Dr. Ericka King-Betts is a Strategy & Performance Manager for the City of Cincinnati. In this position, her responsibilities have included: overseeing the effort to create a multi-million dollar / multi-year Customer Assistance Program, implementing GCWW’s Strategic Business Plan and leading Business Process Improvement initiatives.

Ericka received dual Bachelor degrees in Psychology & Multicultural Studies from Purdue University in 1999. In 2001, she earned a Masters degree in Family Science from The Ohio State University. In 2008, she was awarded a PhD in Consumer & Family Science from Purdue University.

She has received numerous awards. Her recent honors include: 2014 Business Courier Forty Under 40, 2014 and 2013 Who’s Who in Black Cincinnati, 2013 installed into the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Association of 100 Black Women, 2011 Ohio State William Oxley Thompson Award for Leadership & 2010 Purdue University 40 under 40.

Her current professional affiliations include: Every Child Succeeds Board Member 2019 – present; John Purdue Club; Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition Board Member President, Past Vice President, Fundraising & Breakfast Committee Chair; NAACP member; Northwest Local Schools Diversity Committee, Levy Committee, Superintendents Committee; and The Ohio State University Alumni Association.

A native of Cincinnati, OH, Ericka is the wife of Darrell Betts Jr. & proud mother of 2 boys. She genuinely believes in giving back to a community who has given her so much.

Desiré Bennett is a community connector promoting racial justice, women’s
empowerment, and economic self-sufficiency. In addition to her role with the MLK Coalition, she works as a Senior Social Equity Specialist at Design Impact, a nonprofit social innovation firm that uses design to address pressing community issues. Desiré is an ambassador for the United State of Women and she’s served on several boards including the City of Cincinnati’s Citizen Complaint Authority & Gender Equity Taskforce, the Women’s Fund’s Leadership Council, and the Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls.

Jay Payne is member-at-large, immediate past president and current treasurer for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Coalition. Jay firmly believes that each of us has an active part to play in rectifying social ills and inequities and lending our hands and feet to the work of community betterment locally, nationally and internationally. To that end, he has worked alongside his teenage son doing local community service and at mission trips to South Africa and New Orleans.

Jay was Florida Chapter president of the African American focused employee resource group of his former Fortune 100 company employer. He is a board member and newly elected 2nd Vice President for the minorities focused employee resource group at his current workplace. Jay enjoys being involved with his church’s prison ministry and with its Undivided Justice Team, promoting racial and social justice. Jay highly values spending time with family and friends especially when engaging activities are involved.

Martha Viehmann represents her Quaker Meeting, Eastern Hills Friends Meeting, on the Coalition's board, which she joined in 2010. Currently serving as secretary, Martha also compiles and edits the list of books and other resources for all ages related to Dr. King, the civil rights movement, and the promotion of quality information about the history and current state of race relations.

She has a passion for literature by people from diverse backgrounds. Martha Viehmann is a student of Native American literature and cultures and has a PhD in American Studies. She is also active in GAPP-- Greater Anderson Promotes Peace. She brings to the Coalition a passion for equality, bridging divides, and ensuring that all voices are heard.