COMMISSIONERS
Kali-Ahset Amen, PhD, VICE CHAIR
Commission term: 2023-2027
Vice Chair Dr. Kali-Ahset Amen, representing Baltimore City, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Commissioner Amen is an interdisciplinary scholar, curator, and social justice educator. She is currently the Executive Director of the Center for Journalism & Democracy in Washington, D.C. Amen is also a board member of the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center. Since 2019, Amen has helped to mobilize more than $6 million to preserve Black history, culture, and arts in the city as a senior advisor and principal investigator.
Jaelon T. Moaney, VICE CHAIR
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Jaelon T. Moaney, representing Talbot County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Moaney is a descendant of two founding Black families from Talbot and Kent Counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College. He has extensive experience in public policy, serving Marylanders at every level of government. He is also the founder of The Needle’s Eye Academy, an organization focused on the literary future of the Delmarva Peninsula. Moaney has served on the Water’s Edge Museum Advisory Board Committee, MD Sea Grant’s External Advisory Board, TCPS Education Foundation Board of Directors, Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice Just Futures Advisory Council, Williams-Mystic Alumni Council, and the Preservation Maryland Board of Directors.
Rachelle M. Adams
Commission term: 2025-2029
Commissioner Rachelle M. Adams, representing Anne Arundel County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. Commissioner Adams is a dedicated Human Resources leader, business owner, and community advocate committed to equity, justice, and the preservation of African American history with over 20 years of experience in HR, operations, and nonprofit management. She is a graduate of Capella University and owner of RMA Consultants, LLC., also serving as Director of Human Resources at Health Care for the Homeless, Inc. and as the second Vice President of the Alpha Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta. Passionate about social justice, Rachelle actively works to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion while preserving African American history through advocacy, education, and community engagement.
Ura Jean Bailey, PhD
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Ura Jean Bailey, representing Montgomery County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore.
Professor Jean Bailey is a Graduate Professor of Human Development at Howard University, where she chairs the Howard University Republic of South Africa Program (HURSAP). Additionally, she is a member of the Board of Directors and Country Representative for South Africa for Sister Cities International, Inc. Dr. Bailey is also President and CEO of the Sister States of Maryland, Inc. and Chair of the Maryland/KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) Sister State Committee. Since 2019, Professor Bailey has directed the America’s Voices Against Apartheid Project (AVAA), a major archival research project and exhibition, presented at the Apartheid Museum in South Africa (Opened 18 May 2023), the Pietermaritzburg Museum (Feb 2024), the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in September 2023 and the Baltimore City Hall in June 2024.
She is also the Principal Investigator and Project Director for “Exploring Cultural Linkages Between Black Marylanders and Civil Rights Movements Abroad”, a $2m initiative funded by the National Archives and the Maryland General Assembly to develop the “Dr. Joseph E. Harris Maryland Routes of Enslaved Peoples Heritage Trail” and create an online digital archive of the research related to the Heritage Trail.
Lori Bradford
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Lori Bradford, representing Anne Arundel County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Commissioner Bradford is a Registered Nurse, with over twenty years experience in mental health and public health. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority. She is active with the Caucus of African American Leaders, Connecting the Dots, and Women Indivisible community activist collectives within Anne Arundel County.
Dina Daly
Commission term: 2025-2029
Commissioner Dina Daly, representing Talbot County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. Dina Gomes Daly is the Executive Director of Building African American Minds (BAAM), Inc., a nonprofit she co-founded with her husband, Derick Daly. Since April 2021, she has overseen the organization’s expanding programs that support youth, families, and the broader community in Easton, Maryland. Prior to her current role, Daly served as Director of the Caroline County Department of Social Services, leading critical public assistance programs and guiding the agency through a successful accreditation process. She also held leadership and supervisory positions in child welfare and adult services with both Caroline and Dorchester counties. A licensed certified social worker, Daly holds a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a Bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University in Boston. Originally from São Nicolau, Cabo Verde, she lived in Portugal before immigrating to the United States in 1976. Mrs. Daly has served on numerous local government and nonprofit boards and remains deeply committed to empowering underserved communities through education, mentorship, and social support.
