Board of Directors

An Administrator, educator and encourager of dreams, Zena's leadership philosophy has been to find the best people, support them, encourage them, inspire them by example and work with them collaboratively to improve all aspects of the lives they impact. With over 26 years in education, she has worked with teachers, parents, and students to make an impact.  

Despite these efforts to make a difference, she has watched a seemingly endless cycle of unfulfilled potential, abandonment, incarceration and death claim people of low economic status and people of color.

The desire to create more significant impact ultimately led to the  2020 establishment of Breaking the Cycle (BTC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to Educate, Build and Unite located in Southern Illinois.

Keeshia D. Carr was born and raised in Cairo, IL.  She earned an Associate of Arts degree from Shawnee Community College in Ullin, IL in 1994 and a Bachelor of Arts in Children and Family Services from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 2005.  Keeshia  worked as a paraprofessional for five years and currently serves as an Administrative Assistant for Cairo School District #1 for over 15 years.  

Keeshia owns a Childcare facility which she runs part-time from her home.  She is also the part-owner of Keeshia's Kitchen in Cairo, IL. 

Keeshia values relationships, especially with her family.  She is the mother of two sons and one daughter and the proud grandmother of eight grandchildren.  Keeshia loves helping and motivating children, she values working hard, believes in speaking her mind and she works hard to support and help build her community.  

Toya Wilson received her Bachelor of Science Degree in English from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and her Master of Arts in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University.  Toya is a former Middle School Language Arts teacher, an avid reader, a current Administrative Assistant, and a self-published author of several children’s books.  

Toya began writing stories at an early age and dreamed of sharing those stories with others.  While teaching she learned valuable lessons about seeing children as individuals and the importance of being tenacious in order to make a difference. As an Administrative Assistant, she learned how to navigate different personalities and situations while developing communication skills and process improvement skills.  

Toya’s ultimate goal is to impact the world through her words and to continue creating tales filled with delightful characters that will encourage young dreamers to sprout their wings and fly.