Featured Speakers

Featured Speakers will open each day of the event with a talk and Q&A with the audience.

Loretta Parham wearing a blue top, light color glassses, earrings, and a necklace, looking directly into the camera.

Loretta Parham

CEO & Library Director, Atlanta University Center -Robert W. Woodruff Library

Thursday, April 6, 2023, 50-minute session
8:00am PT / 9:00am MT / 10:00am CT / 11:00 am ET

Loretta Parham – CEO & Library Director of the incorporated Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library, an entity shared by four HBCU institutions—Clark Atlanta University, the Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College and Spelman College. Under her leadership the AUC Woodruff Library was just elected as the 127th member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and in 2016 awarded the ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award. Parham’s experience includes: Director of the Hampton University Library, Deputy Director of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pa., District Chief of the Chicago Public Library (CPL) and other professional positions with Chicago Public Schools and the City Colleges of Chicago.

Parham is currently on the EDUCOPIA Board, member of the University of Michigan Information School Alumni Advisory Board, the WABE–NPR Advisory Council, and a member of the Roundtable for Aligning Incentives for Open Science of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

An active leader, scholar and engaging speaker, Parham was named the ACRL 2017 Academic Research Librarian of the Year, the 2016 Distinguished Alumna of the University of Michigan School of Information Sciences, a “Mover & Shaker” by the industry publication Library Journal, has authored articles on HBCU libraries and archives, is co-editor of the book, Achieving Diversity: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians, and served as faculty for the EDUCAUSE Management Institute. She has been a featured speaker for programs of the IMLS, Digital Library Federation, OCLC, Georgia Society of Archivists, and more.

Parham is co-founder and past chair of the Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Library Alliance, past chair of the Georgia Humanities Council, former board member of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), former trustee of OCLC, Inc., past chair of the ALA Committee on Accreditation and an officer in many other organizations.

Parham is an alum of the University of Michigan Graduate College and Southern Illinois University; and an alum of the Frye Institute, the ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians, and the HBCU Library Alliance Leadership Institute.

Lopez Matthews Jr. Headshot

Lopez Matthews Jr.

State Archivist and Public Records Administrator, Government of the District of Columbia

Friday, April 7, 2023, 50-minute session
8:00am PT / 9:00am MT / 10:00am CT / 11:00 am ET

Lopez D. Matthews Jr., Ph.D., is the State Archivist and Public Records Administrator for the District of Columbia. In this capacity he serves as Historian of the District of Columbia, Chair of the D.C. Historical Records Advisory Board, and Director of the DC Office of Public Records and Archives. A native of Baltimore Maryland, he earned a BS in History from Coppin State University in 2004. He then earned a master’s degree in Public History and Archival Administration from Howard University in 2006 and a PhD in United States History from Howard University in 2009.

Currently, he is a member of the Council of State Archivists, and an Executive Council Member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. He has published several articles and is the author of Howard University in the World Wars: Men and Women Serving the Nation. He is host of In Retrospect and Prospect where he interviews practitioners about African American history projects for ASALH TV. In 2020, he became a Senior Advisor to the US Truth, Healing and Transformation Leadership Group.

Meet the Session Panelists, Moderators, and Contributors

View the full schedule and all bios on the registration page.

TaKeia N. Anthony, Ph.D.

Interim Dean, Whitney Young Honors and Graduate Studies, Kentucky State University

Panelist: Digital Publishing – Lessons from Brown University’s Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing Institute

Kimberley Bugg, Ph.D.

Associate Library Director Atlanta University Center - Woodruff Library

Panelist: Leadership and Upward Mobility at HBCUs

Dana Chandler, Ph.D.

University Archivist, Tuskegee University

Panelist: Leadership and Upward Mobility at HBCUs

Rico Chapman, Ph.D.

