Our Leadership
Board of Directors
Richard Rice, President
Richard A. Rice is a public interest attorney and community organizer based in Birmingham, Ala. In 2009, he founded The Rice Firm, LLC. In his practice, Rice assists consumers, homeowners, injury victims, veterans, charities and small business owners with a multitude of legal issues. The firm’s practice areas are diverse but are generally focused on the pursuit of social justice and economic empowerment including consumer law, personal injury, human rights/civil rights and small business/non-profit consulting.
Nelson Brooke, Vice-President
Jenny McInerney, Treasurer
Jenny McInerney is an estate planning/probate attorney (McInerney Law Firm) and community volunteer located in Birmingham. She is a lifelong asthmatic and outdoor enthusiast – so clean air is a priority for her. Jenny ran track and cross country while attending college at UAB where she earned her BA and MA in History and Political Science. Jenny received her JD from Indiana University and her LL.M. in Taxation from Washington University in St. Louis. During the day she finds passion in helping others plan their future and helping the disability community understand their legal rights. In her free time, Jenny enjoys kayaking, hiking, and watching her son and husband fly fish. Jenny has three kids and three dogs. She serves on a number of nonprofit boards throughout central Alabama and finds joy in serving the community.
Chenoia Bryant, PhD, Director
Dr. Bryant is a sociologist who critically examines how visual representation across media impacts the mental health of millennial Black women. She has also researched how age discrimination impacts trans persons’ experience with healthcare discrimination. As a professor of sociology and criminal justice at Xavier University of Louisiana, Dr. Bryant critically examines and teaches how race, gender and class impact a multitude of life and health outcomes. She is trained in International Health Care Organization & Policy, with a focus on maternal and child health. She is also an art collector and an art lover.
La’Tanya Scott, Board Member
La’Tanya Scott became Education Director in 2022. She previously served as Cahaba River Society Environmental Science Educator since April 2014, delivering hands-on environmental education programs to students in the classroom and in the field through the Shane Hulsey CLEAN Environmental Education Program. She holds a degree in Environmental Science from Miles College. Even before her graduation, La’Tanya knew that she wanted to work in nature and to inspire people to love the outdoors as much as she does. She has held a lifelong passion for being outdoors and helping people, which she credits her family with nurturing and strengthening throughout her upbringing. La’Tanya also serves on the Junior Board of the Alabama Rivers Alliance and has helped to form the active and dynamic junior board of the Cahaba River Society, for which she serves as staff liaison. She has been the keynote speaker at a variety of events including the Color the Crag Climbing Festival and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference.
Bill Andreen, Board Member
Bill Andreen is the Research Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Alabama School of Law. He joined the Alabama faculty in 1983 and served as the Director of the school’s Summer Exchange Program with the Australian National University (ANU) from 2000 through 2021. He has taught at a number of law schools including Washington & Lee, Lewis & Clark, and Mekelle University in Ethiopia. He served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the ANU in 2005 and taught in a graduate law program at Addis Ababa University from 2009 through 2012. Bill served for many years on the boards of the Alabama Rivers Alliance and the Black Warrior Riverkeeper. He graduated from the College of Wooster and received his law degree from Columbia University.
Rev. Mark Johnston, Board Member
Rev. Mark Johnston Graduated from the University of the South at Sewanee in 1972 and graduated at the St. Luke’s School of Theology at Sewanee in 1980. He worked in churches in Fayette, Tuscaloosa, and in the Black Belt before becoming the Executive Director at Camp McDowell in 1990. He grew McDowell from a summer camp with 4 full time employees to a very large and diverse year-round program with over 50 full time employees and over 125 seasonal employees. McDowell has become the largest camp and conference center in the Episcopal Church. He also started the West Alabama Food Bank while in Tuscaloosa in 1996. He founded GASP in 2009 alongside Kirsten Bryant and Nelson Brooke. His work has awarded him Alabama’s Outstanding Young Religious Leader in 1981, ARC State Volunteer of the Year in 1983 for work with people who have disabilities, The James Dockery Southern Environmental Leadership Award in 1999 The Alabama Rivers Alliance River Hero in 2009, and The Forest Stewardship Certification by the Alabama Forestry Commission in 2011. He has served as GASP’s Treasurer and currently runs the business that he started in 1986, Home Renovation & Real Estate Company.
Carlos Javier Torres, Board Member
Carlos Javier is a strong advocate for systems change to empower all people to make meaningful contributions to communities. Carlos Javier grew up in a loving family in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He attended the University of Puerto Rico where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he completed a Master of Science in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University’s Medical Center. He is the ¡HICA! Programs Director, and worked for the Census Bureau as the Alabama Statewide Latino Partnership Specialist for the 2020 Census Decennial. Before holding that post, he worked as a Senior Program Officer for the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. Carlos previously worked for the Jefferson County Department of Health in Alabama, Samford University, the University of California, San Francisco and, for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.