Dr. Bryan Carter
Director, Center for Digital Humanities,
College of Humanities
Associate Professor, Africana Studies,
University of Arizona

Dr. Bryan Carter received his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Columbia and is currently the Director of the Center for Digital Humanities and an Associate Professor in Africana Studies, at the University of Arizona. He specializes in African American literature of the 20th Century with a primary focus on the Harlem Renaissance. His research also focuses on Digital Humanities/Africana Studies. He has published numerous articles on his doctoral project, Virtual Harlem, an immersive representation of a portion of Harlem, NY as it existed during the 1920s Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance. Dr. Carter’s research centers on how the use of traditional and advanced interactive and immersive technologies changes the dynamic within the learning space. Dr. Carter has completed his first book entitled Digital Humanities: Current Perspectives, Practice and Research through Emerald Publishing, and is currently working on his second manuscript through Routledge Press, entitled: AfroFuturism: Experiencing Culture Through Technology. Dr. Carter is a CUES Distinguished Fellow at U of A and recently received a Research Innovation Award to create the U of A Anti-Racism Extended Reality Studio.

Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole
President and National Chair,
The National Council of Negro Women, Inc.
President Emerita,
National Museum of African Art

Johnnetta Betsch Cole is a noted educator, author, speaker and consultant on inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in educational institutions, museums and other workplaces.  After receiving a Ph.D. in anthropology, Dr. Cole held teaching positions in anthropology, women’s studies, and African American studies at several colleges and universities.  She served as President of both historically Black colleges for women in the United States, Spelman College and Bennett College, a distinction she alone holds.  She also served as the Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, as a Principal Consultant at Cook Ross, and as a Senior Consulting Fellow at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.  Dr. Cole is currently the Chair and Seventh President of the National Council of Negro Women, an advocacy organization for women’s rights and civil rights.  She serves as Special Counsel on Strategic Initiatives at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and a member of the board of the Dr. Maya Angelou Foundation. She is also the dean of the Herndon Board Institute. Dr. Cole has received numerous awards, and is the recipient of 70 honorary degrees.  Throughout her career and in her published work, speeches, and community service, Johnnetta Betsch Cole consistently addresses issues of race, gender, and all other systems of inequality.

Ms. Amina J. Dickerson
President,
Dickerson Global Advisors

Amina J. Dickerson founded Dickerson Global Advisors in 2009 building on her leadership experience over three decades working in the non-profit, corporate and philanthropy sectors. As a professional coach and strategist to emerging leaders, the philanthropic community and non-profit organizations, her consulting practice focuses on leadership advancement, cultural planning, nonprofit development and strategic partnerships. She currently also serves as Co-Interim Director for the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago.

Dickerson previously lead the multi-national philanthropic programs in hunger relief, domestic violence prevention, and arts and education at Kraft Foods.  She held executive posts with the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Chicago Historical Society, and DuSable Museum of African American History.  In addition to her consulting engagements, Amina works as a coach with the Kellogg School for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern and as faculty/advisor to Young Cultural Innovators, a program of the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria. She leads workshops on women’s leadership, succession planning and organizational stewardship and is a frequent panelist and keynote speaker. Amina studied theater at Emerson College, holds a certificate in arts management from Harvard University, and a M.A. in arts management from the American University in Washington, D.C. She has coaching certificates from the Coaches Training Institute and the Center for Creative Leadership and is a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Dickerson’s civic work includes service on the board of the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation (Vice President), chair of the Cultural Advisory Council for the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and co-chair of the Leadership Advisory Council of the Art Institute of Chicago . She previously served on the boards of  the Woods Fund of Chicago (past chair and interim president), and the Women's Funding Network, among other appointments.

Her work has been recognized with awards from the Association of Black Foundation Executives, Chicago Women in Philanthropy, Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy. the Association of Fundraising Professionals, The League of Chicago Theaters, See Chicago Dance, The Chicago Cultural Alliance, and the National Museum of Mexican Art, among others.  In 2009 she was added to the HistoryMakers national video archives of outstanding African American leaders and was named to The Network Journal’s Class of 25 Influential Black Women in Business. In 2010 she was named to the American University Alumni Hall of Fame. Previously, she served as Distinguished Visitor with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and a Newberry Library fellow.

Ms. Jennifer Himmelreich (Diné)
Native American Fellowship Program Manager,
Peabody Essex Museum

As Program Manager, Jennifer Himmelreich draws on her own experiences as an Alumna of the 2011 Native American Fellowship program at PEM and other prestigious fellowships. Her decade-long professional work with tribal museums, cultural heritage institutions, and mainstream oral history and mapping projects, helps guide current Fellows, Alumni, and future participants through each stage of the program while implementing its day-to-day operations.

Jennifer understands what it can sometimes feel like to be the only Native at an institution. While connecting museums and their collections to source communities, people, and projects is important, Jennifer says, "Seeing a squad of new Fellows find space at PEM is exciting! It shows we are not alone."

Mr. Mark A. Puente
Associate Dean for Organizational Development, Inclusion, and Diversity,
Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies

Mark A. Puente is the Associate Dean for Organizational Development, Inclusion, and Diversity at the Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies. Previously, he served for over 11 years as the Senior Director of Diversity and Leadership Programs at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL).  At ARL, Puente directed all aspects of the Association’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and leadership development programs.. Puente has designed and administered numerous programs that seek to recruit people of color into careers in academic and research libraries and archives. He directs and serves on the faculty or advisory groups to numerous leadership development programs such as the ARL Leadership Fellows Program, the ARL Leadership and Career Development Program, the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries’ Leadership Fellows Program, and the Southeastern Museum Conference Leadership Institute. A frequent clinician, speaker, facilitator, and writer, Puente also works with numerous organizations (i.e. library, archive, museum, K-12 education) on strategies for accelerating change in organizational culture, inclusion in the workplace, strategic planning, racial equity, diversity recruitment and retention, organizational climate, and numerous other topics.

Mr. H. Patrick Swygert
President Emeritus,
Howard University

H. Patrick Swygert is President Emeritus of Howard University and the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY, Albany) and former Executive Vice President of Temple University. During his tenures at SUNY, Albany and Howard University, he led historic and record-breaking capital campaigns featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Diverse Issues in Higher Education.

Mr. Swygert served as a Director of United Technologies Corporation (UTC) – a Fortune 30 company – for 16 years and The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc for 20 years. He is presently retained as consultant to both companies. Mr. Swygert has been appointed to federal commissions by Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. He served as a member of the National Security Agency Advisory Board and the Central Intelligence Agency External Advisory Board.

Since 2017, Mr. Swygert has been a MCLC Senior Fellow at West Point. A Founding Member of the Advisory Council for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture, Mr. Swygert was appointed in 2019 by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to the 400 Years of African American History Commission.

Mr. Swygert holds a J.D. degree from Howard University where he graduated first in his class and is recipient of nine honorary doctorate degrees. He is a member of the bar for the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania and New York. Mr. Swygert is married to Dr. Leslie T. Fenwick and has two sons.