MEET THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Min. George E. Ellis, Jr. founded Miami’s River of Life, Inc.a Faith-Based Community Organization on July 28th, 1993 with the support of his wife, Pastor Cecil Lamb and his good friend Dr. Reginald Thompson. Pursued to fulfill the vision God had given him to develop a faith based community organization that would serve both youth and their families with a goal of long term positive change within their communities. Min. Ellis is committed to God’s vision of “Creating hope for many through Love and Charity” by providing youth and their families a renewed outlook on life. With over thirty years of community service and social involvement in youth, civic and social issues in Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida. Min. Ellis has champion the cause of those most in need. His experience and expertise has placed him as a member of many state and local boards and provided Miami’s River of Life with the unique opportunity of being chosen by Miami-Dade County to hire displaced Florida Department of Juvenile Justice employees to continue the provision of Home Detention Services and Juvenile Probationary Supervision when the state budget fell short of the community’s needs after the tragic event on September 11th, 2001. As a provider of shelter and community services to both the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and other state agencies, Min. Ellis has unequivocally demonstrated his knowledge of the issues and needs of our state and local communities. He truly believes that many of the behavior problems exhibited by our youth today is due to “a broken spirit, caused by a lack of love”, and is committed to God’s vision of “Creating hope for many through Love and Charity” to those in our communities whose situation in life looks hopeless.

MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS:

s Chairman, DJJ, Statewide Faith Initiative Leadership Team

s Founding Chair, Family and Children Faith Coalition/Hope For Miami

s Former Chair, Circuit XI, Juvenile Justice Board, 2009 – 2012

s Former Executive Board Member, Miami Children Initiative(MCI), Chair, Advocacy Committee

s Executive Board Member, Circuit XI Juvenile Justice Board, Chair, Faith and Community Committee

s Board Member , The Georgia Ayers Alternative Programs

s Vice Chairman, The FLOW Coalition (Faith-Based Leaders on Watch) 

s Former Vice Chairman, The Elijah Project

s Former Vice Chairman, Recapturing the Vision, Inc. 

s Board Member, Edison/Little Haiti Branch, The Salvation Army

s Former Executive Committee Member, Florida Juvenile Justice Association Board

s Lifetime Member, African-American Council of Christian Clergy

s Coordinator of Outreach Ministries, Spirit of Christ Church and Ministries

Bea L. Hines started  her career at The Miami Herald in 1966 as a file clerk in the paper's library. A year later, she enrolled at Miami Dade Community College and studied journalism. She also was on the staff of The Falcon Times, the college's newspaper. When the managing editor of The Herald saw some of her work, he was so impressed that he hired her as the paper's first African American female reporter. On the second week of June 1970, she started her career as a writer. Of her more than four decades as a journalist, Hines is most proud of the “Issues” column she wrote for nearly five years that ran on the front page of the paper's local section. In that column, she became a voice for the community, not just for African Americans, but for anyone in the community who needed someone to speak up for them.

During that time, she also wrote stories and columns for the Neighbors section. She has been awarded many honors for her writing and community efforts. She is a popular speaker at churches and workshops. She has been a” Woman of Impact” since 1992, and was honored by the City of Miami as a “Pioneer Woman” in the field of Journalism a short time later. She was inducted in the Hall of Fame by Region Four of the National Association of Black Journalists in 2000. Her picture is in the traveling exhibit of Florida's Women of Achievement. The exhibit has been shown throughout Florida and in Washington, D.C. in the Senate Building. Hines also has taught journalism workshops at Memphis State University, Savannah State College, Florida A & M University and at the University of California at Berkeley. 

Hines retired in 2001, but still works for the Miami Herald as a freelancer, writing one column a week in the Neighbors section. Hines is the mother of two grown sons, five beautiful granddaughters, one grandson and four beautiful great-grandchildren.

George E. Jones is the son of TAP Founder Emeritus, and Civic Champion: Ms. Georgia Jones-Ayers. Jones, who was raised in Miami and received his Bachelor’s degree from Edward Waters College, followed in his mother’s early footsteps in pursuing a career as a Professional Insurance Manager. He is licensed to manage Life and Medical claims, Property and Casualty Adjusting processes and a host of other insurance & bonding competencies. He has been retired since 2013 and has served on the TAP Board of Directors since 2014.