Dr. James Early
DIRECTOR
Former Director of Cultural Heritage Policy, Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, Smithsonian Institution
James Counts Early retired from the Smithsonian Institution in March 2015 after thirty-one years of service in a multitude of positions. He served as assistant provost for educational and cultural programs, assistant secretary for education and public service, and interim director of the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum. A long-time advocate for cultural diversity and equity issues in national and international cultural and educational institutions, his applied research explores participatory museology, cultural democracy statecraft policy, capitalist and socialist discourses in cultural policy, and Afro-Latin politics, history, and cultural democracy. He curated several Folklife Festival programs including South Africa: Crafting the Economic Renaissance of the Rainbow Nation (1999) and Sacred Sounds: Belief and Society (1997). James Early holds a B.A. in Spanish from Morehouse College and completed graduate work (A.B.D.) in Latin American and Caribbean history, with a minor in African and African American history, at Howard University.
Jill Moss Greenberg
TREASURER
Former Executive Director, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center
Ms. Moss Greenberg has more than forty-five years of experience in the field of education including: Director of the National Association of Multicultural Education (NAME); Program Consultant for Homeless Children and Their Families in Baltimore County Public Schools; Multicultural Program Coordinator at the Mid- Atlantic Equity Center; and Vocational Equity Specialist at the Maryland State Department of Education. She has been a fierce advocate for women’s rights and history, leading to her induction into the Maryland’s State Women’s Hall of Fame. She has also received multiple awards including the Educators Award of National Association for Multicultural Education and Outstanding Business and Community Leadership Award. Ms. Greenberg holds an M.A. in Special Education from the University of Connecticut. She has also received multiple awards including the Educator’s Award of National Association for Multicultural Education and Outstanding Business and Community Leadership Award.
Joy Thomas Moore
SECRETARY
President and CEO, JWS Media Consulting
Ms. Moore is a widely esteemed media consultant, journalist, and editor. She brings to her work a commitment to finding innovative ways to use media and messaging techniques to further and deepen the goals of her clients. Her experience spans over three decades where she previously served as the Manager of Making Connections Communications and Media Projects with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, leading the Foundation’s national initiative into television documentaries, radio programs, and media-based community projects. Ms. Moore has contributed to numerous local and nationally syndicated television programs as a freelance writer and field producer in the New York City area, held a variety of editorial positions at WMAL-AM radio in Washington, D.C., and served as an adjunct professor in the Journalism Department at Howard University. She is the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow and George Foster Peabody Awards for Public Service, No Greater Love Foundation Award, Clarion Award for Public Service, and Chesapeake Associated Press Award. Besides her board membership with MAEC, Ms. Moore is also on the boards of the Dean’s National Alumni Advisory Board at the American University School of Communications, the Media Impact Funders, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and Maryland Public Television. She earned both her B.A. in Urban Communications and an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism at American University.
Dr. LaNail R. Plummer
DIRECTOR CEO, Onyx Therapy Group
As a leading professional in the mental health field, Dr. LaNail R. Plummer and her team of 30, all Black/women of color, are committed to improving the lifestyles of others through mental health and character development. A United States Military Veteran and the CEO of Onyx Therapy Group — an organization she founded in 2013 — Dr. Plummer has over 18 years of experience working with a multitude of clients, specializing in the care of young women, the Black community, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Her work and expertise have been featured in Essence, NBC, Forbes, The Washingtonian, Time Magazine, and more. She has spoken at conferences including Essence Fest, Mental Health America, NYU, and the US Black Chambers of Commerce. Dr. Plummer is the recipient of several national awards: The Lifetime Achievement Award (The Gathering Spot), BOW Knows Growth (The BOW Collective), 2023 Titan Gold Winner (Titan Awards), and Who’s Who 2024 (International Marquis Inc.).
Currently, Dr. Plummer is finalizing her first book: The Essential Guide for Counseling Black Women.
