AHA welcomes nine new board members  

The new year brings new faces to the Alabama Humanities Alliance’s statewide board of directors. Seven board members saw their terms expire at the end of 2024, with nine new members following in their footsteps in 2025.

AHA’s newest board members come from seven different counties, representing Alabama’s rich geographic and cultural diversity. They come from academia, business, law, government, history, and nonprofit leadership.

“I am so grateful that each member of AHA’s board is committed to helping provide opportunities for storytelling, lifelong learning and community engagement across every county of this state,” says Chuck Holmes, AHA’s executive director. “We see over and over how the arts and humanities bring Alabamians together, and help us all better understand each other and these vibrant, complex communities we call home.”

Meet AHA’s full board of directors.

2025 board leadership

Robbie McGhee, of Atmore, will serve as the new chair of AHA’s board of directors in 2025-2026. 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. He is in his fifth term on the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Tribal Council.

The rest of AHA’s 2025 board’s leadership includes:

Chandra Brown Stewart, Vice Chair (Mobile): Executive Director, Lifelines Counseling Services

Clay Loftin, Secretary (Montgomery): Manager of Governmental Affairs, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama

Bob Barnett, Treasurer (Pell City): Structural Engineer and Adjunct Professor

Ed Mizzell, Immediate Past Chair (Birmingham): Managing Director, Luckie & Company

Diane Clouse, At-Large (Ozark): Retired Educator and Performing Arts Choreographer

Susan Yvette Price, J.D., At-Large (Montgomery): Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff, Alabama Community College System

Welcome to the new class

AHA’s newest board members come from across the state and bring a variety of strengths and experience to the Alabama Humanities Alliance. Read each member’s full bio. 

Darrell Ezell, Ph.D. (Huntsville): Social Scientist, Professor, and CEO of Heritage Solutions

Markell Heilbron (Birmingham): Director of Corporate Responsibility, Alabama Power

Jason Isbell (Pike Road): Senior Vice President, State Government Affairs and Economic Development, Regions Bank

Joseph Messina, Ph.D. (Tuscaloosa): Professor of Geography; Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, University of Alabama

Alan Miller, J.D. (Chelsea): President and CEO, American Village Citizenship Trust, Montevallo. 

Sidney James Nakhjavan (Auburn): Retired Executive Director, Cary Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Auburn University

Chris Robinson (Huntsville): Senior Technical Advisor, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Sam Todd, J.D. (Birmingham): Director of business development, Vulcan Materials Company

Roger Williams (Florence): Certified Public Accountant; President, Patterson, Prince, and Associates, P.C.

Saying thank you

AHA’s outgoing board members have helped move the organization forward in substantial ways  commitment helped us move the organization forward in substantial ways. Thank you to Darren Hicks (Birmingham), Dorothy Huston, Ph.D. (Huntsville), Mark Nelson, Ph.D. (Tuscaloosa/Birmingham), Brett Shaffer (Birmingham), Sheryl Threadgill-Matthews (Camden), R.B. Walker (Birmingham), and Andy Weil (Montgomery).  

Among many other accomplishments, these members helped shepherd AHA through a year of reflections, planning, and celebrations in 2024, the Alliance’s 50th anniversary.

National role for AHA board member

Also of note, Susan Yvette Price, J.D., an at-large member of the board’s executive committee, has also been elected to the board of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Her appointment took place January 1.

The Federation is the national association of the Alabama Humanities Alliance and 54 other state and territorial humanities councils that promote humanities-rich programming across the United States. The D.C.-based Federation’s chief role is to advocate for increased investment in state humanities councils. It also nurtures the national network of state councils and other allies of the humanities and arts in efforts to amplify the meaning and importance of our work.

“Susan’s new volunteer role as a Federation board member is an important extension of her volunteer role for AHA,” Holmes says. “I am grateful to her for taking on this responsibility, which is a win-win. The Federation is the beneficiary of her extraordinary talents, energy, and expertise. AHA is the beneficiary with an Alabama voice at the table on important national conversations and policy decisions about the humanities and its role in American life.”

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we connect Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.