Staff

Jessamine Duvall

Executive Director

Jessamine Duvall joined Columbia Housing Center as Executive Director in June 2023. Jessamine is an experienced leader in the nonprofit community and Howard County, including as the Executive Director of Girls on the Run where she oversaw growth of the organization and an enhanced commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has also played important leadership roles within Columbia, including serving as the Village Manager of the Hickory Ridge Community Association and as a board member of the Columbia Association.

Jessamine has a deep understanding of Columbia and Howard County. She has also demonstrated longstanding dedication to Columbia’s commitment to providing an open and inclusive community for all. She is a graduate of Leadership Howard County and has served as a member of the Housing Affordability Coalition and the Community of Practice for Racial Equity in Howard County.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jessamine moved to Columbia in 2000 and has lived and worked in multiple villages over the past two decades. Jessamine and her husband Brian chose to build their family in Columbia because of its intentional values and racial diversity. She has two children who have benefitted from all that Columbia has to offer and is committed to ensuring that Columbia remains a fully-integrated community of choice for future generations.

Carletta Hickman

Program Manager

Carletta Hickman joined the Columbia Housing Center (CHC) in March 2022 as a Landlord Liaison. Carletta has joined the mission of CHC to champion and support thriving racially integrated communities in and around Columbia, Maryland. As the very first Landlord Liaison, she will take on community engagement efforts and affirmative marketing of communities across the Columbia/Howard County area.

Prior to the Columbia Housing Center, Carletta’s career was focused on Healthcare IT Project Coordinating as a private contractor. She has taken on multilevel EMR implementations with healthcare facilities such as Mayo Rochester, Cleveland Clinic, GBMC, New York City Health & Hospitals and several smaller healthcare systems around the United States. Carletta’s role as a project coordinator, has led her to Columbia Housing Center to assist in the initial planning phases of marketing and continued branding for CHC’s mission. She’s not a stranger to racial equity and integration as she has experienced first-hand the benefits of multicultural integrated communities in her home state of Florida. Carletta paints the picture of growing up on a Navy base in Jacksonville, FL as young junior-high student; understanding the unique identifier of navy housing; living among a plethora of multicultural families.

As she began her life as an adult, she went on to continue her living among integrated communities in states such as, Georgia, Michigan, North Dakota, Illinois, and now Maryland.

Rachel Alston

Program Coordinator

Rachel Alston joined the Columbia Housing Center (CHC) in February 2024 as a Program Coordinator. She is an experienced administrative professional who has experience working for the State and Federal government, law enforcement, and banking industries.

She has served in human resources, administrative, and customer service roles while residing in Maryland. She has assisted with the Domestic Violence Unit at the Prince George’s County Sheriffs’ Office by providing outreach at community events and ensuring customer service was provided to victims of Domestic Violence.

Rachel is a Towson University alum where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Anthropology.

She is looking forward to working in her role as a Program Coordinator where she will be working with partner agencies and assisting clients with ensuring that their housing needs are met.