Simba Abiff, both a resident council member and commissioner, champions the significance of resident services, particularly vocational programs, in guiding young individuals toward a promising future. “Young people must recognize that there’s a pathway for them to become valued contributors to society,” emphasizes Abiff, a Virgin Islands Police Officer who resides at Oswald Harris Court. “Personally, I didn’t prioritize academics initially and left school in the 11th grade. However, with my mother’s encouragement, I obtained my GED and pursued higher education.”
Resident Commissioner Ashley Archibald is a longstanding resident of public housing. With a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to community involvement and awareness, he brings a valuable perspectives to our board.
Noreen Michael earned her doctoral degree (PhD) in Educational Psychology, with a focus on quantitative and evaluative research methodologies, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Michael began her career as an English teacher and later served on the faculty of Louisiana State University, University of Kansas, and Illinois State University, teaching research methods, tests and measurement, and evaluation courses. Most of her career (1991 – 2013) has been in administration (health; K-12; higher education). She joined the Caribbean Exploratory Research Center (CERC) at the University of the Virgin Islands as Research Director in 2013, refocusing her career on health disparities research. As Research Director, she led grant writing teams to successfully apply for federal grants and supported a writing team within the V.I. Department of Human Services to apply for and receive a Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5). She has also led CERC team responses to multiple local funding opportunities. She previously served as Project Director for the USVI PDG B-5 project and previously served as PI on the Human Services Research Partnerships-USVI. Her research interests include linkages between the social determinants of health and health outcomes; health literacy and its impact on health outcomes; early childhood care and education and links to healthy lifestyles; and using community-based participatory research to advance research capacity in the USVI.
Dr. Michael currently serves as Project Director for the USVI Family First Child Welfare Research Partnership (funded through a Memorandum of Agreement between the GVI and UVI.) She continues to collaborate with colleagues to contribute to health disparities research in the USVI. She currently serves as PI & Director of CERC and holds a faculty position of Research Associate Professor at UVI. She has served on the Board of Commissioners for the Virgin Islands Housing Authority since August 2013.
Dr. Michael is well-equipped to analyze and address the various social determinants of health, including housing, that impact the communities served by the Virgin Islands Housing Authority. Her insights and perspectives can inform strategic decisions and initiatives aimed at improving housing accessibility, quality, and equity for residents served by the authority.
Dr. Janis M. Valmond, MS, DrPH, CHES®, assumed the role of Deputy Commissioner for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Virgin Islands Department of Health in 2019. In this capacity, she offers oversight to various departmental programs and services. Notably, Dr. Valmond spearheads the development of a Community Health Worker program and the completion of a pivotal project, the Community Health Improvement Plan for the territory, known as Healthy Virgin Islands 2030. These initiatives necessitate extensive collaboration across all sectors and active engagement of the broader USVI community. A distinguished alumna of the College of the Virgin Islands (’82), the University of Michigan (’85), and the University of Texas School of Public Health (’89 & 2015), Dr. Valmond’s contributions are integral to VIHA’s mission of enhancing health and wellness throughout our communities.
Dina Perry-Malone has a Masters in Marketing Communications and Advertising from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as her Property and Casualty License. Mrs. Perry-Malone commenced her professional career at JPMorgan Chase Bank in St. Thomas in 1998, as the Product Manager, She transitioned to FirstBank Virgin Islands in 2002 and has held several managerial and leadership positions to include Vice President and Director of First Express (subsidiary), Vice President and Director of First Insurance Agency (subsidiary), and currently Vice President and USVI Retail Banking and Operations Manager. In her current role, she oversees the retail branches in the St. Johns, St. Thomas, and St. Croix districts, which includes leading branch and consumer lending sales, client service efforts, community reinvestment initiatives, small business, consumer collections and operations. Additionally, she has oversight of the Finance, Marketing and Customer Experience Units in these respective markets.
Mrs. Perry-Malone is an avid supporter of housing and homeownership initiatives in the community. She manages FirstBank’s participation in the Federal Home Loan Program and New York’s Homebuyer Dream Program, VI Economic Authority’s VI Slice Moderate Income Homeownership Program, and facilitates home ownership workshops on behalf of VIHA’s Board of Commissioners for the districts of St. Thomas/St. John and has served in this capacity since 2018.
Commissioner Averil E. George assumed the role of Commissioner at the Department of Human Services in October 2023. Commissioner George and her department plays a critical role in sustaining individuals, families, institutions, and the local economy through the services rendered. Commissioner George is a Finance and Human Resource professional, with a Master’s in Business Administration, and extensive supervisory experience in Auditing Systems Management, Accounting and Personnel functions. Her over 3- years of experience, combined with her strategic mindset and ability to drive results, uniquely positions her to assist VIHA and the residents we serve.
Eugene Jones Jr., recently appointed as the executive director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority (VIHFA), has more than 40 years of expertise in transforming public housing agencies across North America. Known for his ability to revitalize housing authorities under federal receivership, Jones has a reputation for developing innovative housing solutions tailored to unique terrains. With a focus on community collaboration and utilizing disaster recovery funds, he aims to enhance affordable housing options in the Virgin Islands for seniors, families, and the workforce.
Jones’ leadership philosophy emphasizes public accountability, effective management, and fostering trust within his team. A U.S. Air Force veteran and military child, he has lived in diverse locations such as Greece and Germany and holds degrees in business and finance. His extensive career includes significant achievements in cities like Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, and Atlanta, where he was the first African American to manage a housing agency in Toronto, Canada. Now in the Virgin Islands, Jones is committed to advancing VIHFA’s mission with a strategic, inclusive approach and maintaining momentum by building on existing plans and engaging with the community and staff.
Jones is also an author, advocating for a national housing policy to address homelessness. His approach involves innovative solutions, such as multi-family housing and collaborations with private developers, aiming to make homeownership more accessible and sustainable for the residents of the Virgin Islands.
As a visionary, proactive, and proven leader with a solid record of achievements and an established reputation as a leader in asset management throughout the public housing and housing choice voucher industries, my focus has been and remains on optimizing operations to drive growth. Fostering strategic collaborations to drive quality, strategizing direction, and re-direction of corporate culture to focus on effectiveness, and fostering individual and team professional development to support sustainable organizational excellence has resulted in notable, high-dollar project successes.
With a team-centric approach to maximizing ROI among top-ranked housing authorities, I bring the knowledge that comes only from extensive hands-on experience to drive operations, identify and capture opportunities, and protect stakeholder interests through asset protection strategies across multi-family, conventional, commercial, public housing, housing choice voucher programs, and federally funded housing programs! Decisiveness, maintaining control for sound crisis management, optimizing resources, and directing talent provide the tools to get things done while ensuring best practices and furthering the organization’s vision and mission.
Critical to these successes is my ability to build and maintain strong rapport among personnel, clients, boards of directors, industry agents, and elected officials. In addition to high ethical standards, integrity, and genuine commitment to serving communities, I bring the commitment to my own continuing professional development that includes Six Sigma, Operations Management, Business Management & Development, Program Management, Strategic Planning, and Asset Management.
On behalf of Board Chair Abiff, please note that the upcoming Board Meeting for March 26, 2025, has been cancelled. This meeting was cancelled due to no actionable items for the Board to review/approve. With that said, our next meeting is on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at 10:00 am on St. Thomas.