Mark Glaze
Commission term: 2025-2029
Commissioner Mark Glaze, representing Howard County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. Commissioner Glaze is a former health care administration leader with over 40 years of experience in hospital, health plan, contracting and pharmaceutical services.
Walter (Wali) Gill, PhD
Commission term: 2022-2026
Commissioner Dr. Walter (Wali) Gill, representing Baltimore City, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2022 by Governor Larry J. Hogan. Commissioner Gill is a military veteran, an art and social studies teacher, artist, actor and author. He brings over twenty years of teaching experiences, especially as an urban educator and working with children in foster care. As an artist, he has engaged in painting, collages, crafts, ceramics, produced a film, and designed and copyrighted an “I Love Baltimore” tee shirt.
Gina Marie Lewis
Commission term: 2024-2028
Commissioner Gina Marie Lewis, representing Prince George’s County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. Gina Marie Lewis is a Professor of Art at Bowie State University, where she teaches painting, printmaking, integrated studios, and digital media arts. A practicing artist and curator, her work explores layered images, color, and collage in both two- and three-dimensional forms, often creating transformational experiences through relief works and installations. She has exhibited in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Pittsburgh, New York, and beyond.
In addition to her studio practice, Lewis leads major interdisciplinary, arts-based research projects with the National Park Service, including studies of African American communities at Seneca Quarry, Antietam, and along the C&O Canal. Her work integrates oral history, visual culture, and descendant-community engagement to preserve African American heritage.
Lewis is also the 2023–2025 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Dr. Thelma T. Daley Distinguished Professor, supporting community-engaged art initiatives. She brings to the Commission a commitment to heritage preservation, creative research, and community dialogue.
Jyoti Mohan, PhD
Commission term: 2025-2029
Commissioner Jyoti Mohan, representing Baltimore County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. Commissioner Mohan was born in India and arrived in the United States to finish a doctorate in history. Keenly aware of the colonial past of her own birthplace, she now studies decolonization, and how systemic and structural barriers affect the Global South and marginalized communities disproportionately. She is an enthusiastic champion of celebrating and preserving African-American history, tradition and culture as a means of respecting the stories of those who walked so we can run. Commissioner Mohan enjoys lively discussions with her students on these and other topics. When not teaching, she is hanging out with her children and pets or causing good trouble as a community advocate!
Brian C. Morrison, PhD
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Dr. Brian C. Morrison, representing Baltimore City, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Morrison has been a public school educator in secondary and higher learning institutions for 39 years working in under-served and under-resourced communities primarily in the Baltimore metropolitan area. He is currently the Social Studies Teacher Leader of Innovation at Ballou Senior High School in the District of Columbia Public School System and he founded the William J. Watkins, Sr. Educational Institute, which trains teachers in culturally responsive pedagogy. He has expertise in teaching Social Studies and African American History, and works closely with the Maryland State Department of Education and the Reginald F. Lewis Maryland Museum of African American History and Culture developing the state’s African American History curriculum.
Robert J. Patterson, PhD
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Dr. Robert J. Patterson, representing Prince George’s County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Patterson is a distinguished professor of African American Studies at Georgetown University, where he previously served as the inaugural chair (2016-2019). He is a renowned author, editor, and television commentator (MSNBC, Fox Soul, CNN, and the BBC) focusing on rhythm and blues culture, civil rights literature, racial equity, reparations, slavery’s legacies, and black cultural production. Dr. Patterson has worked with governmental agencies, school systems, and other organizations to develop solutions that increase diversity, cultivate inclusion, and provide equity of access and outcomes.
Ada Pinkston
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Ada Pinkston, representing Baltimore City, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Ada Pinkston is a multimedia artist, educator, and cultural organizer whose work has been showcased at prestigious venues like The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, The Baltimore Museum of Art, and The Walters Art Museum. She co-directs the “Invisible Architectures” project at Towson University, where she is a lecturer. Ada has presented lectures on memory and public space at esteemed institutions like The French Embassy, NYU, UCLA, USC, Columbia University, and The National Gallery of Art.
