The Board of Directors meets quarterly and is comprised of up to 26 members. Six members are appointed by the Governor of Alabama; the remaining members are elected by the Board. Meetings are open to the public, whether held virtually or in-person. For details, please visit our events calendar or contact [email protected].
*Governor’s Appointee
Robbie McGhee
Robert McGhee is an enrolled member of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and has been an advocate for Native American issues at all levels of government. In his fifth term on the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Tribal Council, he holds the position of vice chairman. In this capacity, he represents his people “government-to-government” at the local, state, and federal levels on a range of vital issues.
Robert worked in Washington, D.C., for five years at the Department of Interior-Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Senate, and Troutman Sanders LLP-Indian Law Practice Group. Robert holds undergraduate degrees from University of South Alabama and the University of Alabama, a MSW from Washington University in St. Louis, and an executive master’s in business administration from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Chandra Brown Stewart is the executive director of Lifelines Counseling Services, a United Way multi-service, nonprofit organization since 1958. Lifelines Counseling Services provides crisis, emotional, financial, and housing counseling and education to community members in southwest Alabama. She became executive director in 2005. Chandra earned her undergraduate degree as a dual major in pre-medicine and psychology at Xavier University in New Orleans. She has a master’s degree in community counseling from the University of South Alabama.
Chandra is the co-founder of the Society of Clotilda, a joyful health and wellness collective that is dedicated to the celebration, development, and prosperity of Black women and their children. She serves as a member of the University of South Alabama Board of Trustees, member of the regional advisory board for BB&T Bank, past board president for the Alabama Coalition Against Rape, and 2019 class dean for Leadership Mobile. She is also a participant in Leadership Alabama Class XXX, served as Junior League of Mobile president in 2014-2015, and as board advisor for the Junior League of Mobile 2018-2019 Board of Directors.
Clay Loftin is manager of governmental affairs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. He is responsible for legislative advocacy and healthcare policy efforts to ensure access to quality, affordable healthcare to more than 2 million Alabamians. He has previously worked with a lobbying firm, as director of constituent affairs to Alabama’s attorney general, and on numerous state and national campaigns. Clay has served on many boards and committees in his community, including the Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama Board of Directors, the Children’s Trust Fund Leadership Council, Leadership Montgomery Torchbearers Class XIV, Children’s Hospital Committee for the Future, and in the current Alabama Leadership Initiative Class VI.
Raised in Prattville, Clay graduated from Auburn University at Montgomery in 2010 with a B.A. in political science. He is married to Rachel Grierson of Moss Point, Mississippi, and together they have one daughter.
Bob Barnett founded the structural engineering firm now known as Barnett Jones Wilson, LLC. He is an adjunct professor in the University of Alabama School of Civil Engineering. Bob serves as chairman of the Pell City Industrial Development Board, is past chairman of St. Vincent’s Health System Board of Directors, and is a member of Pell City Center for Education and Performing Arts board of directors.
At his alma mater, the University of Alabama, Bob has been honored as Keith-Woodman Fellow, Distinguished Fellow of the School of Civil Engineering, Distinguished Fellow of College of Engineering, and College of Engineering Outstanding Alumni.
Ed Mizzell earned a B.S. in marketing from Auburn University and an MBA from Samford University before embarking on a career with the pharmaceutical maker Novartis, which led to successful stints in South Africa and Venezuela launching new products. Ed returned to the United States in 1981 and joined the Birmingham-based marketing solutions firm Luckie & Company, where he is EVP managing director and a member of the board of directors.
Having served many roles at Luckie, Ed now helps guide agency operations and maintains Luckie’s longtime reputation for fiscal responsibility and strategic growth. His community involvement includes United Way Campaign 2011, Birmingham Sunrise Rotary Club, Greater Alabama Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Canterbury United Methodist Church, and the Monday Morning Quarterback Club.
Diane Clouse
Diane Clouse is a 2021 gubernatorial appointee from Ozark, Alabama. She holds a B.S. degree in marketing and management from Troy University. Diane is retired from a successful career in the performing arts as a teacher and choreographer. She also enjoyed a second career as a family and consumer science teacher at the Carroll High School Career Tech Center, having earned a secondary teaching certification through Athens State University.
Diane was owner of a performing arts center in Ozark, Alabama. She served as teacher and choreographer for the Flowers Center for the Performing Arts, Carroll High School Musical Theatre, and the Dale County Young Woman of the Year programs. She has served on numerous boards, including the Wallace College Foundation Board, the Dale County Library Board, and the Flowers Center Board, and has also served as chair of various committees at First United Methodist Church in Ozark.
Susan Price
Susan Y. Price, J.D., is senior vice chancellor for system development and strategic advancement and chief of staff of the Alabama Community College System. She earned her bachelor’s in English Literature/Creative Writing from Princeton University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. Following a brief, pre-law school career as an English teacher, Price served as a federal judicial law clerk in the Middle District of Alabama and launched her legal career as a litigation attorney in Seattle. She later served as assistant attorney general/trial counsel for the Washington State Department of Revenue, eventually becoming director of its Appeals Division.
