S.C. Center for Fathers and Families board welcomes three new members

COLUMBIA, SC – The S.C. Center for Fathers and Families recently welcomed three new members to its governing board. In alphabetical order, they are:

Dr. Arlene Bowers Andrews, community psychologist and Professor of Social Work at the University of South Carolina, has extensive experience in community-based practice and research, program evaluation, and services systems for families affected by turbulence. At USC she was a founder and former director of the Institute for Families in Society, an interdisciplinary research center that conducts research to enhance families through community partnerships. Prior to her academic career, she was the founding executive director of Sistercare, a multi-county system of services to families affected by intimate partner violence, founding executive director of Prevent Child Abuse-South Carolina, and a board member of multiple community and regional organizations, including the Southern Regional Council. She served for eight years on the South Carolina Joint Legislative Committee on Children and Families, and is an active volunteer in faith-based youth development work. She has been an expert witness on matters of family history and human behavior in federal and several state courts. Dr. Andrews is co-editor of The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Implementing the Right to an Adequate Standard of Living (Praeger, 1999), co-author with Elizabeth Beck and Sarah Escholz of In the Shadow of Death: Families of Loved Ones Who Face the Death Penalty (Oxford University Press, 2006), and the author of Victimization and Survivor Services (Springer, 1992), Send Me! The Story of Salkehatchie Summer Service (Providence Publishing House, 2006), and several articles and book chapters regarding violence prevention and community systems development. Dr. Andrews is a graduate of Duke University and the University of South Carolina. She is married to Stuart Andrews.

Kaela Harmon is the public relations and government affairs manager for the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. Kaela graduated from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, with a degree is Broadcast Journalism and Mass Communications.  She has 10 years of experience in marketing, public relations and broadcast media.  She specializes in brand management and creative messaging with a focus on helping build relationships between the public, the media and business leaders.  Before joining the airport staff she was the advancement coordinator for the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. In that role she was the first African-American to have a leadership position in the organization, as well as the youngest. From 2007 to 2010 she hosted a talk radio program on WGCV 620am; an opportunity that afforded her the chance to interview the likes of Senators Obama and Clinton during the 2008 campaign season. She has also served as a contributor to MyMetroTV on WACH Fox 57. She has volunteered for the United Way of the Midlands and the Midlands Reading Consortium for several years. She also serves as the service chair for the Washington and Lee Alumni Association. Kaela is a graduate of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Columbia Program and has been recognized as a Woman of Influence by both the Columbia Regional Business Report and by Southeastern Business Magazine. She has been listed among The State newspaper’s “20 Under 40” and the SC Black Pages’ list of “40 Under 40.”

Frank Martin is the head coach for the University of South Carolina men’s basketball team. Martin was previously head coach at Kansas State University for five seasons. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at the collegiate level, and head basketball coach at three high schools in Miami. Martin was named the Big 12 Conference Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year in 2010. Martin owns a 145-92 (.611) overall record as a head coach, entering his eighth season overall, and third season at South Carolina. Since his appointment as head coach of the Gamecocks in March 2012, Martin, 48, has become a fixture in the community. He has spoken at numerous events, including Gamecock Club Fan Fests, Rotary Clubs, coaching clinics, and the Fathers and Families Decades of Dads event, among others. He was also selected as a Court Coach for USA Basketball in June 2012, assisting Florida head coach Billy Donovan with the Men’s U18 National Team training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. The camp was used to determine the 12-member roster that represented the USA at the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in late June. He served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s World University Games team in 2013. He was head coach of USA East Coast during the summer of 2014, which represented the United States at the Tallinn Cup in Estonia. A native of Miami, Fla., Martin earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Florida International in 1993. He and his wife, Anya, have three children, Brandon, Amalia and Christian.

About the SC Center for Fathers and Families

The South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine based in Richfield, Ohio. Its mission is based in the conviction that children thrive when an engaged, responsible father is active in their lives. In South Carolina, many children live in a father-absent home, and the consequences are dire. To address this problem, the Center supports six fatherhood programs in 11 communities across the state while promoting father-friendly policies and practices and helping to erase society’s negative stereotypes of unwed, low-income dads.