The responsibilities of the project’s advisory board are as follows. First, to provide guidance in selecting and prioritizing themes for the curriculum. Second, to provide expert perspectives on community and school board collaboration to improve access and use of project outputs. Third, to support the curation of culturally conscious data and materials. Next, to support the planning of promotional and programmatic opportunities for disseminating project outputs. Furthermore, to act as liaisons to regional organizational and academic coalitions that would further the reach of the project outputs. Finally, to actively support the design and creation of any sustainability efforts that would lead to additional long-term benefits to the education community.
Melanie M. Acosta, Ph.D. spends her energy engaged in good works for the learning and lives of Black children, which includes research and teaching for excellence in Black education, especially in elementary reading classrooms; and includes institution-building within, for, and led -by Black communities. Currently, Melanie works as an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University in the Department of Curriculum, Culture & Educational Inquiry. Prior to her time in higher education, Melanie was an elementary school teacher and a community organizer for a grassroots parent empowerment group, both in Gainesville, FL.
A veteran educator, Val Brown is currently the Academic Director for the Center of Antiracist Education. Her role primarily includes designing, facilitating, and evaluating antiracist professional learning for educators around the country. In 2016, she founded #ClearTheAir – an online community focused on professional learning for educators around issues of racial and social justice. Her doctoral studies, at the University of Florida, are focused on educator activism. She currently resides in North Carolina.
Vivian Washington Filer is a long-time resident of Gainesville, Florida. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Florida, a Master’s degree in Education from Nova University, and a Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of South Florida. She holds memberships in several professional organizations including the National Black Nurses Association, Her professional career has included employment at Shands Teaching Hospital as both a Nursing Assistant and a Registered Nurse. At Santa Fe College she was a professor of Nursing as well as the Interim Director of Health Sciences. Her community experience includes public service as a member of a remarkably diverse number of committees, boards, and auxiliaries often as chair or president. She was also a member of the first integrated group of women in Gainesville, which was known as the Gainesville Women for Equal Rights, (GWER). She is also the Co-founder of the Springhill Neighborhood Association, and the Greater Gainesville Black Nurses Association. In her present role, she is the founder and CEO of the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center. Filer’s leadership role started and flourished at Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal church where she has served all her adult life. Filer enjoys singing with her sisters in the A’ Capella trio known as the “The Washington Sisters.” She has also spent many years entertaining audiences of all ages with her storytelling skills. She is the widow of Delano Filer Sr. and the mother of two sons, Delano, Jr. Craig Sr., and four grandchildren, Brittany, Delano Frank, Maya, and Craig, Jr.
Jacob U’Mofe Gordon, Ph.D.; LL.D (Hon), is Professor Emeritus of African & African American Studies (History), the University of Kansas; and Former Kwame Nkrumah Endowed Chair, University of Ghana. Dr. Gordon is the author and/or co-author of more than 30 books, monographs, and numerous articles, including the book, Africa and the African Diaspora in the Development of the Global North: The American Story (2020); and Co-Editor with Paul Ortiz of African American Studies: 50 Years at the University of Florida (2021).
Dr. Adam Jordan is an associate professor of Special Education at the College of Charleston whose research focuses on well-being in alternative schools. A first-generation college student from rural north Georgia, his teaching, research, and service are all focused on the inclusion of traditionally marginalized populations, a commitment to a Better South, and reconceptualization of risk narratives.