Rev. Zernial M. Bogan was born in New York City and came to Champaign‐Urbana by way of the U.S. Air Force in 1971. He has a G.E.D. from the Champaign County Department of Education, 1977, and certificates to be a firefighter II from the University of Illinois, locksmith from the Beslaw Institute, and auto diesel mechanic from Danville Area Community College. In March 1998 he became a baptist minister at Pilgrim Restoration Missionary Baptist Church and became an ordained minister in July 2006. He serves in the prison ministry at Salem Baptist Church in Champaign and has been since 2002 the churchʹs computer director. He has had radio shows on WEFT from 2001 to 2008 and on WRFU from 2004 to 2006. Since 2000 he has owned his own business, L & Z Cleaning and Construction. He is currently attending Ashford University online and will graduate with a B.A. in organizational management in July 2011. He is also involved in the Champaign County Black Chamber of Commerce and a non‐voting policy board member with Urbana Champaign Big Broadband (UC2B).

Zernial was featured in Difference Makers 2010: An eBlack Champaign-Urbana Publication.