Team

Dr. Baylis oversees the development and execution of strategic planning, partnerships and grant administration for The Village Network. With a team of 8 plus a 5-member PR team and 3-member education study team, and 8 member organizations, Dr. Baylis is responsible for day-to-day operations. She is currently the Equity and Systems Change Strategist for True Impact Consulting, LLC. Prior to her role with The Village Network, she spent two years with United Way of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, most recently as Senior Director of Data & Equitable Systems. Dr. Baylis is a proud graduate of Western Michigan University where she earned her B.A. in Applied Liberal Arts, an M.A. in Educational Leadership and a Ph.D. in Evaluation, Measurement and Research.

Rev. Richard Bailey supports New Level Sports Ministries (NLSM), a faith-based youth development organization, and has long been involved with the community and the ministerial world. He has been a pastor in Battle Creek since 1990 and although he retired more than 10 years ago, he has never stopped serving the community through his passion for religion. Rev. Bailey has served many organizations, including as a member of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), United Community Ministerial Alliance, and now the Youth Village. In 1992, Rev. Bailey started a program called New Direction for Youth Action serving more than 60 young people annually for three years. His mission is to provide support to rising leaders in his community. He hopes to see people prosper with the support offered from programs such as The Village Network of Battle Creek. Rev. Bailey’s love for people and Christ are what motivate him to continue to do his work and serve people around the area. 

He holds a double associate degree from Kellogg Community College and a bachelor’s degree from Miller College in Battle Creek. He was also part of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce Leadership Academy. Rev. Bailey’s favorite work experience was being an elementary school bus driver in the Battle Creek area.

Mai understands the challenges of immigration first-hand.  An immigrant from Burma (also known as Myanmar), she and her family moved to Battle Creek in 2011. Mrs. Mai struggled with the language barrier, working hard to assimilate while still retaining and honoring traditions from her native country. She also recognized that second generation immigrants including her three daughters were assimilating much more easily – so easily she worried they might forget their Burmese language and heritage. Mrs. Mai also knew that others in her community were facing the same issue. 

Putting her concerns into action, Mrs. Mai helped found the Catching the Dream Learning Center, a pre-school for children ages 1 through 5 located in The Burma Center in Springfield, MI. While most of the families served are from the Burmese community, Catching the Dream accepts all students and provides a program that respects cultural diversity and reflects the community. The school’s curriculum is based on key developmental categories including language arts, numbers, science and health, social studies, motor skills and fine arts. The school also provides Burmese language training, promoting better communication within Burmese families. The school currently operates three classrooms for 44 students and a staff of 19 and is planning for additional growth. 

Pastor Christopher J. McCoy is the Pastor of New Level Church (formally Faith Assembly Christian Fellowship) in Battle Creek, succeeding his father, Bishop Eugene McCoy, in 2008. He has been a resident of Battle Creek for over 35 years. In 2001, Pastor McCoy founded New Level Sports Ministries (NLSM), a faith-based youth development organization centered on the academic, personal growth and physical development of young people. The mission of New Level Sports Ministries is to maximize and balance the intellectual, spiritual, mental, and physical elements of all participating youth. To date, New Level Sports Ministries has served more than 18,000 youth and has a staff of more than 100 volunteers with partners in Battle Creek, Jackson, Kalamazoo, and Albion.

Pastor McCoy holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in Public Affairs Management and Economics. He worked as an insurance salesperson for eight years before opening an independent Allstate insurance agency and earning national sales recognition. 

Tha Tin Par is the executive director of Burmese American Initiative Inc. (Burma Center) in Springfield, Michigan, right outside Battle Creek. She was a member of the Burma Center board of directors since 2019 and became the executive director one year later after the retirement of Martha Thawnghmung, one of the founders of the Center. Par is a social change activist with a background in facilitation, curriculum development, community organizing, and youth programs. She is passionate about creating an inclusive and equitable world by dismantling all forms of oppression. Par’s passion for social justice and equity stems from her faith as a Christian and her personal life experience as an Asian American woman. Prior to joining the Burma Center team, Par co-founded the Truth and Titus Collective, which is a consulting agency dedicated to fostering, co-creating, and sustaining organizational change with equity at the core. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan. Par is a limited licensed master social worker and certified professional life coach through Leadership That Works.

Pastor Tino Smith is the senior pastor of Kingdom Builders Worldwide. Throughout his career, Pastor Smith often wore two hats: one as minister and the other as provider for his family. After retiring from FedEx in Memphis, TN and his church ministry in Terre Haute, IN, he returned to Battle Creek to care for his ailing father and discovered a new mission in his hometown.  His plan resulted in the founding of Kingdom Builders Worldwide, a church and community hub in the Post Addition community of Battle Creek located at 50 Spencer Street. Dedicated to creating positive change in his community, Pastor Smith and the Kingdom Builders Worldwide provide on-site food distribution, transportation solutions, driver’s education, financial literacy classes and more.  Pastor Smith earned his PhD and ThD and completed the requisite residence as a member of the Oxford Round Table in Oxford, England. He recited and subscribed as a faithful member to the Bodleian Declaration at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. 

His proudest accomplishment is being husband to Nicole and father to adult children BreAnna and Tito II.