Biographies
Beans and Rice was incorporated April 7, 1997 out of students and former students in service-learning classes of Dr. Nelda K. Pearson in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Radford University. In January 1998 we received our tax-exempt status. We "inherited "the After School Programs at Willow Woods and New River Gardens from the university in May 1997. You can view the different programs we have started there on the Programs page. In August 1997 we were awarded an AmeriCorps position from VA COOL. In May of 1998 we received an Opportunity Grant from Mary Reynolds Babcock to do outreach and coalition building. In December 1999, in partnership with F&W Management, we received a HUD grant for a drug prevention program at Willow Woods.

Nelda K. Pearson
Nelda K. Pearson is a Professor of Sociology and the Chair of the Race, Class and Gender Studies Program at Radford University with a specialty area of community development. She has done community development work using learning circles with farm women in Canada, with the Inupiat of Arctic Alaska, with several communities in Central Appalachia and as a member of the executive board of SALT (Southern and Appalachian Leadership Training). She is also president and founder with several of her students of Beans and Rice, Inc. a nonprofit community development corporation that grew out of her service-learning and alternative break classes at Radford University. She has had extensive postdoctoral training in conflict resolution, mediation, prejudice reduction, and diversity training. She has led workshops on these topics over the past ten years. She also has an extensive list of publications and presentations in community development, service learning, and popular education/learning circles. Nelda has been instrumental in establishing the learning circle concepts, a cornerstone of Educators for Community Engagement. She has been on its Steering Committee since 1997 and is National Chair for 2000-2001. With her colleague John Wallace, she has designed and facilitated 6-12 learning circles on a variety of topics including Campus/Community Partnerships, Vocation and Social Justice, Leading Learning Circles, and Spirituality, Pedagogy, and Service-Learning. They facilitate three retreats a year at Highlander Research and Education Center. Currently, they are involved facilitating a year long initiative by Minnesota Campus Compact on Multicultural Education and Social Change.

Eric L. Bucey
Eric L. Bucey is Program Coordinator and founder of Beans and Rice, Inc. He graduated from Radford University in May 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. Much of his undergraduate course work focused on popular education and community development. Eric has received leadership training through a college intern program at Pendle Hill, conflict resolution training sponsored by the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), training to lead learning circles through the Invisible College (IC), network building instruction led by the Central Appalachian Network (CAN), fundraising training through GIFT, and also participated in a community development retreat at Highlander Education and Research Center. He has completed the Grantsmanship Training Program sponsored by The Grantsmanship Center. Eric has developed and led workshops about service learning at the Breakaway National Conference and the Southern Sociological Society annual conference. He has also helped develop and facilitate the Beans & Rice, Inc. volunteer Training program. Eric's leadership experience in Beans and Rice, Inc.'s Programs is extensive. He has volunteered since 1996 and has worked at each program site. He has served as a volunteer, site leader, volunteer coordinator, and program coordinator. In October 1997 he assisted Fairfax Village parents and the Radford University Community Corps in initiating the Fairfax Village programs. Eric also helped initiate and develop the Willow Woods Preschool Program in January 1998 alongside a Willow Woods Resident. Presently, Eric is Program Coordinator at the Meadowview Community Learning Center in Pulaski, Virginia. He also serves as Volunteer Coordinator for Beans and Rice, Inc. 

Dannah C. Card
Dannah C. Card is Program Coordinator and founder of Beans and Rice, Inc. She graduated from Radford University in May 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Dannah's undergraduate sociological studies focused on community development and popular education. She was very involved in service-learning and alternative breaks, and attended Breakaway's Alternative Break Citizenship Schools. Dannah has developed and presented workshops about service learning at the VA COOL Statewide Conference on Community Service and Higher Education, the National Breakaway Conference, and the Southern Sociological Society Annual Conference. She most successfully integrated her sociological foci with her study of Spanish as a service-learning participant in Quito, Ecuador through The International Partnership for Service Learning. Dannah has participated in a community development retreat at Highlander Education and Research Center. She has recently attended the Life Skills Training. Additionally, she was a Service and Leadership Development Intern at Pendle Hill. Dannah has served as a leader in many different capacities in Beans and Rice, Inc.'s Programs. In 1996, she was one of the initial two site-leaders that started the New River Gardens After-School Program. She became the site coordinator in the fall of 1997, during which time she did intensive curriculum research, planning, and implementation. She worked alongside River Bend residents in the summer of 1998 to expand the recently developed summer programming to include their children. Currently, Dannah is the Program Coordinator at Willow Woods. This position includes coordinating the ongoing after school and summer programming, re-initiating the pre-school and Mealtime programs, and coordinating Neighborhood Network Computer Learning Center and the Women's Circle.