Board of Directors

Commissioner Connie Hudson has been an active member of the Mobile community for more than 25 years with extensive volunteer and public service experience. She served nine years as the District 6 representative on the Mobile City Council before her election in 2010 as the District 2 representative on the Mobile County Commission. She has participated in major economic development initiatives such the ThyssenKrupp Steel Plant (now AM/NS Calvert), Austal USA, the Airbus U.S. Final Assembly Line at Brookley Aeroplex, the Airbus A220 Expansion, the Walmart Distribution and Amazon Sortation Centers, and the South Alabama Logistics Park.

Commissioner Hudson led the initiative to build the 20,000 sq. ft. senior recreation center in west Mobile, which opened in 2007 and was named in her honor by the Mobile City Council in May of 2013. She currently serves as President Emeritus of the all-volunteer non-profit MRSCC Foundation that was incorporated to provide resources for the Connie Hudson Mobile Regional Senior Community Center. She initiated the project to build the Mobile County Bicentennial Pavilion in Medal of Honor Park and spearheaded efforts to purchase and renovate property off of Moffett Road to establish the Semmes Senior Center in 2013 and the Center’s expansion that opened in June of 2021.

Other capital projects she has championed include the Mobile County Recycling Drop-Off Center, Semmes Community Center, Semmes Fire Training Tower, Tanner Williams Community Park and Medal of Honor Park upgrades, construction of a 10-field soccer complex and indoor aquatic center, and the purchase and renovation of the Escatawpa Hollow Park and Campground.

Commissioner Hudson’s educational background includes a B. S. degree in Biological Sciences from Troy University. She has been married for 42 years to Dennis Hudson who recently retired as Senior Staff Engineer at BASF in McIntosh, Alabama. The Hudsons have three children: Brian (37), a U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander and twin daughters, Julie Nelson and Dana Ward (34). Julie is an attorney and JAG office in the Alabama U.S. Army National Guard, and Dana is employed as a Paralegal in Metairie, Louisiana. Grandchildren are Annabel (8) and
Gavin (4) Hudson, and Nora Nelson (1).

Connie Hudson

President Emeritus

Our Board

Board of Directors

Barbara Hattier

President

Barbara Hattier, Board President

Barbara Hattier retired as Assistant Director of the Independent Living Center, a disability service agency, in 2018. She was asked to join the committee, later to become the Foundation, in the planning stages of the Center to represent the disabled community. In addition, she served on the Mobile Advisory Commission for the Disabled representing District 6.
She is married to Anthony “Mike”, and both are originally from New Orleans. The family relocated to Mobile in May 1989 and love the Mobile area. They have two sons both who attended Auburn University, War Eagle! The Hattier’s have been recently blessed with two beautiful daughter-in-laws and a new granddaughter, Amelia Scott.

Robert Adams, Vice President

Robert Adams is originally from Salt Lake City. He and his wife Lynne Chronister moved to Mobile when Lynne accepted a position with the University of South Alabama 10 years ago. Semi-retired, Bob is still serving as an arbitrator for labor/management conflicts. Hobbies have included cycling, rodeo (bulls) and rugby but now limited to enjoying golf.

Robert Adams

Vice President

Joby Robertson

Secretary

Joby Robertson, Secretary

Joby Robertson is a fitness instructor at Connie Hudson Mobile Regional Senior Community Center. She is very passionate about her classes and her participants. She takes the time to learn and know about her students. Joby currently teaches eight fitness classes in various formats at our facility. After retiring from being a middle school teacher in 2011, she began her new teaching passion here at the Center in 2012.

Kim Lawkis, Treasurer

As the Chief Operating Officer of Feeding Alabama, Kim Lawkis is responsible for daily oversight of the multi-million dollar non-profit organization’s team, finances, projects and strategy. She has served the Feeding America network for more than eight years, first serving as the Director of Child Nutrition at Feeding the Gulf Coast before moving to Feeding Alabama to serve as Director of Policy & Programs and now COO.

Kim is a graduate of the University of South Alabama holding a dual bachelors in English and History from the College of Arts and Sciences as well as a Master’s of Public Administration. Kim currently serves as President-elect of the University of South Alabama National Alumni Association. She is a native of Scottsboro, Alabama, and her passion for serving the senior community began during her childhood, logging many gardening hours with her grandmothers and their friends. She believes that the work carried out by the MRSCC Foundation Board is important in fostering intergenerational connectedness which strengthens the greater Mobile community as a whole. Kim and her husband Nick reside in Mobile, Alabama, with their two children.

