
Meet The Board

Cynthia, President
Cynthia Renea Oda has served in the Indianapolis Community as a business entrepreneur since 1997, serving non-for-profit organizations, schools, churches and other businesses. Cynthia has been a pioneer for social change and community reform. Her leadership has been instrumental in fostering positive relationships and collaborations between federal, state, and local agencies. Her role in these collaborations has led her to be invaluable in bringing viable insight on issues such as HIV Aids in the African American Community, substance abuse issues that impact our neighborhoods, family strengthening, youth job ready training and other areas. Currently, Cynthia is the current President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women/Indianapolis Chapter, a member of the Board of Directors for Drug Free Marion County serving as Vice President and a Board Member of Healing Solutions Inc. Ms. Oda has also served on various Boards; such as the National Grant Professional Association, Martin University Board of Trustees, and served as President of the Indiana Prevention Professional Association. Currently Cynthia was elected to Pike Township Trustee Board. Cynthia has a BS at school of Public and Environmental Affairs, Public Policy at Indiana University (SPEA) studied at ITT Technical Institute, Master in Project Management and Graduate Studies at Walden University in Management Leadership and Organizational Change.

Brian, Vice President
Brian is a partner at the law firm of Mattingly Burke Cohen & Biederman LLP and represents corporations and individuals in federal and state, criminal and civil proceedings. He also advises national and international companies on corporate compliance.
Brian is valued for his leadership when it comes to devising and executing legal solutions and plans of action. Whether clients are faced with compliance issues or thorny investigations, Brian understands the importance of problem-solving in a way that allows his clients to keep their businesses running smoothly.
He is a graduate of Indiana University Maurer School of Law and earned a B.A. in both philosophy and psychology from Indiana University, where he was a Herman B. Wells Scholar and Richard G. Lugar Minority Scholar.
Brian joined Drug Free Marion County Board of Directors in March 2021, and serves on the Board’s Recruiting Committee.

Julie, Secretary
With more than three decades of experience in journalism and media relations, Julie Saetre is deeply
committed to telling stories that are important, impactful and empowering. She currently serves as a
communications specialist for Kiwanis International, where she is a Folio award-winning feature writer
and assistant editor for Kiwanis magazine and a writer and content editor for Key Club International and
other Service Leadership Programs. She also has served at Emmis Communications as home editor for
Indianapolis Monthly, founding editor of Indianapolis at Home and editor of specialty publications
including Indianapolis Monthly City Guide. She has freelanced for a variety of publications and clients,
including the Indianapolis Star, the Eiteljorg Museum and Southwest Airlines.
Her media relations experience includes serving as communications/public relations manager for Conner
Prairie living history museum, communications specialist at Drug Free Marion County and volunteer
public relations chair for Indy’s Irish Fest.
Julie graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors in journalism.
Honors include a 2018 Folio Eddie “Single Feature Article” award for Kiwanis magazine and a City and
Regional Magazine Association Silver award for General Excellence for Indianapolis at Home magazine.
She and her husband, Pete, share their home with much-loved and very spoiled rescue cats and enjoy
traveling, cooking, and seeking out new dining experiences.

Dr. Ramon Batts
Dr. Ramon L. Batts is the Lead Pastor at Greater Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church and the Assistant Athletic Director at Lawrence Central High School. He earned a Doctorate of Ministry degree in Social Justice and Political Activism from United Theological Seminary; a Master of Divinity degree from the School of Theology at Virginia Union University; and, a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Indiana Institute of Technology. Dr. Batts is a graduate of Arsenal Technical High School where he now serves on the Alumni Board. He is a board member of LikeNOther Foundation, Inc.; Treasurer of Collaborative Resource Company, Inc.; and, is a member of the Baptist Ministers Alliance, the Concerned Clergy of Greater Indianapolis and the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Dr. Batts also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Martin University in Indianapolis. Dr. Batts has served in several educational institutions over the past 20 years helping to shape and change young people’s lives. He is passionate about youth and family issues and can be found training and mentoring leaders in the community whenever he has the opportunity.

Tehea, Treasurer
​As a transplant to Indianapolis for nearly 30 years, Tehea has a deep commitment to her community and holds several leadership roles including the accountant of her faith community, Victory Tabernacle Church of the Apostolic Faith; the Co-Chair Business & Finance Cluster for Junior Achievement’s JobSpark; a member of the Audit Committee for the Boy Scouts of America; and sits on the board as the treasurer for Westside Community Development Corp (WCDC). Tehea has worked in the not-for-profit industry for the last 20 years and was with EmployIndy for almost 11 years. Tehea began her tenure at EmployIndy in 2012 as an Accounting Service Specialist but her drive, expertise, attention to detail, and commitment to her work quickly resulted in several promotions, leading to roles such as Controller, Director of Finance and Administration, and Chief Financial Officer. In the most recent CFO role, Tehea provided support to her growing team that oversaw the fiscal and administrative functions at EmployIndy. Tehea was responsible for providing fiscal oversight for the organization by ensuring the growing $30M annual budget was spent appropriately, over 45 funding streams of revenue were allocated properly, over 85 MOUs and contracts were managed properly, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Uniform Grant Guidance, and U.S. Department of Labor guidelines and regulations were complying through procurement and contracts. She was also responsible for the network technology infrastructure for the organization and oversaw the human resources team. Through Tehea’s leadership within the Finance & Administrative team, EmployIndy, was able to launch and grow many different initiatives designed to improve outcomes for Indianapolis residents and the workforce. She also developed and led EmployIndy’s “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging (DEIB)” initiative. She was the first black woman to achieve Indianapolis Business Journal’s CFO of the Year in 2021. Prior to her time at EmployIndy, Tehea was Christamore House Family Community Center’sController/Director of Operations for five years and has also taught classes as an adjunct professor at Ivy Tech Community College and American National University. She currently is an adjunct professor at Marian University St. Joseph College, a consultant for NowCFO, and owns her own accounting and tax business, Financial Resources Group.Tehea holds an MBA in Accounting from Indiana Wesleyan University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Martin University. She is currently a member of the National Notary Public Association; she previously was a member of the National Association of Black Accountants and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).She believes her drive and aspirations were instilled in her at an early age by her parents and her motivation is her family including her husband and biggest supporter of nearly 20 years, her children, and grandchildren. Her motto is “I can do all things thru Christ that strengthen me!”
