Our Staff
Dr. Jacqueline F. Brown, Executive Director
Dr. Jacqueline F. Brown is an internationally renowned scholar, lecturer, educator and administrator, was appointed Chief Administrative Officer for Prince George’s County, Maryland, the second largest county in the state, in December 2002. She was the first woman to be in charge of all county government services. In this capacity she was responsible for the daily operations of the 6,000 plus employee government; a $2 billion annual budget; reengineering the government towards a more effective, efficient, results-driven, and customer-oriented delivery; and representing the county with numerous State and Federal agencies. She was Secretary of the Board of Trustees for the Prince George’s County Police and Fire Services Pension Plans. She served as a member of the Senior Policy Group on Homeland Security for the National Capital Region, and set up the first county Office of Homeland Security in the State of Maryland. She coordinated county government services to 27 municipalities and 850,000 residents. She also represented the County government on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors, the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, Prince George’s African American Museum & Cultural Center at North Brentwood Board of Directors, and The Hospices of the National Capital Region. In 2006, Dr. Brown was elected President of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Corporation. Dr. Brown instituted performance-based budgeting for 27 county government departments. She directed county expenditure control measures, including furloughs, reduction-in-force (RIF), and departmental cost-savings initiatives in order to address an on-going budget deficit. She was also responsible for directing the county’s responses to the federal stimulus program, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and HERA Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
As Chief Administrative Officer for Prince George’s County, Dr. Brown made many contributions which have enhanced the quality of life and reputation of Prince Georges’ County. She instituted the Charter for Change continual improvement process for the reengineering of county government, which includes multi-year budgetary planning, results-driven performance assessment and customer-focused service delivery. She headed up County cable franchise negotiations for Verizon, and spearheaded an inter-agency committee that was charged with designing and developing the Prince George’s African American Museum & Cultural Center at North Brentwood. As a key member of the executive leadership team, she contributed to the county’s all time AAA high bond rating on Wall Street for three consecutive years. She created and directed the Visionary Panel for Excellence in Education Across the Lifespan, which assessed educational opportunities among ten demographic groups in Prince George’s County. The collaborative work of the Visionary Panel served as a road map for continued improvement in the type and quality of educational opportunities for all the citizens and residents of Prince George’s County. Through her efforts, county employees have been recognized for their contributions; leaders of the business and government community are working together to solve problems; education and government work together on programming to support positive youth development; and the entire government operations has been turned into a fine tuned, well oiled and exceptionally well run organization. Connections have been established with representatives from many foreign countries including Kuwait.
Prior to her appointment, Dr. Brown served in a number of senior positions with the Howard County, Maryland Public School System including Director of Reform. In this capacity she was responsible for the alignment of school system programs with State and National initiatives on eliminating the achievement gaps for ethnic, gender, language, and socioeconomic student populations. Prior to this position she was the Director of Academic Support. In this role, she was responsible for the integration of diverse programs and services across the 47,000 student school system to assist schools with eliminating patterns of low academic achievement associated with student gender, ethnicity, language and/or socioeconomic status. Dr. Brown directed Family and Community Academic Involvement Services, Black Student Achievement Program Initiatives K-12, Best K-12 Achievement Equity Instructional Practices and Support Services for low performing students, and Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement for under represented populations initiatives. Dr. Brown served on the Superintendent’s Executive Cabinet and was a member of the budget building team for the school system.
Jon West-Bey, Curator
Jon West-Bey is the Curator at the Prince George's African American Museum in Maryland. Mr. West-Bey is also the Founder and Executive Director of the American Poetry Museum in Washington, DC. Jon was the former Education Coordinator at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City and former Associate Curator for Collections and Programs at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History in DC. He has also served on the boards of numerous organizations including the Museum Association of New York, the New York City Museum Educators Roundtable, and as Chairman of the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium in Washington, DC. He has produced and managed numerous exhibitions, publications, and programs including a definitive work Jewish American Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross recipients and a living history program that won the American Association of Museum's Education Committee's Excellence in Programming Award. Jon's research interests include African-American literary history, US military history, and post-modern American cultural history. Mr. West-Bey has a BA in History from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master's of Science in Museum Leadership from Bank Street College in NY.
jwest-bey@pgaamcc.org
La'Tasha Banks, Assistant Curator
La'Tasha Banks' artistic practices, inclusive of curatorial projects, engage issues of representation and cultural identity through the exhibition of material culture. Ms. Banks has dedicated her career to the documentation, presentation, preservation, education and management of the arts and humanities. She possesses a B.F.A in Photography from Howard University and a M.A. in Arts Management from George Mason University.
