OUR PEOPLE

OUR STAFF

Daniel Sparkman
Executive Director & Board President

OUR BOARD

Robert Bentley, MD FAAD
Board Chairman & Medical Director
Leah Batt, DNP, CPNP-PC
Rachel Gandy
Joanne Hale, PhD
Wesley Helton
Rebekah Mason
Phil Webb

OUR STAFF

Daniel Sparkman
Executive Director & Board President

Daniel serves as Executive Director of Great State 2019. He has previously served as Operations Manager for a nonprofit, Press Secretary for two Alabama governors and Communications Director for the Alabama Department of Human Resources. Daniel has served the public, in some way, throughout his entire career. Daniel is a former journalist who worked for several news outlets in Alabama, earning an Emmy nomination for his work. His administrative work, public and volunteer service puts Daniel in the perfect position to lead the efforts of our organization.

OUR STAFF

Daniel Sparkman
Executive Director & Board President

Daniel serves as Executive Director of Great State 2019. He has previously served as Operations Manager for a nonprofit, Press Secretary for two Alabama governors and Communications Director for the Alabama Department of Human Resources. Daniel has served the public, in some way, throughout his entire career. Daniel is a former journalist who worked for several news outlets in Alabama, earning an Emmy nomination for his work. His administrative work, public and volunteer service puts Daniel in the perfect position to lead the efforts of our organization.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Robert Bentley, MD FAAD
Board Chairman & Medical Director
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Robert Bentley, MD is a full time practicing physician of over 40 years in Alabama. He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer for Dermatology Care of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, a private practice he founded in 2017. Prior to his current private practice, Dr. Bentley served two terms as Alabama’s 53rd Governor, as well as two terms in the Alabama House of Representatives. Dr. Bentley graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in 1968, and later served as Hospital Commander as Captain in the US Air Force while stationed at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. He also founded one of the largest Dermatology practices in the southeast.

Dr. Bentley co-founded Great State 2019 to serve Alabamians, primarily through accessible and affordable medical care. Inspired by initiatives and causes he launched and championed while serving as Governor, Dr. Bentley leads the organizations efforts to bring temporary, free-medical clinics to those areas of the state where there is little or no access to specialized medical treatment.  Dr. Bentley serves as Chairman of the Board of Great State 2019.

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Robert Bentley, MD FAAD
Board Chairman & Medical Director
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Robert Bentley, MD is a full time practicing physician of over 40 years in Alabama. He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer for Dermatology Care of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, a private practice he founded in 2017. Prior to his current private practice, Dr. Bentley served two terms as Alabama’s 53rd Governor, as well as two terms in the Alabama House of Representatives. Dr. Bentley graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in 1968, and later served as Hospital Commander as Captain in the US Air Force while stationed at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. He also founded one of the largest Dermatology practices in the southeast.

Dr. Bentley co-founded Great State 2019 to serve Alabamians, primarily through accessible and affordable medical care. Inspired by initiatives and causes he launched and championed while serving as Governor, Dr. Bentley leads the organizations efforts to bring temporary, free-medical clinics to those areas of the state where there is little or no access to specialized medical treatment.  Dr. Bentley serves as Chairman of the Board of Great State 2019.

Laquetta Joyner, LPN
Board Secretary
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Laquetta Joyner is a Licensed Practical Nurse having worked in clinical and long- term care facilities in Michigan, North Carolina and Alabama. She resides in rural west Alabama one of the state’s medically underserved regions. Joyner has assisted in numerous free skin cancer screenings held in Tuscaloosa for the general population as well as the homeless population and for first responders. She is a member of Lambda Psi Nu Nursing Sorority.

Laquetta Joyner, LPN
Board Secretary
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Laquetta Joyner is a Licensed Practical Nurse having worked in clinical and long- term care facilities in Michigan, North Carolina and Alabama. She resides in rural west Alabama one of the state’s medically underserved regions. Joyner has assisted in numerous free skin cancer screenings held in Tuscaloosa for the general population as well as the homeless population and for first responders. She is a member of Lambda Psi Nu Nursing Sorority.

Rebekah Caldwell Mason
Board Treasurer

Rebekah Caldwell Mason serves as Administrator for Dermatology Care of Alabama, overseeing general and financial operations for the private practice’s three divisions.  She is a member of the Medical Group Managers Association and co-founder of Great State 2019. Mason previously served in the Executive branch of the Alabama Governor’s Office as Communications Director and later Senior Advisor, taking an active role in helping shape initiatives effecting health care policy and construction of a new correctional facility for women. She is an Award-winning Journalist, recognized by the Associated Press for her reporting, news anchoring and the overall excellence of two local news departments she founded and managed. Mason is also a Communications Consultant, and an active, married mother of three teenagers.

Rebekah Caldwell Mason
Board Treasurer

Rebekah Caldwell Mason serves as Administrator for Dermatology Care of Alabama, overseeing general and financial operations for the private practice’s three divisions.  She is a member of the Medical Group Managers Association and co-founder of Great State 2019. Mason previously served in the Executive branch of the Alabama Governor’s Office as Communications Director and later Senior Advisor, taking an active role in helping shape initiatives effecting health care policy and construction of a new correctional facility for women. She is an Award-winning Journalist, recognized by the Associated Press for her reporting, news anchoring and the overall excellence of two local news departments she founded and managed. Mason is also a Communications Consultant, and an active, married mother of three teenagers.