In 2004, Susan returned to Montgomery and the Alabama Community College System Office; since that time, she has served as system vice chancellor for instructional and student services, deputy chancellor, and interim chancellor. She is a former president of the Montgomery chapter of The Links, Inc., a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and a member of the CARATS, Inc. She serves on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
Darrell Ezell, Ph.D. is a social scientist and CEO of Heritage Solutions. A native of Huntsville, he completed his Ph.D. in England at the University of Birmingham researching U.S. foreign relations. He also holds a M.A from Union Theological Seminary and a B.A. from Alabama A&M University. The author of Beyond Cairo, Darrell held previous positions in government with the U.S. Department of State, and in higher education as vice president for academic affairs and dean at Claremont Lincoln University, along with various faculty appointments.
A champion of inclusion, Darrell served previously in senior leadership at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and across the nonprofit sector with the William J. Clinton Foundation and Interfaith Center of New York. Darrell’s professional awards include induction into the Morehouse College Collegium of Scholars and official recognition by The Vatican from Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran for his work in interfaith relations. He is a member of Innovate Alabama’s Council on Outdoor Recreation and Leadership Greater Huntsville’s Flagship Class L-36.
Trey Granger has been a longtime advocate for AHA and was instrumental in creating the Alliance’s annual event, The Alabama Colloquium. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law and serves as Clerk of Court for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Previously, he was general counsel to the Alabama Secretary of State and led a bipartisan initiative implementing the Help America Vote Act in Alabama.
Trey earned a B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College and has a lifelong passion for historic preservation, civic engagement, and the humanities. He served on the Alabama Historical Commission and on the boards of the Central Alabama Red Cross, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and Leadership Montgomery. Trey and his wife Lilla reside in Montgomery and are active members of First United Methodist Church.
Markell Heilbron is director of corporate responsibility for Alabama Power. She is responsible for overseeing sustainability, environmental stewardship, and conservation efforts with key stakeholders. Markell has spent a large part of her career in external affairs. Prior to her current role, Markell served as assistant to the senior vice president of external affairs, where she provided support for business results related to regulatory approvals, legislative policies, compliance, stakeholder engagement and community outreach.
Markell graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. She also holds a master’s in business administration with a finance concentration from Mercer University. Markell and her husband live in Birmingham with their two children.
Janice Hawkins, the First Lady of Troy University, is a gubernatorial appointee to the Alabama Humanities Alliance board. She received an M.A. in special education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Janice is a specialist in services for the blind and has served as a consultant with the Alabama Department of Education. Her civic involvement includes serving on boards of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Alabama Transliterates for the Deaf, the Pike County Child Advocacy Center, the Alabama Historical Commission — of which she is a past chair — and the board of governors for the Rosa Parks Museum.
Jason Isbell, J.D., is a senior vice president and serves as head of state government affairs and economic development at Regions Bank. In this role, he oversees the bank’s government affairs efforts in the 16 state capitals throughout the Regions footprint and provides strategic support for important economic development projects in Alabama. Jason joined Regions in August of 2021 after working for the Alabama Legislature, the Alabama Bankers Association, and the law firm of Maynard Cooper & Gale.
Jason is a graduate of Faulkner University, Auburn University at Montgomery, Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, and the Alabama Banking School. Outside of the office, he’s an adjunct law professor, terrible golfer, the PA announcer for his local high school football team, and a periodic cast member of community theater musicals. Originally from Sylacauga, Jason is based in Montgomery and lives in Pike Road with his college sweetheart, Kim, and their two sons.
Elliot A. Knight, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts. An Opelika native, he earned three degrees from the University of Alabama, including a bachelor of arts in visual communication from New College, a master of arts in American studies and a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies.
Elliot is a Blackburn Fellow and member of the Montgomery Rotary Club. He serves as a board member for the Alabama Tourism Department Advisory Board, the University of Alabama Community Affairs Board of Advisors, and the Montgomery Area Business Committee for the Arts. He serves as the treasurer for South Arts and previously served as a member of the Montgomery Public Art Commission and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art Junior Executive Board.
Joseph Messina, Ph.D., is a professor of geography and has been the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at The University of Alabama since 2019. His research focuses primarily on the interactions of people and their environments, infectious disease, and agriculture. Joseph has received prestigious research honors from NASA’s New Investigator Program and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap Program. He has served on national review panels for several esteemed organizations, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, and NIH.
Since his appointment as dean of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, Joseph has led numerous innovative initiatives, has enhanced faculty composition, and introduced programs to recruit and retain top-tier students, faculty, and researchers, boosting the University’s academic and research excellence. Prior to his tenure at UA, Joseph served in a variety of roles at Michigan State University. He earned his Ph.D. in geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Alan B. Miller, J.D., is the president and CEO of the American Village Citizenship Trust, in Montevallo. He previously served as chief assistant district attorney in the Office of the District Attorney for the 18th Circuit, in Columbiana. His prior work included establishing and serving as executive director of Shelby County COMPACT 2020, helping students and young adults dealing with substance misuse and addiction. Alan has a bachelor of arts degree from Tulane University and a juris doctorate from the University of Alabama School of Law.
