Banner Neighborhoods Community Corporation,a non-profit serving East and Southeast Baltimore, has named Wande Kotun and Bill Atkinson to its board of directors.

The new directors join a community organization that is focused on supporting and developing local youth with summer and after school work programs, sports and educational programs, and helping seniors maintain and upgrade their homes.

“Our programs are having a positive impact on our community,” said Robin-Truiett-Theodorson, Banner’s executive director. “We are looking forward to Wande and Bill bringing fresh ideas, connections and thinking. We are thrilled to have them aboard.”

Kotun, a resident of Patterson Park, is the Program Manager for Population Health at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and works to create, implement and evaluate programs to reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes, while addressing community and social needs.

Prior to joining Hopkins Bayview in 2015, Kotun worked at a physician practice in Atlanta, Ga., and held a position in corporate compliance at Grady Memorial Hospital. Upon completing an MBA and a Master of Health Administration at Georgia State University, Kotun was selected as one of three fellows in the competitive post-graduate administrative fellowship program for the Johns Hopkins Health System.

A native of Macon, Ga., Kotun is interested in improving the health and wellness of underserved communities through her work in population health and health equity. In her free time, she is a freelance and teaching artist, a mentor, also called a “big,” for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Chesapeake and serves as an ambassador for Emerging Leaders United at the United Way. She also serves on the boards of Civic Works and the National Association of Health Services Executives.

Atkinson is a partner at 212 Communications, a Baltimore-based public relations and strategic communications firm. Prior to joining 212, he was senior vice president at global public relations agency Weber Shandwick in Baltimore specializing in strategic and crisis communications and reputation management.

Before becoming a public relations practitioner in 2005, Atkinson was a business columnist and financial reporter at theBaltimore Sun where he wrote a twice-weekly column that tracked the personal dimensions of top executives of Maryland corporations. He was also the newspaper’s economics correspondent and covered the banking industry, stock market, mutual funds, brokerage houses, investment banking and white-collar crime.

Atkinson was an editor at American Banker newspaper in Washington, D.C., and a reporter covering federal regulators and regional and community banking issues. He also worked as a reporter for the Washington Business Journal and for American City Business Journals newspapers in San Jose, Calif., Columbus, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wis.

Atkinson is on the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Central Maryland and holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Saint Norbert College in DePere, Wis.

About Banner Neighborhoods

Banner Neighborhoods Community Corporation is one of the oldest and most respected community nonprofits serving the residents of East and Southeast Baltimore. Banner’s mission is to promote resident-based leadership, neighborhood pride and stability, and provide direct services that contribute to the overall viability of parts of East and Southeast communities in Baltimore City. For more information about Banner Neighborhoods click Banner.