Meet the SMCA Executive Board Members

Dr. Carolin McKie
Executive Director

Dr. Carolin McKie is a recently retired Elementary Principal who serves as the Vice President of SMI CA (Schools Ministry, Incorporated California—formerly CaRT—California Released Time Education) and Executive Director of Released Time of Los Angeles/Inglewood Chapter. She believes that God has prepared her to continue spreading the Gospel Message to children.

Dr. McKie’s first introduction to Released Time Bible Education (RTBE) was in 1964 when she was a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) student. As an Administrator for LAUSD, she was instrumental in getting RTBE started in four elementary schools, which are still active today. During her tenure in LAUSD, she served as a Master Teacher and Mentored New Principals, as well as served as Recording Secretary and Financial Secretary for the Council of Black Administrators of Los Angeles. Dr. McKie was instrumental in obtaining local and federal grants for her classroom and school.

Dr. McKie is a member of Love and Unity Christian Fellowship, where she serves as a member of the Intercessory Prayer Team, the Mass Choir, and the Praise Team. She enjoys singing and, as such, is a member of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA), Los Angeles Chapter, Keith Pringle and the Pentecostal Community Choir, and Alexander Hamilton and the Voices of Inspiration. These various groups have afforded her the opportunity to sing for the Lord at telethons, the Hollywood Bowl, Shrine Auditorium, and the Grammy Awards. While growing up in church, Dr. McKie served in many capacities: Sunday School Teacher, Devotional Leader, Children’s Church Director, Vacation Bible School Director, Church Clerk, and Treasurer. She loves to give and supports many worthy charities. Once asked by her son, “What one word would you say describes you?” She replied, “Giver! I love to give of my time, talent, and treasury.” She resides in Paramount, California, and has one son.

Stephen Kia
Board Chairman

Stephen Kia grew up in a missionary family in Nigeria, spending furloughs as a kid in Los Angeles, California. After high school, he attended the University of Southern California (USC), graduating with a Civil Engineering - Building Science degree. While still at USC, he interned for three summers and two winters at the US State Department in Washington, DC, working with the team of engineers responsible for designing our diplomatic posts overseas, specializing in seismic readiness at our embassies and consulates in the earthquake-prone region of Central Asia.

While continuing at USC, Kia sensed the Lord’s call and began working bi-vocationally in ministry while pursuing his Master’s. He is currently based in Los Angeles with his family, where he works as a project manager and zoning analyst at the architecture and urban planning firm Urban Concepts, working on projects that range from single-family home remodels to creative adaptive reuse projects to new housing subdivisions and larger-scale commercial developments as well. Education is an ongoing pursuit for him, and his interests currently lie at the intersection of law and land use.

Kia is in fellowship at Monrovia Gospel Hall, his home church. He travels to speak at various churches, camps, and conferences throughout California and the country. Unity in the body of Christ has been a major theme of Stephen’s ministry for the past twenty years. He is always looking for ways to build bridges and break down walls between people and groups within his sphere of influence. He sees SMCA as a great way to bring people together in the cause of Christ.

Kia serves as President & CEO of a local non-profit in the Los Angeles Eagle Rock neighborhood, known as the ROCK (Reach Our Community Kids). The ROCK provides after-school programming and other services for the community, such as music and exercise classes, addiction recovery groups, a community fridge and pantry, and a Little Free Library. Additionally, ROCK Coffee House runs a for-profit business operating within the community center, which helps subsidize the overall mission of the non-profit. Their coffee is sourced from sustainable farms in Central America (Guatemala), and some of the proceeds are directed to clean water projects in West Africa (Nigeria).

Kia is also an avid distance runner and loves exploring on foot while his two school-aged children ride their bikes ahead of him.

Haweda Nash
Board Secretary

Haweda Nash retired in 2011 from a 32-year career in Human Resources with public sector agencies. She retired as the Human Resources/Risk Management Director with the City of Upland and worked for the City of Buena Park and the San Diego Unified School District.

Nash received her B.A. degree in Journalism (Radio/TV) from San Diego State University and her Master’s in Human Resources Management from Chapman University. Raised in a Christian home, she firmly committed to Christ while in college. She is a lay minister with the Church of God of Prophecy. She has served in various leadership positions within her local church: Sunday School Teacher, Women’s Ministry Leader, Outreach Director, Small Group Leader, Treasurer, Finance and Stewardship Committee Member, and Trustee. Currently, she serves on the State Finance and Stewardship Committee for her church organization in California.

Nash has participated in several Youth Mission Teams (Kenya, Indonesia, Alaska, and Delaware), including a humanitarian trip to Zambia. She is a seminary student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, based in Boston, working on a Master’s in Christian Leadership. She is a lifelong learner and feels that preparing herself to provide “excellence in ministry” for Christ is essential.