Bridgett Jones Smith
Commission term: 2025-2029
Commissioner Bridgett Jones Smith, representing Washington County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. She is active in her community and dedicated to improving her community through service. Ms. Jones Smith is the President of Friends of Tolson’s Chapel and Freedmen’s Bureau School, chairperson of the Washington County Department of Social Services Advisory Board, a member of Preservation Maryland’s Heritage Grant Fund committee, a member of Fulton Bank’s Community Advisory Board, Western Md, and a life member of the NAACP.
Hakeem I. Tijani, PhD
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Dr. Hakeem I. Tijani, representing Baltimore County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Commissioner Tijani is currently the pioneer executive director of the Office of Global Partnerships-Africa at Morgan State University. In his thirty-five years in academia he has attained the rank of a tenured associate professor at Morgan State University, Baylor University, and the University of St. Francis. He was appointed full professor and the pioneer Dean, College of Arts and Education, the pioneer Deputy Vice Chancellor, and Deputy President (2011-2017) at Adeleke University, Nigeria. Since 2017, he has been a Full/Visiting Professor at the National Open University of Nigeria. He is a scholar, administrator, and educationist with extensive knowledge and experience of global education, pedagogy, experiential learning, study abroad, managing partnerships, and sister-sister linkages across the Atlantic.
Chrissy M. Thornton
Commission term: 2025-2029
Commissioner Chrissy M. Thornton, representing Baltimore County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. As President and CEO of Associated Black Charities, she leads with a movement-driven approach rooted in community empowerment, coalition-building, and economic justice. Deeply committed to uplifting Black communities, Chrissy works to advance opportunities, dismantle systemic barriers, and amplify the voices and stories that shape the collective future. Her career and personal commitments reflect a dedication to service, equity, and the belief that sustainable change comes through collaboration and empowerment. Holding a master’s degree in business with a concentration in Organizational Management, Chrissy is also a sought-after public speaker on racial justice, health equity, entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, wealth building, and nonprofit stakeholder engagement.
Reverend Alethea Smith-Withers, D.Min.
Commission term: 2025-2029
Commissioner Alethea Smith-Withers was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2025 by Governor Wes Moore. She is the Founder and Pastor of the Pavilion of God Baptist Church, affiliated with the DC Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches USA. Dr. Smith-Withers is one of two women to be the founder of a Baptist church in Washington, DC. The Pavilion of God has its roots in the historic Nineteenth Street Baptist Church where Rev. Alethea was the premier, female Associate Pastor. For several years, she also served as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), a board composed of national interfaith leaders. Her passion for justice is, in part, a product of her faith and integrating her middle school and high school and being the first African American graduate from Wantagh High School in Long Island, NY.
Kennedi Wilson
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Kennedi Wilson, representing Frederick County, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Commissioner Wilson is a writer and business owner of OUT40, which has been a voice for minority communities of Frederick for 10 years. She is a member of the International Association of Professional Writers & Editors, Maryland Ensemble Theatre Board, Frederick Public Art Commission, and Frederick Community Foundation Grants Committee. She serves on the advisory board of the RISE Coalition of Western Maryland and also volunteers for the Communications department at the City Hall of Frederick.
Wesley C. Wood
Commission term: 2023-2027
Commissioner Wesley C. Wood, representing Baltimore City, was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture in 2023 by Governor Wes Moore. Wood is a communications professional, and veteran of state and local government and politics. Mr. Wood served one term to the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee (2010-2014), representing the 44th District. Prior to that, he had been a House of Delegates candidate and was a board member of the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP. Wood currently holds the position as the President of the Society of Black Alumni for John Hopkins University, is chair of the Political and Social Action Committee of Baltimore Alumni Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and serves on the Eastern Province Political Action Committee.
Updated: August 28, 2025