Dorothy Garrick is the founder and President of Columbia Consumer Education Council, Inc. (CCEC), established in 1994. CCEC is a nonprofit, non-partisan grassroots consumer education and advocacy organization. The mission of the organization is to educate, inform, advocate, and empower consumers to protect themselves from fraud and abuse in the marketplace and workplace. CCEC is committed to delivering services and programs to empower those consumers who are left out of the mainstream of society – the have-nots – providing consumer education with dignity, respect and compassion. They also work with local, state, and national consumer groups on issues that protect consumer’s rights and provide one-on-one assistance to individuals and families with their problems. Garrick has more than 40 years’ experience working with nonprofit organizations and businesses. She has served on numerous local and national boards including the National Consumers League, National African American Consumer Education Council and Verizon Consumers Advisory Board. She also served as an Arbitrator for the Ford Motor Company Consumer Dispute Resolution Board, Mediator for the Community Mediation Center, and Court Appointed Special Advocate. She also worked as a union and community organizer.