Meet Our Founder
A Perspective Shaped by Service

The IDEA Foundation Fund, Inc. (A Belonging Think Tank) (TM) and IDEA Apparel (TM) were founded by lifelong educator, father of two and community servant, Warren J Buchanan, whose work spans classrooms, campuses, and communities. With decades of experience supporting students and families, he has witnessed firsthand how shifts in our sociopolitical climate affect access to education, health, and opportunity—especially for those in low-income and rural communities.

Career & Service Highlights

  • 35+ years in student outreach at Tuskegee University (CAENS)
  • Active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
  • University of Michigan Football Alumni (FAM)
  • High school football photographer, mentoring young people beyond the classroom.
  • Deep firsthand insight into impacts on:
  • Families and rural communities organizations serving
  • Under-resourced populations
  • Gen. Shawn Harris for Georgia campaign photographer

Dwight Hicks - Advisory Board Member

Dwight Hicks is an American actor and former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League, primarily for the San Francisco 49ers. He won two Super Bowls with the 49ers while earning four Pro Bowl selections. Hicks played college football for the Michigan Wolverines.

Deven Richardson - Advisory Board Member

As Community Engagement Manager at Cahill Contractors, Deven has years of experience dedicated to fostering partnerships with nonprofit organizations and community stakeholders, while tracking metrics and participation goals for local businesses and workforce hiring. The role emphasizes developing and implementing culturally relevant strategies to strengthen small business engagement and workforce opportunities across diverse communities.

Previous leadership as Director of Real Estate Development at San Francisco Housing Development Corporation involved land acquisition, pre-development, and construction processes for affordable housing. Expertise includes real estate financing, project feasibility analysis, and securing funding through local, state, and federal applications, creating impactful housing solutions for working families.

Attorney Milton Carver Davis - Advisory Board Council

Attorney Milton Carver Davis is a lawyer who researched and advocated for the pardon of Clarence Norris, the last surviving Scottsboro Boy.

He graduated from Tuskegee University and received his JD from the University of Iowa College of Law. He was an American Political Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, a Ford Foundation Graduate Fellow, and a Herbert Lehman Foundation International Scholar.

He gained international acclaim when as the Assistant Attorney General for Alabama he partnered with Donald Watkins to research and advocate for a full pardon of Clarence Norris, the last known surviving Scottsboro Boy based on innocence. Governor George Wallace granted the parole in 1976 as the first time in the state’s history that a pardon had been granted based upon innocence.

Attorney Milton Carver Davis was the 29th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He created the Fraternity’s World Policy Council as a think tank to expand the organization’s involvement in politics and social and current policy to encompass important global and world issues. The World Policy Council has published white papers on the Politics of Nigeria, the War on Terrorism, Hurricane Katrina, the Millennium Challenge Account, and Extraordinary Rendition.

Barrett T. Vaughan, Ph.D., J.D. (Director of Financial Grants and Awards)

Dr. Vaughan joined the faculty of the Tuskegee University College of Agriculture, Environment, and Nutrition Sciences in 2003 after completing his work in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. In 2011, Dr. Vaughan was tasked to provide Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training and technical assistance for a cooperative of small and limited resource farmers who were selling produce to a major retailer under a research-outreach initiative of the University.

As a result, between 2012 and 2018, eighteen small farmers and five packingsheds were GAP-certified under the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Global program through the efforts of Dr. Vaughan and a team of extension and outreach staff and faculty. Dr. Vaughan has continued to provide assistance to farmers who operate or are planning small-scale fruit and vegetable processing.
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