About Us
Our Mission
Our mission is to strengthen strategic partnerships through arts and culture to build a vibrant, thriving community.
We strengthen and enrich our neighborhoods by providing spaces that utilize our community’s unique history and proximity to the Harriet Tubman UGRR Byway to inspire conversation, embrace and celebrate diversity, and foster economic development.
We provide programs that help connect our community through the shared experience of art and culture, working from within the community to build unity where there has been a long history of division.
Our History
Alpha Genesis was formed by the late Reverend John Green Jr. It was a para ministry to Christ Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA. The mission supported woman and children, provided economic stimulus through job training, summer camp and after school programs for children.
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Our Board
Our Board Members are amazing! We take our passions, creativity and convictions and turn them into action. Think you would be a good fit? Get in touch for more information!
Our Board Members
Adrian Holmes
Founder/ Program Director
A former U.S. Air Force veteran, Ms. Holmes also brings more than 15 years of military leadership and management experience in her role at the helm of the AGCDC. Her natural ability to lead and connect with people, along with her creative eye for design and art, complements the positive and inclusive image that Cambridge is working to establish.
Ms. Holmes dedication to the Cambridge community runs deep. As co-owner of the Liv Again furniture store and the Art Bar, she managed the day-to-day business affairs while continuing to promote programs focusing on culture, diversity, inclusion, and enlightenment. The Art Bar was also a hub for formal and informal conversations on rich topics and thought leadership, with subject matter ranging from politics and race relations to cultural diversity, religion, and entrepreneurial ventures. Ideas were exchanged and lives were changed. From that platform, AGCDC facilitated yet another dynamic community conversation on cultural proliferation of the name Groove City. The outcome was a documentary entitled, “You Don't Know Nothing About Groove City.” This film traces the origin of the name, Groove City, which began in the African American community within Cambridge.
Ms. Holmes conceptualized and was the lead organizer of the historic Day of Resilience event which, in 2019, commemorated the 400th anniversary of the transatlantic slave trade. Programming for the event also included a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the nationally renowned Harriet Tubman mural, "Take My Hand," painted by local artist, Michael Rosato. This mural has touched millions of people from around the world and has drawn thousands of visitors to Cambridge, MD. It reflects the power of the collective voice, unity, and creativity—essential elements to building a thriving community.
Ms. Holmes and her Alpha Genesis team facilitated the public art forum which inspired the concept and creation of the Harriet Tubman mural. The award-wining Day of Resilience event received numerous gubernatorial, senatorial, and congressional citations and was recognized by the Heart of the Chesapeake Heritage Area's project of the year for 2019. Ambassadors from the African Embassies of Mali, Togo, and Namibia as well as Dr. Julius Garvey, son of the late Marcus Garvey, were also in attendance.
Ms. Holmes’ was the lead organizer for a 2-year fundraising campaign, Harriet’s Journey Home. This fundraiser raised over 400k to install a 12-foot bronze statue of Harriet Tubman at the Dorchester County Courthouse on September 10, 2022. A place where enslaved people were auctioned and enslaved. This well executed plan was comprised of 100’s of community volunteers and over a dozen diverse local organizations who worked together to bring the statue to fruition.
Since the installation of the statue, Alpha Genesis CDC will manage 3 capital projects; new AGCDC administrative offices, a 2-million-dollar Harriet Tubman Pavilion and a 4.5-million-dollar state historic tax credit award to renovate FW Woolworth Building. These projects are anticipated to be completed by early spring 2025.
April Byrd
Vice President
April Byrd is an entrepreneur, inventor and US Navy Disabled Veteran, from Paterson NJ. After serving our country honorable for 8 years, she and her family settled in the Washington DC metropolitan area where she put her military skills to use by day while grooming her enterprising skills part-time. Utilizing her leadership and management skills, she became a dynamic Mary Kay Senior Sales Director, winning 2 free cars.
The training she received there was unparalleled. After 17 years and several other business ventures, she decided to put all the priceless training and knowledge to work for herself and is the CEO of Lady Byrd Enterprise
Lykinda Camper
Treasurer/ CFO
Ms. Camper, Certified Housing Development Finance Professional and Accountant has 20+ years of Development experience on the local and Federal levels. Ms. Camper has had oversight, management and closing of $360+ million of Federal Grant Funds, as well as additional oversight, management and closing of $300+mil subsidies to include LIHTC, HTC, DOT, lot sales and bonds. She has in addition-maintained oversight and management of 8 other projects valued at $225+ million each. Her oversight and management in commercial development projects average $250+ million per average single project.
During her tenure as the Controller at the Baltimore City Department of Housing, Ms. Camper oversaw the management and closing of $150+ million in Federal Grant funds to redevelop communities in Baltimore City through several Federal programs. These programs concentrated on mixed-financed and mixed-use developments. Notable projects under these programs are Albemarle Square, formerly Flag house projects, Uplands, Broadway homes, and Orchard Ridge. She was asked to join the leadership team of the District of Columbia, Department of Housing where she was part of the leadership team, which was awarded the competitive New Markets Tax Credits, one of two housing authorities in the United States to receive the award. The most notable project during her tenure there is the Howard Theater as well as the UNCF building in Washington DC.
As the CFO of a private real estate development/management company, Ms. Camper has recently branched out into the commercial real estate industry. She is currently managing Canton Crossing, phases I and II as well as McHenry Row in Port Covington. She was also a part of the team that recently finished the JP Morgan Chase Exelon building in Harbor Point in Baltimore, Maryland. As the CFO of nonprofit in Baltimore, MD from 2014-2018, Ms. Camper oversaw the development of 156 affordable housing units as well as three Historic Tax Credit projects, EBHI, II, and III. Ms. Camper is currently the Principal of Camper & Associates, Inc. A CPA, tax and accounting firm located in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ms. Camper’s areas of expertise include, pre-deal stage of valuation, due diligence and assessment of potential synergies, business strategy, analysis of local, state, and federal funding sources so as to optimize subsidy layering, capacity to raise early start-up funds, project management, working with local governments and municipal development authorities to ensure project alignment with specified requirements by funding source, working directly with auditors, federal regulators, municipal governments, lenders, investors and principals on all financial matters.
Ms. Camper is a proven leader in the Real Estate Development Finance Community and is a certified professional of the Real Estate Software Sage Timberline. She graduated from the University of Maryland with dual Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting degrees and holds dual Master of Science degrees in Management Accounting and Information Systems also from the University of Maryland.
We Are On the Move!
Executive Director
Jermaine Anderson is the acting Executive Director for AGCDC. He is the creative force behind many of our cultural, thought-provoking events!
Jermaine Anderson is a Cambridge native, a US Army Veteran and an entrepreneur. Jermaine has been a community activist since his early twenties. He is currently on the board of the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce where he serves on the government affairs committee. He also formed the Delmarva Minority Business Alliance (DMBA), a group formed with the support of the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce.
Jermaine is committed to social and economic empowerment and seeing Cambridge being the best it can be for all of it residents.