Alan is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, with experience in Marine Forces Europe (Republic of Georgia), 4th Marine Logistics Group (New Orleans), Force Headquarters Group (New Orleans), and 3rd Battalion, 14th Marines (Chattanooga, Tenn.). Alan and his family reside in Chelsea, where they have lived since 2003.
Sidney James Nakhjavan retired in 2025 as the inaugural executive director of the Cary Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies and Women’s Philanthropy Board, an academic center in Auburn University’s College of Human Sciences. Under her leadership, the Cary Center became a nationally recognized academic center promoting financial management, philanthropy, and nonprofit leadership. Sidney also served as an instructor of outreach and was integral in establishing Auburn’s Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies major and minor.
Previously, Sidney held advancement roles at Emory, Johns Hopkins, and George Washington University and was Auburn’s director of development for the College of Liberal Arts. She also served as CEO of her family’s business and as a pharmaceutical sales representative. She holds degrees from Emory (BA) and Johns Hopkins (MLA) and is married to Behzad Nakhjavan, with whom she shares a son, Ari. Sidney is also involved with multiple nonprofit organizations in the east Alabama region.
Ansley Quiros, Ph.D., an Atlanta native, is an associate professor of history and chair of the Department of History at the University of North Alabama, where she studies the twentieth century United States, with a focus on race, politics, and religion. Her award-winning first book, God With Us: Lived Theology and the Black Freedom Struggle in Americus, Georgia, 1942-1976 (UNC, 2018), examined the struggle over race and Christian theology in the civil rights struggle in Southwest Georgia. She is currently working on Committed: The Lives, Work, and Love of Charles and Shirley Sherrod, a dual biography of the activist couple.
Ansley serves on the board of Common Ground Shoals and Project Threadways, and, along with Brian Dempsey, Ph.D., co-directs the Civil Rights Struggle in the Shoals Project, funded through a National Park Services grant awarded to UNA.
Chris Robinson, an Alabama native, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Clark Atlanta University and a Master of Science in Management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He has more than 25 years of federal government experience. Chris currently serves as a senior technical advisor with the Department of the Treasury, where he uses his leadership skills to build partnerships and works as a trusted partner to senior executives. He has also served in leadership roles across other federal agencies such as the Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Chris is a dedicated community leader with extensive board service, able to lead change through his affiliations with numerous organizations. He has prioritized his passion for education, arts, and public service through several of his board appointments, including with Arts Huntsville and Leadership Greater Huntsville, and on the board of trustees for Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University.
Anne M. Schmidt, M.D., a 2021 gubernatorial appointee, is vice president of medical management for UPMC Health Plan. She is a graduate of Clemson University and received her doctorate of medicine from the Medical College of Georgia. She completed residency training at the University of Tennessee in Memphis and is board-certified in family medicine.
Anne has practiced primary care in both rural and urban settings and served as medical director at United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham, developing a medical home model of care for people with disabilities. From 2015-2022, Anne was the senior medical director at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. In that role, Anne coordinated and implemented clinical programs that focused on improving the overall health and wellness of Blue Cross members and all Alabamians.
Sam Todd, J.D., is director of business development for Vulcan Materials Company, managing the company’s mergers and acquistions and other strategic growth initiatives. He joined Vulcan in 2015 as an attorney, focusing on corporate governance and securities law, and began his career as a corporate attorney with Bradley Arant. Sam graduated from Princeton University and received a JD and MBA from the University of Alabama, where he was a Hugo L. Black Scholar and a member of the Order of the Barristers.
Sam serves on the board of directors of the Rabbi Grafman Endowment Fund of Temple Emanu-El. He has previously served on the board of directors of Alabama Appleseed, Collat Jewish Family Services, and the advisory board of UAB’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. Sam is a graduate of Leadership Alabama and Leadership Birmingham and was the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Alabama’s 2016 Man of the Year.
Roger Williams, a graduate of Birmingham Southern College, is a certified public accountant and the youngest African American owner of a public accounting firm in the State. He is president of Patterson, Prince, and Associates, P.C, a full-service accounting firm in Florence. He has been recognized as a “Rising Star of Accounting” by the Birmingham Business Journal and received the Alpha Phi Alpha Business Maan Award of the Year. He’s an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Alabama Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Roger volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Shoals, where he was named 2023 Big Brother of the Year. He serves as treasurer for both the Shoals Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Shoals Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors. He also is the vice president of Alabama Court Appointed Special Advocates, and a graduate of the Alabama Leadership Initiative program.
Any resident of the state of Alabama may submit nominations for Alabama Humanities Alliance’s Board of Directors.
If you are interested in joining AHA’s Board of Directors, email your résumé and contact information to the Nominations Committee at [email protected].
To nominate someone you know, email a letter of recommendation and resume to the Nominations Committee at [email protected].
Or mail to: Nomination Committee
c/o Alabama Humanities Alliance
1100 Ireland Way, Suite 202
Birmingham, AL 35205