Fenty Announces Two Key Community Liaison Appointments

WASHINGTON, DC-  Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced two key appointments for community affairs in the Executive Office of the Mayor.  Fenty named Carla Brailey to the position of Director of Community and Religious Affairs and Rodney C. Mitchell as the Director of Ex-offender Affairs.  

Carla Brailey
Director, Community and Religious Affairs
Prior to her appointment as the Director of Community and Religious Affairs, Carla Brailey served as the Director of the Office of Boards and Commissions for Fenty. In her new position, Brailey will provide direction to the directors of the Executive Office of the Mayor constituent offices, including the offices of Asian Affairs; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs, Veterans Affairs and Ex-offender Affairs. She will also serve at the mayoral liaison and advisor to the faith community including the Interfaith Council.  
A native of Houston, Tex., Brailey has been apart of the DC community for the past seven years. She is a 1994 graduate of Texas State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice.  She received a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology in 1997, and in 2006, she completed a Master of Divinity and Women’s Studies Certificate from Howard University.  She received her PhD in sociology from Howard University in May 2007 focusing on religion and social inequality.  

Along with her academic accomplishments, Brailey served as the Coordinator of Social Services at Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Tex.  She taught primary, secondary, and postsecondary grade levels and served as an assistant principal at the Harmony Science Academy.   Brailey also served as a lecturer in the Afro-American Studies Department at Howard University.   She is most proud of her experience as an Evans E. Crawford Graduate Fellow under the leadership of Dean Bernard Richardson at Howard University’s Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel.  One of her greatest personal accomplishments as a graduate assistant at the chapel included the development of Sis2Sis, the first women’s faith-based ministry at Howard University, which was designed to empower collegiate women socially, politically, psychologically and spiritually.  

As a researcher, scholar-activist, and minister, Brailey has participated regularly in professional meetings, panel discussions, women’s conferences, presented papers, and received several honors. Brailey is a 2002 Minority Institutions of Higher Education Initiative Intern sponsored by the Dwight Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program.  In 2003, she served as a panelist and facilitator at the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star Black Women’s Summit as well as a panelist for the Howard University School of Divinity Convocation.  She is a 2004 Graduate Research Fellow at the Women’s Research and Education Institute (WREI) in Washington, DC, and a co-recipient of the second place award for the Social Science Doctoral Division at Howard University’s Graduate Symposium.  In 2005, she became the first student respondent for the Feminine in Religious Tradition Lecture Series at the Howard University School of Divinity and served as a panelist to address the urgency for Black women to reclaim their images at the National Congress of Negro Women (NCNW) annual conference.  Brailey received the 2005-2006 Ivan Earle Taylor Scholarship.  Additionally, Ms. Brailey was selected among her graduating 2006 cohort to present the invocation prayer at the Annual Graduation Prayer Breakfast at Howard University. Brailey prides herself as bridging theory with practice.  

Rodney C. Mitchell
Director, Office of Ex-offender Affairs
Until his appointment by Mayor Fenty, Rodney Mitchell served as the Coordinator for the Community Reentry Program in Public Defender Services for the District of Columbia. As the coordinator, Mitchell provided legal advice and representation to indigent clients facing legal and social service reentry issues. He also provided technical assistance and advice to other established or start-up reentry programs using best practices models.  

A member of the D.C. Reentry Task Force since 2006, Mitchell has been an advocate for ex-offenders both professionally and personally.  An ex-offender himself, Mitchell is proof of a successful reentry and has worked to provide successful reentries to ex-offenders for more than 15 years.  Mitchell served as the policy analyst and legal advisor to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council from 2003 to 2006 focusing on criminal justice policy regarding ex-offender re/integration programming, community courts, jail overcrowding and alternatives to detention.  He also served as an associate at Ruffin, Bradshaw and Associates.  Prior to becoming an associate he was a judicial clerk for The Honorable Zoe Bush at the District of Columbia Superior Court.  

In 2004, Mitchell co-founded the National Association of Previously Incarcerated Persons (NAPIP) and continues to serve on the board of the organization.  Mitchell has also served as the general counsel and board member for the Right Way Foundation since 2004. He has been a member of the D.C. Jail Links Service Provider Coalition since 2005 and a board member of the D.C. Jail Visitors Center since 2007.  

Mitchell is a native Washingtonian and a proud product of the District of Columbia Public Schools. Mitchell holds his Juris Doctor from George Washington University and is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.  He received his Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and African American Studies from the University of California, Berkley.