THE BRAIN TRUST
– A powerful group
of 6 African American women who have so far raised
nearly $11 million for brain tumor research led by Dr.
Keith L. Black, Chairman of the Neurosurgery Department
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Brain Trust members
include Pauletta Washington, Keisha Nash-Whitaker,
Dale Cochran, Carol Bennett, M.D., Angelia Sanders,
and Gloria Mitchell.
THE BRAIN TRUST - CELEBRITY/PHILANTHROPY/
POWERFUL WOMEN
The
women of the Brain Trust – all 6 of whom happen to be
African American – represent a variety of professions,
from business and the entertainment industry to medicine
and law. Despite demanding careers and schedules, they
pool their incredible talent and donate their precious
time to benefit brain tumor research. To date, they
have raised nearly
$11 million. Pauletta Washington and another
member of the group, Keisha Nash-Whitaker, have
also enlisted the involvement
of their husbands, Academy Award-winning actors
Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker, both
of whom have become contributors and outspoken
supporters.
“Part
of our job is creating awareness, and one of the most
exciting aspects of our work is getting information ‘hot
off the press’ and filtering it into the community in
seminars, luncheons and other events,” says Pauletta
Washington. “We may have some tougher fund-raising days
ahead of us because of the economic situation, but we’re
hopeful. Dr. Black is doing phenomenal work and he and
his teams are incredible. When we see them working
tirelessly, it makes our job easier. It keeps us
optimistic and encouraged.”
BRAIN
TRUST MEMBERS
Carol Bennett, M.D.
– Chief of Urology at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans’
Hospital Healthcare System, sits on many boards,
actively involved in schools, mother of two, wife of
Keith Black, M.D. Bennett has earned a distinguished
reputation through her work with the VA, as a surgeon
and as a professor of urology at the University of
California, Los Angeles.
Dale
Cochran
–
Entrepreneur and philanthropist, community activist,
world traveler, widow of world-renowned attorney and
civil rights leader Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. She works to
keep her late husband’s legacy alive in the community
with youth programs designed to encourage young people
to stay in school and lead active, healthy lives. She
led the effort to bring to reality The Johnnie L.
Cochran, Jr. Brain Tumor Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center.
Gloria
Mitchell
–
Owner of a medical center in south central Los Angeles,
philanthropist, community supporter, political activist,
mother of five, grandmother of four. She and her
husband, Dr. Accie Mitchell, continue to be involved in
the community, working to bring hope and renewal to
children and their families in the impoverished and
underserved areas of Los Angeles. Her keen business
sense has kept projects on target and on budget.
Angelia
Sanders
– Vice president of the Recording Academy (The Grammys),
mother of two young children, sits on several boards,
active in children’s schools. She has climbed the ladder
in the record industry, having worked at Motown, BMG,
and RCA record labels, and has helped to build the
careers of Grammy Award winners Stevie Wonder, Lionel
Richie and Will Smith, to name a few. Her contacts in
the world of entertainment have enriched the work of the
Brain Trust immeasurably.
Pauletta
Washington
– Singer, actor, classically trained pianist,
philanthropist, and mother of four children, actively
involved in children’s schools, wife of Academy
Award-winning actor Denzel Washington. The couple lends
their names and time to the Pauletta and Denzel
Washington Family Gifted Scholars Award in Neuroscience,
given annually by the Department of Neurosurgery to
support two aspiring scientists.