Kim Lawkis

Treasurer

Susie Jones

Co-Treasurer

Susie Jones, Co-Treasurer

Susan Gaston-Jones, wife to Scott for 36 years, mother to four grown children and Gigi to five grandchildren. I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mobile in education with an emphasis in math and hard sciences and a master’s degree from the University of Alabama in education psychology/differentiated instruction and assessment. I am in my 18th year of teaching and currently I am at St. Luke’s Episcopal School teaching AP chemistry, honors calculus, physics, legos and robotics. I also help coach the girls cross country team. I am an avid runner, reader, gardener, lego queen and I thoroughly enjoying cooking! I serve as the treasurer for our HOA in Ridgefield since 2017. Lastly, I love Jesus and without Him nothing matters!

Aqualyn Kennedy, Board Member

Aqualyn has over two decades of leadership experience in brand management, sales, and account management for top consumer packaged goods (Procter & Gamble), technology, financial and entertainment companies. She founded a consulting firm specializing in non-profit, public service, health care and entertainment brands. In 2018, she redirected her efforts to partner with her husband and launch Kennedy Strategic Communications – Kennedy Strategic Communication.com, a public affairs, media consultancy, and business strategy firm for businesses, municipalities, other government agencies, and non-profit organizations.

Aqualyn has served on numerous boards including her longest volunteer engagement since 2006, the American Heart|Stroke Association. She recently completed a 3-year term on their National Advisory Committee. Locally, she is active with the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, the Junior League, the Connie Hudson Senior Center, and supports a number of other organizations with in-kind services. She is also an enthusiastic member of her beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and The Greater Mobile Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

She graduated from Spelman College with a B.S. in Mathematics and received her M.B.A. from Duke University. Aqualyn resides in Eight Mile, AL with her husband, Robert Kennedy, Jr.

Aqualyn Kennedy

Board Member

Nick Matranga

Board Member

Nick Matranga, Board Member

Nick Matranga has served on the Foundation board for 12 years and have held the positions of Treasure and President. He is a native Mobilian, and is a 1965 graduate of McGill High School. Nick earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a Master of Science degree from Central Missouri State University.
He retired from a duel career as an Airline pilot and as a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. Presently, Nick serves our community as the Mobile County License Commissioner and resides in Mobile with his wife Audrey.

Sharon Murrill, Board Member

My name is Sharon Murrill, and I have worked at Alabama Power Company for 35 years. I serve as the Community Relations Manager for West Mobile and South Mobile County. Commissioner Hudson asked me to join the Advisory Committee in 2020 and I now proudly serve on the Board of Directors. I am married to Chuck Murrill and have lived in Mobile for 30 years. We are blessed with one daughter, Kelley Byerley, and her husband, Ross, and are Mimi and Pop to our sweet grandchildren, Jackson and Lyla. I enjoy volunteering with our service organization, Alabama Power Service Organization, and also enjoy traveling and spending time at our place on Bon Secour River.

Sharon Murrill

Board Member

Linda Robitzsch

Board Member

Linda Robitzsch, Board Member

Linda Jones Robitzsch is a native Mobilian, Lifetime Member of the USA Alumni and Lifetime Member of JagGals. Linda has served in various capacities in numerous political campaigns and finished her teaching career at the University of South Alabama. Linda is married to Carl Robitzsch and has two sons, Michael and Steven, and two grandchildren.

Advisory Board

Jackie Barnett

Mary Jo Hrabe

Julie McGee

Debbie Simpson

Darlene Sealls

Ellen Broach

Linda Ingram

Sally Pfister

Martha Ann Stevens

Dana Helton

Ann Davis

Margie Lerch

Bess Rich

Duc Vo

Louise Holman

Barbara Hattier

President

Bio

Robert Adams

Vice President

Aqualyn Kennedy

Board Member

Nick Mantranga

Board Member

Linda Robitzsch

Secretary

Kim Lawkis

Treasurer

Joby Robertson

Board Member

Susie Jones

Board Member

Sharon Murrill

Board Member

Contact

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