at Safe & Sound, where she created and managed revenue-generating technical assistance for community-engaged public safety programs. She also served as the Director of Community Programs and Neighborhood Safety Coordinator at Safe & Sound. Commissioner Spencer is a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she teaches program evaluation to first-year Master’s students. Commissioner Spencer has her MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 414-708-8252
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Ruben Burgos
Commissioner Burgos was appointed to the Board of the Fire and Police Commission in September 2022. Commissioner Burgos currently serves as a senior lecturer at the University of Milwaukee Wisconsin, in the Criminal Justice & Criminology department. Commissioner Burgos worked for the Milwaukee Police Department for 33 years — 22 years as a detective, five years as a lieutenant of the Intelligence Division, and five years in police management. His expertise is bomb squads, polygraphs, and criminal investigations of narcotics, gangs, and homicide. Burgos teaches Introduction to Criminal Justice, Correctional Process, and Juvenile Justice. He is an expert in crime intelligence. Commissioner Burgos himself is also a University of Milwaukee Alumni, as he obtained his bachelor’s degree from the university. Commissioner Burgos currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Scholarship Foundation and heads security operations at the Mexican Fiesta festival that takes place annually at Summer fest grounds. Ruben Burgos continues to serve and live in the City of Milwaukee.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 414-758-5426
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Gerard Washington
Commissioner Washington was appointed to the Board of the Fire and Police Commission in September 2022. Commissioner Washington currently serves as the Fire Chief of Menomonee Falls Fire Department and resides in the City of Milwaukee. A retired assistant fire chief with the Milwaukee Fire Department, he continues to serve Wisconsin communities in numerous capacities. In his role as assistant fire chief, he led diversity and inclusion initiatives for fire cadet and firefighter recruitment, which was recognized at a national level. He led the Fire 20/20 initiative, which was a program funded by the Department of Homeland Security and focused on building effective service delivery to multicultural communities. Commissioner Washington holds a master’s degree in Business Management and a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, with a minor in Psychology. He is also a graduate of the United States War College in Leader Development (National Security and Strategy). He has a passion for working to develop and mentor future leaders and is an expert in organizational effectiveness within the fire service. Commissioner Washington currently serves on the board of directors for Diverse and Resilient, a Milwaukee area non-profit organization that does both capacity building and direct service work to address the health disparities experienced by the LGBTQ community in Wisconsin and St. Coletta Day School, which serves students ages 9-21 with intellectual disabilities. He is a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association (WSFCA), the Waukesha Fire Chiefs Association (WCFCA), and the liaison between the WCFCA and the Milwaukee County Fire Chiefs Association (MCFCA).
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 414-708-6539
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Miriam Horwitz
Commissioner Horwitz was appointed to the Board of the Fire and Police Commission in December of 2022. Miriam R. Horwitz is an attorney experienced in employment law and workplace issues. She currently works with the Goldstein Law Group in Milwaukee. Miriam is a graduate of Northwestern University (BA) and Northeastern University School of Law (JD). Miriam was a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Milwaukee from 2014 to 2020 supervising the section on litigation, employment, employee benefits, contracts, and municipal law. Miriam also served as an Assistant City Attorney from 2000 to 2014. Before her municipal career, Miriam was a partner in the firm of Zubrensky, Padden, Horwitz & Weir practicing labor, employment, and workers’ compensation law. In addition, Miriam served as President of the Government Lawyer’s Division of the State Bar, and on the Board of Governance from 2015 to 2016. Currently, Miriam is on the Board of Tikkun Ha’Ir, a social action organization with a mission to “heal the city.” Deeply committed to and a resident of the City of Milwaukee, Miriam, was honored to receive the State Bar of Wisconsin’s first Trailblazer award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in 2019.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 414-708-6259
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