Leadership Team

Meet the Founder/CEO

Lorraine E. Thomas, M.Ed., is an executive leader, trainer and coach. She considers herself a lifelong learner and hopes to inspire others to reach their full potential. As CEO and President of Destiny’s Daughters of Promise, her role is to ensure ongoing programmatic excellence and consistent quality of administration, fundraising and communications. She has a Master’s Degree in Education and is a long-time educator at the elementary school level, instructional coach, and facilitator of administrative leadership skills.

As a dedicated and extensively experienced educator and trainer for 20+ years, Lorraine enjoys speaking to diverse audiences at conferences, retreats, schools and other community organizations. A down-to-earth and memorable speaker, she builds on her experience as an Instructional Coach to conduct training and workshop sessions for adults and teens. She is zealous about helping teens discover their unique gifts and talents, build resilience and make healthy choices. Lorraine is a leader in advocating for youth engagement in civil society and the processes that shape their futures. She is a firm believer that youth participation in community service prepares them to become contributing members of society.

In addition to her passion for youth success, Lorraine also provides coaching, leadership and personal development programs for women. Her career highlights include being an Army Veteran, Executive level leader, Author, and recipient of the David Watts Scholar award. Lorraine has earned multiple achievements and recognition for community service. She resides in the Metro Atlanta area.  

Meet the Board 

The DDP Board of Directors holds Destiny’s Daughters of Promise accountable, collaborates on strategy, maintains standards, ensures quality, and works tirelessly achieve the mission of the organization. 

Cassandra Oliver, Board Chair

Cassandra Oliver is currently an Area Manager for Global Ordering Sales Support at AT&T in Technology & Operations. She leads a team of Client Support Specialists with responsibility for the post-sales customer experience for Business Voice over IP services. She is a customer-focused leader and is passionate about providing excellent customer service to all those she supports and beyond. She is a native of Detroit living in Atlanta with her two daughters.

Cassandra is a servant leader who believes “A life of significance is about SERVING those who need your gifts, your leadership, your purpose.” — Kevin Hall. She is passionate about transforming our future by empowering our communities today. Cassandra currently sits on the National Executive Board of Community NETwork African American Telecommunication Professionals-an AT&T Employee Resource Group. Cassandra joined DDP because of its mission of empowering young girls to realize the greatness that they already possess to be the next generation leaders of our communities and world. 

Interesting fact about me: I love adventure! 

Cathye Robinson, Board Vice Chair

Cathye Robinson is currently an Information Technology Director at Georgia-Pacific LLC in the Corporate Financial Systems area. She is a North Carolina native and holds a B.S. in Office Systems Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Cathye has served in many organizations, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Girl Scouts, and other church and community groups.  She has been a Special Needs advocate in Cobb County Schools and enjoys being a professional and personal mentor.

Cathye joined the board because she has been blessed with amazing personal and professional female role models and mentors, beginning with her mother and sister. She believes in the core values of Destiny Daughters of Promise (Commitment, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence), so it seemed natural to want to help the young ladies of DDP develop leadership and life skills.

Interesting fact about me: I live in an “only-girl zone” with my husband and two sons. Over the years, I have gotten much-needed girl time by spending time with my nieces, friends’ daughters, and by volunteering.

Andrea Lockhart, Board Treasurer

Andrea Lockhart is the Owner of Advisory CPA Group. Advisory CPA Group caters to individuals and small businesses offering services in accounting, income taxes, and consulting. She is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the state of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from North Carolina A&T State University of Greensboro, NC. She is an experienced tax, accounting, and audit professional with over 26 years of public and private industry experience. Andrea began her career as an auditor with Ernst & Young LLP in Atlanta. She further enhanced her auditing skills as an internal auditor for Coca Cola Enterprises traveling across the United States, Canada, and Europe primarily focusing on operations, internal controls, and productivity. After spending several years in auditing Andrea transitioned into finance and accounting. She became the Assistant Vice-President of Consolidations at Equifax, Inc., overseeing all financial statement preparation activities. Andrea spent five years as a Controller of a major international corporation that grossed $25 million in revenue and was responsible for all tax and accounting related functions.

Andrea joined the Board to help increase the awareness for the need to make sure our young girls are equipped with the skills needed to be successful in life. As the mother of a 10 year old daughter, Andrea knows firsthand how her teachings can be more readily received by a mentor. Mentors played a significant role in Andrea’s life and she is dedicated to paying it forward. She also hopes her daughter will participate in Destiny’s Daughters of Promise programs when she becomes of age.

Interesting fact about me: I love adventure! One year for vacation I went on a five day hike on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest free-standing mountain located in Tanzania. I am also a triathlete. I love swimming, biking, and running all in one race.

