Four fellowships were awarded to applicants who entered in the fall of 2003. Continuing the
broad geographic focus, this cohort of Fellows includes students from Florida, and Georgia.
OLIVER GROSS, of Aventura, Florida, obtained an undergraduate degree in business
administration from Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, in 1979. He is currently
vice-president, property management and development, for the Urban League of Greater Miami, Inc.,
where he oversees all aspects of the League's $30 million commercial and residential real estate
portfolio. He is active in his community and currently serves as chair of the 79th Street Corridor
Neighborhood Initiative, a member of the executive committee of the South Florida Community
Development Coalition, and immediate past chair of the Miami-Dade County Mayors' Urban
Revitalization Task Force.
ARTHUR MITCHELL, SR. resides in Snellville, Georgia, and obtained both a
Bachelor's degree in Agribusiness Education in 1983, and a Master's degree in Agricultural
Extension in 1985, from Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama. He began his educational journey in
his native country at the University of Liberia. He is currently the Economic Development Manager
for the Peoplestown Revitalization Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia. He has previously worked at the
University of Georgia's Cooperative Extension Center and was coordinator for the Ministry of
Agriculture in Monrovia, Liberia. His responsibilities at the Peoplestown CDC include managing
their crime and public safety initiative, commercial and industrial development projects, and a
first-time home ownership program.
SUSAN REYNA, of Leisure City, Florida, earned her undergraduate degree in general
administration and communication from Barry University, Miami, in 2001. She also obtained a
Certified Public Manager designation from Florida State University and a Public Housing Manager
designation from HUD. She is currently the executive director of MUJER (Women United in Justice,
Education and Reform), a nonprofit she founded in 1996. Susan has extensive experience in
grassroots community organizing and housing, and she established the Mexican-American Arts and
Cultural Council. She is the recipient of the Miami Herald's Spirit of Excellence Award, and has
received the Phoenix Award from the Miami chapter of the American Association of University
Women.
DAVID YOUNG resides in Alpharetta, Georgia, and obtained an undergraduate degree
in accounting from the University of Alabama in 1982. Additional studies earned him an MBA in
finance from the Keller Graduate School of Management in 1999, and he participated as a senior
fellow in Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2000. David is currently president of
the Georgia Affordable Housing Corporation, a community development financial institution located
in Atlanta, Georgia. David has been active in numerous housing initiatives for low income and
special needs populations, and he currently serves on the board, and as an officer, of the Real
Estate Development Institute, a nonprofit organization committed to empower minorities with the
knowledge to succeed in the commercial real estate development business.
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