Kanika Tomalin, L.P.D.
Tomalin is the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla. In this role she works in partnership with Mayor Rick Kriseman to strategically advance one of Florida’s largest cities toward its goals.
As deputy mayor, her citywide purview ranges from operations to strategy and serves to extend the mayor’s reach. Prior to being appointed deputy mayor, Tomalin served as a healthcare executive in various senior leadership capacities for Health Management Associates’ 23-hospital Florida Group and the five-county Bayfront Health Network.
An experienced strategist, she has also worked as a marketer and journalist. Tomalin earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from FAMU, an MBA from the University of Miami and a doctorate from Northeastern University.
She has received numerous awards and appointments and is committed to many causes, namely improving the health of the community she serves.
Exley Warren, Ed.D.
Warren is the newly named deputy superintendent for Instructional Services of the Ferguson- Florissant School District in St. Louis, MO. He comes to the Ferguson-Florissant School District from the Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence in Chattanooga, Tennessee where he has served as principal.
Prior to that, Warren served as district administrator for Chicago Public Schools and associate principal of Propel Schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Warren has taught at the elementary and middle school level in Florida schools. He received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from FAMU, a master’s degree in reading education from Walden University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.
Warren has a reputation for leadership and inspiring students to read. His philosophy on education is that “Real education means to inspire people to live life more abundantly, to learn to begin life where you find it, and make it better” – Carter G. Woodson
Erica Butler
Butler is a senior strategy management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. She currently serves on the company’s community partnership team and serves as chair of the African-American forum. Recently, she was selected as one of 60 women worldwide to participate in the Executive Program for Women Leaders at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Butler is also the founder & chief executive officer of EB Media Group, LLC, a creative communications agency. The seasoned consultant has a background in politics, working on Capitol Hill and serving as a political producer for a major news network. As a journalist, she has contributed to numerous outlets, which include Time Warner, CBS and NBC News. Butler was selected as a New York Times Fellow at U.C. Berkeley for an intensive institute on immigration.
She is a member of the National Press Club, Women in Defense, National Urban League and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Erica regularly volunteers with a Washington, D.C.- based organization called IMPACT, which engages young professionals between the ages of 18 and 40.
