Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards
Thank you to everyone who attended the fifth annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards ceremony on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
Meet the Honorees
The MLK Leadership honorees were selected to represent corporate, community, humanitarian, and student achievement.
Corporate Leadership Award
Angèle Bell
Angèle Bell’s 15-year career spans aerospace/Department of Defense and pharmaceuticals, blending expertise in logistics, supply chain, manufacturing operations, global health, and community engagement. A true generalist and global citizen, Bell has led initiatives from strengthening last-mile medicine access as a Merck Global Health Fellow in Senegal to consulting with the World Bank’s Global Financing Facility in Mozambique, where she helped design sustainable distribution models.
At Merck, she has championed diversity and inclusion by building systems that enable D&I work to operate as a business driver. Currently based at the West Point site, Bell leads community outreach and engagement. Through her work, she forges relationships with two-year academic and trade institutions and community-based organizations; expands experiential learning opportunities, and embeds skills-based hiring practices while demystifying the pharmaceutical industry for K–12 students and beyond.
Originally from Cameroon, Bell migrated to the U.S. to pursue higher education, earning a bachelor’s degree in international business from Eastern Mennonite University and an MBA from Liberty University.
Community Leadership Award
Marlene Pray
Marlene Pray (she/her) has more than 30 years’ experience in community organizing around topics such as LGBTQ+ issues, racial and social justice, sexuality education, environmental and outdoor education, social-emotional wellness, and human rights.
In 2011, Pray was elected to Doylestown Borough Council, where she spearheaded an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance. She was appointed to the Bucks County Human Relations Council; helped launch the Bucks County Partnership for Healthy Teens; and founded Planned Parenthood Keystone’s Rainbow Room - Bucks County’s only center for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer youth, where she is director and coordinator for LGBTQ+ education.
Pray serves on the boards of NAACP Bucks County and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Bucks County, and on the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Committee of the Bucks County Historical Society. She’s a facilitator of the program White People Confronting Racism, and is the Community Advisory Group Facilitator for the Michener Museum’s “Behind These Walls” project on its history as a jail, focusing on prison reform.
The California native is a PhD candidate in human sexuality education with a focus on racial justice at Widener University. She facilitated the Alternatives to Violence Project, working with incarcerated people. Pray is also a mother, homicide survivor, earth-based celebrant, and leader of the Rise Up Resistance Community Chorus.
Humanitarian Leadership Award
Barbara Simmons
Barbara Simmons has served as the executive director of The Peace Center for more than 30 years. She has created prevention and intervention programs to address conflict, violence, racism, and bigotry in over 300 schools, businesses and communities in the tri-state area. Her work in coalition-building – such as with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Task Force and the Bucks County Violence Prevention Task Force – has helped the community view violence as a public health issue related to the cycle of trauma.
Simmons has been a professor at Arcadia University’s International Peace and Conflict Resolution master’s program for more than 20 years. She has delivered trainings and workshops in Rwanda, South Africa, and Northern Ireland on topics such as diplomacy, peacebuilding and reconciliation.
Simmons was the creator and producer of PeaceTalks audio documentaries to bring awareness of peacebuilding across the world, including Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan; Israel and Palestine, and throughout the U.S. The programs aired on NPR, Public Radio International, and many other stations, with legendary journalist Walter Cronkite hosting several programs.
Simmons served as ambassador to WALKING WHILE BLACK: L.O.V.E. Is The Answer, serves on the Board of the Nakashima Foundation for Peace, the Executive Committee of the Bucks County NAACP, and co-chairs the MLK Peace & Justice Summit. She is Clerk of Newtown Friends Meeting.
Student Leadership Award
Kayla Anne Wulffleff
Kayla Anne Wulffleff is an early childhood education major at Bucks County Community College. The Quakertown resident is dedicated to addressing disparities within her community, particularly those related to homelessness, food insecurity, and poverty, through involvement with her church and community organizations. She also shares Dr. King’s commitment to faith-based initiatives and to educating and empowering youth.
In 2023, Wulffleff earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Troop 55 in the Washington Crossing Council of Scouting America, becoming the first woman in Upper Bucks to achieve this distinction. A member of the Order of the Arrow, the National Honor Society for scouts, she continues to advocate for equality for girls in scouting and remains actively involved.
Wulffleff also serves as the Youth Ministry Director, Vacation Bible School Director, and Church Council member at Christ’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Trumbauersville. There, she works closely with children and instills values aligned with those championed by Dr. King. Additionally, she collaborates with the local VFW commander and mayor to support and organize community events.
At Bucks, Wulffleff is highly engaged at the Upper Bucks Campus, working closely with the director and assistant director to organize campus events through the Students Planning Activities club. She is also an active member of the Centurion Leadership program.