Nash defines her most important role in life as “being a servant for Christ” to make a difference in the lives of others. She looks forward to this opportunity to help support and promote RTBE classes and serve her community. Having seen an RTBE Mobile Unit parked outside one of the elementary schools near her home for several years, she feels this is a chance to connect the dots.

Nash resides in Anaheim, California. She loves to travel and spend time with family and friends.

Philip May
Board Treasurer

Philip May is a retired engineering and robotics teacher from the Compton Unified School District. He taught in the district for 25 years and was privileged to teach multiple subjects such as math, history, reading, computer science, and wherever needed. When he was asked, “With your skill level and degrees, why teach in Compton?” he always replies, “God sends you where he wants you to go; it’s a ministry to me.” He believes you can touch more youth by being with the students throughout the week, not just on Sundays.

May is a member of Hollypark United Methodist Church and is currently on the Trustee Board, President of the United Methodist Men, and part of the music department. He has taught Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, and directed youth ministry. He started a community after-school tutorial program at the church that worked with CTR students from the local elementary school. The County Board of Supervisors awarded the program as an outstanding community program.

May is the author of a Bible Story activity book for kids (Where in the Bible) and a gospel CD (Shout Jesus). Originally from Philadelphia, he moved to Los Angeles and attended Jr. High and High School there. After high school, he attended the University of Santa Cruz, receiving a B.A. degree, and later received a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

After college, he worked in Human Resources and Special Projects in Aerospace, owned May Construction — a bookkeeping and tax business — and taught school for 25 years before retiring in 2023. He is volunteering his experiences at a local high school in Torrance USD with JROTC, engineering, robotics, and drones. He is also a musician with the Shriners Band, which plays for the Shriners Children’s Hospital fundraisers.

Genny Madison
Board Member

Genny Madison has lived in Ontario since 1964. She has three adult children and four grandchildren. When her family moved from Arizona to California, they attended First Christian Church, one of Ontario's founding churches for RTBE.

Madison was asked to be on the RTBE board when their oldest son was in 5th grade and an RTBE student. She served on the board from 1968 and as the appointed Director from 1973 until 2018, when a new director was appointed.

While her children were growing up, she was active in the children’s area at church and at the children’s school, serving as PTA president and helping with the annual fundraisers. Madison loves books and learning, so she took classes at the local community college. When all three children were in school, she worked as a teacher’s aide and transferred to Cal Poly Pomona to finish her Liberal Arts degree. In 1985, she completed a Master’s in Education and earned a teaching credential. She started teaching kindergarten in Ontario-Montclair School District and continued as director of Ontario RTBE. Madison retired from teaching in 2000 when she felt the Lord leading her into other areas of Ministry.

When it was decided to start a network with RT Programs, Madison helped organize a state organization, School Ministries of California (SMCA) — formerly California Released Time Bible Education (CaRT) — started in 1988 to support and learn from the experience of other RT leaders. Madison has served on the SM board in various positions, including President and Vice President. When SMCA became an affiliate of the National RTBE Program, School Ministries, Madison became president of SMCA.

Madison says RTBE fills her need to serve the Lord with the skills she learned as a child and as a public school teacher. It is the perfect fit. She loves to spend time with her children and grandchildren, gardening, and reading. She is a member of Sunrise Church Ontario.

Pam Lee
Board Member

Pam Lee is a teacher at heart and a lifelong learner, and became a believer in Christ in elementary school, where she accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. Lee’s teacher preparation began in elementary school, when she taught her stuffed animals the lessons learned that day each day after school. Her stuffed animals learned Bible lessons after church on Sundays from Sunday school lessons/sermons from that morning.

Upon finishing teaching her stuffed animals in elementary school, Lee continued her education by attending Hope International University in Fullerton, California, obtaining a B.A. degree in Bible and Diversified Studies. She then proceeded to earn her teaching credential from California State University, Fullerton. Having the goal of teaching grades kindergarten through sixth grade, in private and public schools, she obtained her Master’s Degree from Azusa Pacific University in Curriculum and Instruction in a Multicultural Context and her certification for Elementary Administration.

While attending school and teaching over the years, Lee has been involved in her church and community by volunteering. She has volunteered teaching girls' Sunday School classes and children’s Church Ministry, participating in short-term mission projects overseas and stateside, serving on the Mission Board, ministering to Senior Citizens, teaching Women’s Bible Studies, participating in choir, AMOR Ministries overseas missions, Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child Year Round Volunteer. She has recently begun ministering to those who suffer from traumatic brain injuries.