Meet the Planning Committee
Dr. Shemariah J. Arki
She/Her/They/Them
Founder + Program Director
Professor of Pan African Studies
Kent State University
"If we are going to heal, then let it be glorious." - Beyoncé Giselle Knowles Carter
Dr. Heather E. Burton
She/Her/Hers
Chair, Board of Directors, Ellipsis Institue for Womxn of Color in the Academy
Interim Co-Director, African and African American Studies Minor
Senior Director for Faculty and Institutional Diversity, Office for Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity
Adjunct Faculty, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
Case Western Reserve University
“If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back and get it right-side up again.” - Sojourner Truth
Dr. Sherrae M. Mack
She/Her/They/Theirs
Conference Operations Strategist
Visiting Campus & Community Lecturer - Black Studies
Cleveland State University
“We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” - Angela Davis
Colette Ngana, MA
She/Her/Hers
Chair, Partnerships and Fundraising
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Sociology
Case Western Reserve University
"...no person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended." - Alice Walker
Erin K. Phelps, MA
Campus Co-Chair
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Pierce College
Doctoral Candidate, Case Western Reserve University
Yoga Instructor, 200 Hour RYT
"Black folks have been struggling and resisting on this land for at least 400 years. Our ancestors already started the work. Catch up." - Charlene A. Carruthers
Selina M. Pagán
She/Her/Hers
Community Co-Chair
President of the Young Latino Network
Economic Development Coordinator, Metro West CDC
"Yo soy la vida, la fuerza, la mujer (I am life, I am strength, I am woman).- Julia de Burgos
Katarina Smiley, BS
She/Her/Hers
Community Ambassador, DigitalC
"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." - Audre Lorde