Assistant Dean/Director, Clark Atlanta University

Panelist: Grant Funders and Awardees: A Conversation

Martina Dodd​​

Program Director of Curation and Object Based Learning, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library​​

Moderator: Care, Curation, and Collaboration: Art, Archives, and Exhibitions at HBCUs and Beyond

Flavia Eldemire, Ph.D.​

Associate V.P. for Counseling & Placement, Allen University​

Panelist: Leadership and Upward Mobility at HBCUs 

Vanesa Evers​

Digital Publishing Librarian, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library​

Moderator: Digital Publishing – Lessons from Brown University’s Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing Institute

Sharon Freeman, Ph.D.​

Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Mississippi Valley State University​

Panelist: Creating Access to HBCU Collections

Siobahn Day Grady, Ph.D.​​

Assistant Professor and Program Director of Information Science, North Carolina Central University​​​

Panelist: Instruction, Digital Pedagogy, Bridging the Gap Between Classroom and Library

Melanee C. Harvey

Associate Professor of Art History and James A. Porter Colloquium Chair, Chadwick A . Boseman College of Fine Arts, Howard University

Panelist: Care, Curation, and Collaboration: Art, Archives, and Exhibitions at HBCUs and Beyond

Andrea Jackson Gavin​​

Director of Engagement & Scholarship, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library​​

Moderator: Grant Funders and Awardees: A Conversation

Renee Johnson-Thornton, Ph.D.​

Senior Program Associate, Higher Learning/Associate Director, MMUF​

Panelist: Grant Funders and Awardees: A Conversation

Ida Jones

Associate Director of Special Collections and University Archivist, Morgan State University

Moderator: Leadership and Upward Mobility at HBCUs 

Allison Levy

Director, Brown University Digital Publications, Brown University Library​​

Panelist: Grant Funders and Awardees: A Conversation

Raeshawn McGuffie

Assistant Director of Technical Services, Hampton University

Panelist: Creating Access to HBCU Collections

DeLisa Minor Harris​

Director of Library Services, Fisk University John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library​​

Panelist: Instruction, Digital Pedagogy, Bridging the Gap Between Classroom and Library

Ana Ndumu​​

Assistant Professor, University of Maryland College Park​​

Panelist: Instruction, Digital Pedagogy, Bridging the Gap Between Classroom and Library

Tiwanna Nevels, Ph.D.​​

HBCU Library Alliance Board Chair & Director of Library Services, Saint Augustine's University​​

Moderator: Featured Speaker session: Loretta ParhamFeatured Speaker session: Lopez D. Matthews Jr., PhD

Brandon Nightingale​

Project Manager, Black Press Archives Digitization Project, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center​

Panelist: Creating Access to HBCU Collections

Bria Paige​​

Doctoral Candidate, Department of English at Rutgers University; Former Pathways Intern at the National Endowment of the Humanities​​

Panelist: Grant Funders and Awardees: A Conversation

Kenvi Phillips, Ph.D.​​

Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion- University Library, Brown University​​

Panelist: Leadership and Upward Mobility at HBCUs

Sandra Phoenix headshot placed over a graphic background. Ms. Phoenix is wearing a dark suit, pearls, glasses, and short hair, standing in front of an artistic sculpture of a figure.

Sandra Phoenix

Executive Director, HBCU Library Alliance

Moderator: Creating Access to HBCU Collections

Ashley Robertson Preston, Ph.D.​​

Assistant Professor of History, Howard University ​​

Panelist: Digital Publishing – Lessons from Brown University’s Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing Institute

Marco Robinson, Ph.D.​​

Associate Professor of History and Assistant Director of the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice, Prairie View A&M University​​

Panelist: Digital Publishing – Lessons from Brown University’s Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing Institute

La Tanya L. Reese Rogers, PhD​​

Associate Professor of Literature & Drama; Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Honors Program, Fisk University​​

Panelist: Digital Publishing – Lessons from Brown University’s Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing Institute

Kayla Siddell​​

Associate Director of the University Library, Xavier University of Louisiana​​

Panelist: Instruction, Digital Pedagogy, Bridging the Gap Between Classroom and Library

Francena F.L. Turner​

Postdoctoral Associate for Data Curation Data Curation in African American History and Culture, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, University of Maryland, College Park​​

Moderator: Instruction, Digital Pedagogy, Bridging the Gap Between Classroom and Library

Sterling Warren​

Hycreator Mediaworks​​

Contributor, Community Break: DJ

Delrisha White

Founder and Principal Consultant, Equity Erudition

Host

Erika Witt​​

Coordinator of Public Services, Leonard S. Washington Memorial Library at Southern University at New Orleans​​​

Panelist: Care, Curation, and Collaboration: Art, Archives, and Exhibitions at HBCUs and Beyond

Savannah Wood headshot, black and white photograph with visible backdrop in background, Savannah wearing glasses and a blazer.

Savannah Wood​​​

Executive Director, Afro Charities​​​​

Panelist: Care, Curation, and Collaboration: Art, Archives, and Exhibitions at HBCUs and Beyond