Karmen Rouland
VICE PRESIDENT, MAEC
Karmen Rouland, PhD serves as the Vice President at MAEC. In this role, she provides leadership, supervision, oversight, and management of MAEC’s programs and services, as well as, collaborating with senior leadership to develop future business for MAEC. Karmen also manages technical assistance and training services to state departments of education, school districts, and schools on civil rights and educational equity issues. Specifically, she provides training on issues related to cultural competence, family engagement, equitable access to education, implicit bias, privilege, and structural inequality. Karmen has published several peer-reviewed journal articles and technical papers on issues related to family engagement and equity. Prior to joining MAEC, Karmen worked at the intersection of education policy and data at the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE).
Karmen has extensive experience in educational research and youth development programs. Karmen also served as School Liaison for the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) and as a Co-Site Director for It’s Great to Be a Girl Mentoring Program. Before working for the government of the District of Columbia, Karmen worked at Howard University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow studying the role of HBCUs in diversifying the K-12 teacher pipeline. She has also provided research consultation for several non-profit organizations and school districts.
For more than 15 years, Karmen has taught undergraduate and graduate-level education courses for pre-service and in-service teachers at Howard University, George Washington University, the University of Michigan, and Washington Adventist University. She graduated summa cum laude from Howard University in Washington, DC with a B.S. in psychology. She received her Master’s degree and Ph.D. from the Combined Program in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan. Karmen is a 2021 Leadership Montgomery CORE participant, a board member of Girls Prep, Inc and a Co-Troop Leader with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop.
Susan Shaffer
CHAIR
PRESIDENT, MAEC
Susan has been a nationally recognized expert for more than four decades. Her transformational work in public schools has centered on the development of comprehensive technical assistance for system wide change, training on educational equity and culturally responsive pedagogy and practice, school climate and culture, family, school, and community engagement, and multicultural gender-related issues. Recently, Ms. Shaffer served as the Executive Director of MAEC’s Center for Education Equity. She also represents MAEC as a partner with the Chief State School Officers to create a State Consortium on Family Engagement, developing a Birth to Age 21 Family Engagement Framework for 18 states. Ms. Shaffer has published extensively on gender equity, family engagement, civil rights, multicultural education, and disability. Her publications include a co-edited journal, Equity-Centered Capacity Building: Essential Approaches for Excellence & Sustainable School System Transformation, and co-authored book, How to Connect with your iTeen: A Parenting Road Map.
Ms. Shaffer serves on several boards, including the National Association of Family, School and Community Engagement since 2013, (co-founder) and the Bowie State University School of Education Board of Directors from 2012 to 2019 as well as the Harmony Through Education Board of Directors since 2006. Her other equity work includes Continuous Improvement for Equity and as a national member of the Model Design and Initiation program with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; with the Collaborative Action for Family Engagement (CAFE) State Family Engagement Center since 2019; as the Co-Chair of the Maryland Family Engagement Framework Committee; a member of the Equity-Centered Capacity Building Network since 2014; she has been a member of the Committee of Title I Practitioners for the Maryland State Department of Education since 2010; and she is a member of the Maryland Superintendent’s Family Engagement Advisory Council. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her service, leadership, and significant contribution to curricular materials on women. She holds a B.A. in History and M.A. in education from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Ro’chelle Williams
DIRECTOR Owner, Ro'chelle & Company; Office of the Executive Director, National Education Association
Dr. Ro’chelle Williams is a seasoned political strategist and education policy expert with over a decade of experience in national politics, education, and the labor movement. For the past seven years, he has been with the National Education Association, working in the Office of the Executive Director, and also leads his own consulting firm, Ro’chelle & Company, which specializes in branding, marketing, leadership development, and education support.
Dr. Williams holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Tougaloo College, a Master of Science in higher education administration from Southern New Hampshire University, and a Doctorate of Education from Maryville University. He is deeply involved in alumni and educational advocacy, serving as president of the Washington Area Tougaloo Alumni Chapter, national secretary for the Tougaloo College National Alumni Association (TCNAA), and as a board member for both TCNAA and the United Negro College Fund’s National Alumni Council (UNCF-NAC).
