Board of Directors

Joanna Bailey

Joanna Bailey is a wife and the mother of fantastic seven year old. She is an avid reader. She loves animals, the outdoors, and creativity.

She attended the University of Alabama where she obtained both an undergraduate degree and a Master of Library and Information Studies. She has been the Director of the Bay Minette Public Library for 14 years. She is passionate about the arts which is why she believes in the Higher Ground Society mission. She looks forward to helping this organization achieve its goals.

Maiben Beard, Secretary-Treasurer

Born in Connecticut, Candice Crenshaw graduated from Greenville High School in 2007. She attended Troy University where she marched in the Troy University “Sound of the South” Marching Band, was initiated into Tau Beta Sigma (2008) and Sigma Alpha Iota (2010), and ultimately received a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. Crenshaw went on to receive a Master’s in Clinical Mental health Counseling. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Counselor Education & Supervision.

In addition to her academic achievements, Crenshaw has garnered 10 years of experience working with children/adolescents and their families. Her educational and employment background have given her a wide range of experience in the mental health sector. Through her training at Troy University and her experience working in multiple settings, she has become uniquely equipped to holistically assist clients mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Her practice is supported by the belief that the goal of most families is to rebuild and restore or simply to connect to their loved ones, and she sees music and the conversations that derive from it, as a means to sometimes facilitate that conversation.

Crenshaw (and her dog Hazel) looks forward to joining the Higher Ground Society family and is excited to serve as a Higher Ground Society board member.

Candace Crook is a native of Bay Minette, Alabama. She received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, with Magna Cum Laude honors from Troy University. While attending Troy University, she was a leader in various campus organizations, including Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated, Order of Omega National Leadership Honor Society, and Alpha Phi Sigma National Criminal Justice Honor Society. She also graduated as Troy University’s Most Outstanding Woman of 2012, and received the Alpha Phi Sigma Distinguished Honors Graduate Prize, as the top graduating criminal justice student in her graduating class.

After finishing at Troy, Candace attended Faulkner University, Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree with Cum Laude honors. While attending law school, Candace was a Senior Editor on the Faulkner Law Review, a Faulkner Law Public Interest Fellow, as well as a Pupil Member of the Hugh Maddox Inns of Court. Since graduating law school and becoming a licensed attorney in the State of Alabama, Candace has dedicated her time and efforts to the practice of non-profit law. She is currently employed as a Staff Attorney at the YWCA Central Alabama, where she represents victims of gender based violence, sexual harassment, and stalking.

Taylor Culliver

Taylor grew up in Bay Minette, AL. After graduating from Baldwin County High School, he continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania where he studied economics and marketing. While in school he was heavily involved in the school newspaper and developed a love for all things media. After graduating from college he spent a year building an article sharing platform called Vyrtex, and spent two years working at Forbes Media. He went on to become a Community Strategist at a digital marketing agency called Polyphonic & Co before moving to Greenville, SC with his wife where he's currently an Account Executive at a creative marketing agency called Brains on Fire. Outside of his full-time job, he runs a nonprofit called Brother Box that he started in 2018 to inspire Black boys to dream big and be their authentic selves. He's currently the Community Strategist at a digital marketing agency called Polyphonic & Co. He joined the board of Higher Ground Society because he recognizes the importance of the arts and community development in driving a more engaged, active citizenry.

Myrtle Engram

Myrtle Engram is a true daughter of Bay Minette, Alabama. Attending nursery school at Mrs. Sister Moorer’s Daycare, attending kindergarten with Mrs. Josephine Valree (the maternal grandmother of Higher Ground Society founder, Jerald Crook), attending 1st and 2nd grade at Douglasville Elementary School, she eventually participated in the forced integration of Baldwin County, Alabama schools in 1969 as a third grader. Engram then graduated from Baldwin County High School in 1980. As a young person in Bay Minette, she was the first Black cashier at the local, recently closed Piggly Wiggly. In the fall of 1980 Engram attended Alabama State University where she graduated cum laude with a degree in Computer Information Systems in 1984. During her college career Engram was recognized via Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges (1984), Outstanding Young Women of America (1984-1998), and the Alabama State University President’s Award (1984).

Engram went on to lead a 42-year career in information technology, living in Maryland and working for Teradata. She retired in 2015, but immediately re-entered the workforce, working for Armedia before officially retiring in 2024. In her retirement Engram is renovating what is becoming her Retirement Property in Chickasaw, Alabama, close to Africatown, to establish it as the headquarters for the Vivian Diana Engram “DianEncourages” Literacy Foundation and Gardens which honors the legacy of her sister and BEST Friend who transitioned and became her guardian angel on July 1, 2017. The property will also be the home of DuckDeeda Studio which will produce a podcast beginning in Q4 of 2024.

Engram’s other endeavors include being a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Advanced ToastMaster Silver (Toastmaster International), and being a 2024 moderator for Senior Health Class—Contemporary Issues in the News Discussion Group through Holy Cross Health. Engram is also the Best Friend of the superhero Murdock whose superpowers are reading, listening, and creating good. Murdock teaches Moral Literacy to children through character short stories and attributes.

An avid supporter of Higher Ground Society since its inception, Engram looks forward to spending be at least 6 months a year in Alabama, getting involved in a capacity where she can add value and Make a Difference in her 'new' community.

Nicholas Johnson

Sam Price is a musician who uses drumming and rhythm to work with children and special needs individuals in the Auburn community. He graduated from Auburn University with an interdisciplinary study of music through the Anthropology, Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies departments. He is greatly influenced by nature and uses gardening and the great outdoors to deal with personal, familial and generational trauma.

Shannon Smith

Jerald Crook | Founder, Executive Director

Jerald founded Higher Ground Society in 2013 (then Young Man Visions, Old Man Dreams) with a desire to get the people around him excited about the things he was passionate about: the arts, the humanities, and social and environmental justice. Through his work with Higher Ground Society he hopes to be a part of meaningful, positive change in Alabama’s social and cultural landscape by building inclusive, sustainable communities steeped in love and appreciation for the arts and humanities and all community members.