Meet the Board

Benjamin Wills
Chair

Founder, Head of School

Peace Preparatory Academy

Atlanta, Georgia

Benjamin Wills is the Founder and Head of School of Peace Preparatory Academy, a Christ-centered, independent, community school. Located in English Avenue, the heart of one of Atlanta’s most under-resourced communities, Peace Prep exists to educate whole children, support whole families, and provide growth and change opportunities for whole communities. He has a life-mission of following Jesus in advocating for those who have been marginalized to experience human flourishing, particularly children
and families.

He currently serves on the board of The Atlanta Mission, The Good Samaritan Health Center, and OaksATL Community Development and has served on a variety of visioning teams on the westside of Atlanta over the last several years. In addition to community advocacy work, he is an ordained Priest serving in the diocese Churches for the Sake of Others. He and his wife embody their vision as they stand in the gap of advocating for children by opening their home as foster and adoptive parents. They currently live in English Avenue with their 5 children.

Allegra Lawrence-Hardy
Governance Chair

Partner

 Lawrence & Bundy LLC
Atlanta, Georgia

Allegra Lawrence-Hardy co-founded her corporate litigation firm, Lawrence & Bundy. She  was the campaign chair for Stacey Abrams’ gubernatorial race in 2018 and continues to be in the upcoming November elections. Allegra and her firm continues to be legal  representation for Fair Fight Action which tirelessly advocates and works against voter  suppression in the United States.

Allegra has and continues to participate in various boards  including but not limited to: Director, Executive Committee of the Independent School  Chairpersons Association; Chair, Board of Trustees, Atlanta Girls’ School; Commissioner,  ABA’s Committee on the Lawyers’ Role in Assuring Every Child’s Right to a High- Quality  Education Member; Executive Committee Member, Board of Directors, Girl Scouts of Greater  Atlanta; Member, Board of Directors, Zoo Atlanta; Executive Committee Member, Board of  Directors, Children’s Museum of Atlanta; Past Member, Corporate Council, Fernbank Museum;  Past President, Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium (ALDC); Past President, Georgia  Association of Black Women Attorneys (GABWA); Former Member, Board of Directors,  Atlanta Legal Aid Society; Former Chair, Women and Minorities in the Profession Committee;  Past Member, State Bar of Georgia; Board of Directors, Atlanta Community Food Bank. She has  received numerous community awards omitted here for the sake of brevity.  

Tisha Jones

​

​

Tisha Jones has been an educator for 15 years in both public and private sectors. She is currently developing math curriculum for under represented communities. Throughout her  time in education, she has taught in grades from K-7. She has a special affinity for mathematics  and delivered a TEDx talk titled Insπre: Rethinking the Purpose of Math Education. She has also  had the pleasure of serving as a math specialist in her last two schools.

She earned her B.S. in  Elementary Education from Florida A&M University, her M.S. in Educational Psychology from  GA State University, and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Elementary Education, where she  has focused on mathematics and equity in education, from GSU. She deeply believes that all  children should be receiving an anti-racist education. 

Senior Advisor of Content

Math Learning Center

Atlanta, GA

Kyla Byas- Smith
Secretary

​

​

​

Kyla is an experienced Principal with a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) focused in Early Childhood Education and Teaching from Georgia State University. She has demonstrated evidence of garnering high outputs for both staff and student outcomes as well as strong education professional skills within project management, curriculum development & design, professional learning development & delivery, leadership coaching, and staff management.

In addition to her educational experience she also holds expertise within the fields of International Relations, Policy Analysis, Education Policy, Diplomacy, and Data due to her Undergraduate Degree in International Studies from Spelman College.