Dr. Ross brings more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in Corrections, Mental Health, Education, Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Permanent Supportive Housing, Nonprofit Management, and Business Consulting.

Dr. Ross’s career in Corrections began as the result of the 2001 filing of Plata vs Schwarzenegger. The lawsuit had a profound impact on healthcare within California’s prison system, as it highlighted the inadequate medical care provided to inmates and the detrimental effects of overcrowding on health outcomes. As a result of the ruling, the state was required to implement reforms to improve medical and mental health services for prisoners, leading to a significant reduction in inmate populations and increased funding for healthcare facilities within the correctional system.

As a means to correct these inadequacies, Dr. Ross was tasked with designing a re-entry program for the California Department of Corrections. Drawing from her personal experiences, Dr. Ross created a model that incorporated essential components she believed would have provided her late brother with the tools to escape a life of violent crime, incarceration, and gang activity that ultimately cost him his life. Her program included mental health and substance use disorder counseling, workforce development and job readiness training, access to medical, dental, and legal services, and case management for community links, such as transportation, vital records (including driver licenses and birth certificates), clothing, and housing assistance. This program became an international model for inmate, parolee, and probationer re-entry services, with components implemented in facilities like Folsom, Donovan, Angola, and Mississippi State Penitentiary, among many others.

In 2020, Dr. Ross earned the Commissioner’s Coin for Excellence in Corrections and the Mississippi Department of Corrections Coin for Innovative Reentry Programming.

In 2024, she was selected to join the 2025-2026 cohort of Mississippi LEAD (Leadership Excellence and Development), a strategic leadership program administered by the Mississippi State Personnel Board.

In 2025, Dr. Ross received the Social Impact Luminary Award from the Global Women’s Empowerment Network for her work in re-entry programming, as well as a Global Impact Award from Women in Management for her contributions to Corrections, Mental Health, and Education.

Dr. Ross holds a Doctorate in Psychology with an emphasis in Psychopharmacology/Health Psychology, a Master of Education in Instructional Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and Social Work. She is a Mental Health Therapist, Substance Use Disorder Clinical Supervisor, and she possesses professional certifications in Human Resource Management and Labor Laws. Additionally, she has teaching credentials in multiple academic subjects and specialized certifications in didactic instruction for individuals with moderate to severe intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In her personal life, Dr. Ross is a mother, an ordained minister and serves as the Executive Director of Baptist Service Corporation, a foundation that provides direct services linkages and grants to organizations that support vulnerable and under-served communities.

Virtuoso, songwriter, singer and producer, Taimane, has established herself as one of the leading ukulele players in the world, known for her fierce and inventive style of play transcending traditional views of the instrument as a restricted device. Taimane’s musicality and approach to the stage further add to her draw. Through both beautiful originals and one-of-a-kind mashups (seemingly disparate songs (e.g. Led Zeppelin and Beethoven) merged into medleys with pop appeal), Taimane conjures a wide-range of deep emotions smashing the notion of Hawaii music’s being light and simple. Seeing her perform live exponentially amplifies these feelings and makes clear that Taimane is an entertainer first and foremost.

With a take-no-prisoners attitude and carefully crafted shows that are the polar opposite of recitals, Taimane demands viewers’ attention every second of every performance eliciting intense, “wow” reactions on cue while leading her audiences on a journey through a range of experiences – mystical, dark and playful. Add it all up, and it’s easy to see how this hapa Samoan (part caucasian and part indigenous Samoan) artist from a small island in the middle of the Pacific (Oahu, Hawaii) has earned four Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards, garnered over 50 million video views and over 500,000 social media followers to date, and sold out shows from Hamburg to Honolulu.

Hailing from a musical Polynesian family including her late mother, Palepa Tauiliili Gardner (Miss Samoa 1978), Taimane’s attraction to the four-string island staple began at age 5. By age 10, she regularly performed in public, busking in Waikiki every Friday night with her father holding down security duties and Waikiki Beach Boys (adults whose home & workplace was the beach) serving as her band. By age 13, Taimane landed a position in Don Ho’s show, literally playing in the spotlight every week until Ho’s passing. Ho was not only a Hawaii legend (his “Tiny Bubbles” hit remained on Billboard’s Hot 200 for over a year making him world famous) but also a consummate entertainer who significantly influenced Taimane’s perspective on performance. Each night, when the typically full house turned its attention to the petite young girl suddenly anointed band leader for a rendition of the surf classic “Wipeout,” it was time to rock.

Following her early years in Waikiki, Taimane walked away from its pop scene and leapt into a completely different world, the art houses of Honolulu’s Chinatown. There, she discovered audiences who valued original songs and began to develop her own style of music, eventually merging a wide-array of genres, from Bach to rock, flamenco infernos to tribal hymns, into mesmerizing shows with universal appeal. Fast forward to today, and you have an artist who tours the world shining bright like a diamond (the Samoan translation of her name) renowned for taking the ukulele to new heights while blazing her own trail in the process.