Our Team

Middle Passage Ceremonies & Port Markers Project (MPCPMP) brings together many individuals who work on three distinct boards to fulfill the Project’s mission.

  • Ann L. Chinn

    Founder / Program Director

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  • Ann C. Cobb

    Executive Director

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EXECUTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ADVISORY BOARD

Amadou Mahtar Ba

Chief Executive, African Media Initiative; Chair, AllAfrica Media, Inc.

Charles E. Cobb, Jr.

Chair, Author and Journalist

Teresa Doke

Proprietor, Global Resource Consultants

John W. Franklin

Former Director of Partnerships and International Programs, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution

Faye V. Harrison

Professor of African American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Regina Hartfield

Founder, Souls at Sea

Edith “Cookie” Heard 

Community and political leader as well as an activist based in Williamsburg, VA.

Joseph W. Jenkins

Human Resource and Organizational Consultant

Vivian Johnson

Retired Professor of Education, Boston University

Emily MN Kugler

Assistant Professor of English, Howard University

Karen J. Malachi

Attorney, Golden & Malachi, LLC

Gladys Mitchell-Reed 

Ethicist

Donald C. Moragne

Managing Principal, Success Zone, Inc.; Executive Director of Finance, Accession International

Jeanne Pirtle

Former Director of Educational Programs and Partnerships, Historic Sotterley

Benetta M. Standly 

Principal, Standly Solutions Consulting

Corey D. B. Walker

Wake Forest, Professor in the Humanities & Founding Director of the Africana/African American Studies Program

HONORARY BOARD

Michael Blakey

NEH Professor of Anthropology; Professor of American Studies; Founding Director of the Institute for Historical Biology, College of William and Mary

David Eltis

Professor Emeritus, Emory University

Shirikiana Gerima

Filmographer

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Chair, Civil Rights Pioneer and Journalist, who has chronicled freedom movements in the United States and Africa

EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS

Joanne M. Braxton
(served 2011-2012)

Professor Emeritus, William and Mary; leading scholar of African American literature and culture; David Larson Fellow in Spirituality and Health at the Library of Congress John W. Kluge Center; President of The Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency and Joy.

Davette D. Daggett
(served 2023-2024)

Financial Consultant and Analyst specializing in negotiation, process improvements, and systems implementations.

Bandele McQueen
(served 2011-2013)

Senior Advisor, McKenna Long and Aldridge

Vincent Harding
deceased

Professor Emeritus of Religion and Social Transformation, Iliff School of Theology; Founder, Veterans of Hope Project; Distinguished Professor of African American Religion, Drew University

Honorary Board

Rudy Lombard, PhD.
deceased

Writer and Social Activist

Niani Omotesa
deceased

Managing Partner, The Left Field Marketing

Bernice Johnson Reagon
deceased

Composer; Songtalker; Professor Emerita of History, American University; Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution

Honorary Board

J. Fletcher Robinson. M.D.
deceased

Pan African Advisor

Honorary Board

Randall Robinson
deceased

Author; Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law; Founder of TransAfrica Forum

Honorary Board

SUPPORT STAFF

  • Rachel Bloomfield

    Serves as Administrative Assistant. She graduated from DSC with a certificate in Computer Science. When not working, or volunteering, she enjoys drawing and taking trips to Disney.

  • Nick Huster

    Serves as Web Master & Consultant. He is an arts administrator and musician who holds a Master’s Degree from the University of New Orleans.

  • Gail Witcher

     Serves as bookkeeper for MPCPMP.  With more than 40 years experience, for the last ten years she has maintained Project finance records and accounts.

RESEARCH TEAM

  • Stephanie Bryan

    Research Team Supervisor

  • Hannah Fisher-Gray

    Researcher

  • Kaycee Hailey

    Researcher

  • Jessica Hanson

    Researcher

  • Heather Walker

    Researcher