Rebecca Thomas, Board Secretary

Rebecca Thomas is originally from St Thomas, USVI. She completed her BA in Sociology at the University of South Florida. Rebecca holds two positions including her long-term role for Publix Super Markets and as a Virtual Assistant for Virtually Organized. Rebecca has a passion for organizing and helping others get organized.

Rebecca joined the board as the Board Secretary. She is excited about the challenge and is looking forward to utilizing her organizational skills in this role. Her hope is that these qualities will also help further the goals and vision of the organization.

Interesting fact about me: I am a huge smooth jazz fan and enjoy art festivals.

Derek Whitner, Board Director

Derek Whitner is currently a REALTOR with Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Metrobrokers. Derek holds a BA in Economics from the University of South Carolina and an MBA in Finance from Clark Atlanta University. He’s held multiple corporate finance roles in Fortune 500 companies such as Ford, Delta & Lockheed Martin. Originally from Greenville, SC, Derek’s a proud husband and father. Derek can usually be found engulfed in one or multiple of his Five “F’s”: Faith, Family, Friends, Food & Fun.

Derek joined the DDP Board because he believes in the Mission, Vision and Core Values that our founder has laid forth. Derek hopes to contribute to the overall growth of DDP and to assist young women in our community in achieving their dreams and goals.

Interesting fact about me: I am a Foodie!!!!!!

Lavenia Whitner, Board Director

Currently a Solution Director at Inspirage, Lavenia Whitner is an accomplished, innovative sales leader with extensive experience in leading high-performance teams and developing strategic initiatives to help drive sales. Through M&A starting with JD Edwards, acquired by Peoplesoft and then Oracle, Lavenia brings over 22 years of seasoned consulting experience. She’s a graduate of Spelman College, with a B.S. in Computer Science and holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Sharing a passion for the “5Fs” (Faith, Family, Friends, Food and FUN!), Lavenia resides in Marietta, GA with her husband, Derek Whitner, serves as Step-Mom to Kaitlyn and “DJ” and “Pommy Mommy” to their fur babies, Bo and Luke.

Having participated as a mentor in Spelman’s Sister-2-Sister student mentoring program, Lavenia is drawn to and compelled by DDP’s mission to help teen girls grow into strong women.

Interesting fact about me: I went Tandem Skydiving with a great college friend (and former roommate) to memorialize her move from Atlanta back to CA. Just jump!

Reba Noel, Board Director

Reba Noel is currently Legal Counsel for Marshall Denning Global Law Firm where she supports DXC Technology. She is a Washington DC native and holds a B.A. in Government and Politics with a minor in US Latino Studies as well as a certificate in Latin American Studies from the University of Maryland (College Park). Reba continued her education at Charlotte School of Law where she received her Juris Doctorate degree and Corporate Compliance Certificate. Reba has served in many organizations, including Alpha Theta Gamma Multicultural Sorority, Inc., The Cool Girls, College Success Ministry at Berean Christian Church and other community groups.

Reba joined the board because her spiritual gift is teaching and mentoring in any capacity and found that the mission and values of Destiny’s Daughters of Promise directly aligned with her core values. Reba’s goals include inspiring and motivating the youth, especially our young girls as they can learn from some of her trials and tribulations. She believes that her passion and professional background will continue this great legacy that Destiny’s Daughters of Promise has built.

Interesting fact about me: I have dual citizenship with the USA and Grenada, W.I. I absolutely LOVE traveling and anything in the creative realm of life (theatre, music, films, open mic nights, etc.).

Susan Simmons-Stevenson, Board Director

Susan Simmons-Stevenson is founder and CEO of The Lifecycle Network, an Atlanta-based human resource and consulting firm. Susan holds both a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Human Resources Management (MHRM) from Keller Graduate School of Management. Susan brings over 15 years of experience from Fortune 500 corporate and global search firms in full-lifecycle, senior-level recruitment and talent management. Susan is an expert at developing and managing client relationships across a broad range of industries in the delivery of retained search, RPO recruitment and talent acquisition consulting engagements. Susan is passionate about helping businesses make the most of their resources and talent and helping individuals make the most of their job search.

Susan joined the board because she believes in the Mission and Vision of Destiny’s Daughter of Promise which aligns with her mission to empower young girls to dream BIG.

Interesting fact about me: I love lifting weights.

Yang Adija, Board Director

Yang Adija is VP, Business Operations and Strategy for Turner NBA Digital. In his role, he is responsible for managing the overall business operations and daily execution of strategic and tactical initiatives of NBA Digital. Yang manages the properties NBATV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. He works closely with the NBA as a partnership on communication and execution of league initiatives, including new business development deals, new strategic partnerships, and new product initiatives.

Yang joined the board of Destiny’s Daughters of Promise to help empower young women. With two young girls of his own, Yang believes in the power of reaching girls at a young age to help ensure a future of success.

Interesting fact about me: I enjoy reading and sports.