Administration – Visible Men Academy

Founding Team | Administration | Staff | Teachers | Board

CEO: Neil Phillips

Neil Phillips

Neil is the Founder of Visible Men. He has over 25 years of experience as an educator, entrepreneur, coach, and youth advocate. Neil is a regarded as a national thought leader and renowned speaker on black male achievement, minority education, character development, and youth empowerment. After receiving his B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard University, Neil went on to play professional basketball in Australia. He has been an educational administrator for the last eleven years serving as the Assistant Headmaster at the Landon School for Boys in Bethesda, MD, as Interim Head of Upper School at the Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota, Florida and is now serving as the VMA Principal. Neil is an Aspen Institute Educational Entrepreneurship Fellow. He is a member of the inaugural Echoing Green/Open Society Foundations Black Male Achievement Fellowship. Neil is also a Nantucket Project Senior Fellow and was recently awarded the Nantucket Project Audience Award for his talk, “Race to Truth.” Neil created the strengths based VMA SHINE Culture which serves as the core values of Visible Men Academy’s school philosophy. (Selflessness Honesty Integrity Niceness Excellence)Neil serves on the Board of Directors for Washington Jesuit Academy in Northeast Washington D.C. He lives in Sarasota with his wife, Shannon Rohrer-Phillips, and their two young sons.

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Principal: Tiffany Mickens

Tiffany Mickens

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Director Of Operations:
Kelly Henry

Kelly Henry

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Co-Founder, Senior Advisor: Shannon Rohrer-Phillips

Shannon Rohrer-Phillips

Shannon is a social entrepreneur with three decades of experience in public and private sector collaboration, fundraising and diversity and inclusion work in education, healthcare and business sectors.

As the Co-Founder of Visible Men Academy, Shannon designed and implemented the Two Generation Whole Child and Family Programs, WOMEN SHINE Gender Equity Initiatives, Community Engagement efforts, and prior to her transition from VMA in 2018, she led School Advancement Initiatives. Shannon currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Visible Men Academy.

Shannon received her BA from Colgate University with a French and Sociology Concentration. She earned her Master’s in Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work. Shannon’s Master’s Thesis was entitled, “Family Ties, The Influence of Extended Families in Biracial Identity Development,” Her early social career was in the academic medicine at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford Hospital and Georgetown University Medical Center.

In 2018, Shannon launched a social impact agency that produces diversity and inclusion events, media and investment solutions. Shannon is the Founder of the Voice + Visibility Women’s Summit (VVWS) in Sarasota, FL. The VVWS convenes diverse, cross-sector female leaders with a mission to empower women, expand networks & opportunities, and elevate the voices of diverse women.

Shannon’s current board and advisory work includes: Serving as SoGal Sarasota Chapter Lead with the SoGal Foundation, Executive Board Member of The Women’s Resource Center, KNOW Tribe Diversity Advisory Board and Smith College Sarasota Alumni Board.

She lives with her husband Neil, two teenage sons and a growing tribe of pets in Sarasota. Shannon’s TEDx Talk is entitled: Failure & Forgiveness in the New South.

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