Ms. Banks has worked with various organizations including the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative, the National Museum of American History, the J.F.K. Center for Performing Arts and several art galleries in the Washington Metropolitan Area.
In her personal time, La'Tasha strives to improve the material, social, and spiritual welfare of at risk youth, by volunteering her services to severalsocial, cultural and religious not-for-profit organizations.
Lbanks@pgaamcc.org
Celeste Laurel, Administrative Officer
Celeste Laurel is the Administrative Officer for the Prince George's African American Museum & Cultural Center at North Brentwood. Ms. Laurel is a native to the DC metropolitan area and returns to Prince Georges County after spending 17 years in Atlanta, GA. Ms. Laurel graduated from Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, MD. She has a degree as a paralegal from an American Bar Association approved & an Institutional Member of the American Association for Paralegal Education and has worked for 7 ½ years for a Federal Labor Union. Prior to returning home to Prince George's County, Ms. Laurel worked as a contract employee for Deloitte & Touché in Atlanta, GA. In addition to her Paralegal training and experience, Ms. Laurel has 20 years experience in Office Management/Office Administration, Event Planning and Project Management.
Ms. Laurel is the mother of 3 children ages 27, 20 and 18. Ms. Laurel is a former Worship Leader and is a Licensed Minister through The Worship Center in Lawrenceville, GA and an was ordained by her church, Doers of The Word located in Suitland, Maryland, in June of 2010. In addition to her duties with PGAAMCC, Ms. Laurel is also over the Stick With 'Em Ministry and is involved with the Women's Prison Ministry at her local church.
Helen Johnson, Finance Officer
Ms. Johnson has 18 years of combined experience in accounting, auditing and consulting in the areas of federal contracts and grants.
Dr. Arvenita Washington Cherry, Founding Scholar-in-Residence
Dr. Arvenita Washington Cherry, an educational, socio-cultural anthropologist, is our Founding Scholar-in-Residence. Dr. Washington Cherry’s research explores the rich diversity of the African Diaspora, with a special focus on people from the Caribbean and Latin America now in the United States in areas highly populated with African Americans. She also examines Creole Culture in southern Louisiana and African American and American Indian unions.
Dr. Washington Cherry has worked in many capacities ranging from middle school science teacher to consultant in philanthropy on issues of racial equity, diversity, and inclusion, to adjunct faculty at The American University and University of Maryland University College.
Dr. Washington Cherry holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Master of Teaching Middle/Secondary Biology degree from Hampton University. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Studies from Johns Hopkins University. She has also earned a Master of Arts degree in Public Anthropology and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Anthropology with a concentration in Race, Gender, and Social Justice from The American University.
Her dissertation research, entitled Reading, Writing, and Racialization: The Social Construction of Blackness in Prince George’s County Public Schools will be a focal point for her residency with the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center.
Yolonda Evans, Public Programs Coordinator
Yolonda Evans joins Prince George’s African American Museum & Cultural Center as the Public Programs Coordinator with more than 12 years of experience in community relations and community outreach. Yolonda has worked in Prince George’s County for most of her career in community relations. Planning programs for community involvement, enrichment, and partnership is her specialty.
Prior to joining PGAAMCC, Yolonda developed and established many of the community programs for Southern Management Corporation as their Community Relations Specialist. While working as a Project Manager for Prince George’s County, Yolonda served on the Gorgeous Prince George’s founding committee; worked as a producer and director of the National Telly Award Winning, Keeping It Livable Television Program; and organized the Correctional Officers Protecting and Educating Students (COPES) mentoring program at the Department of Corrections.
Yolonda has a Master of Arts in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She and her husband are the proud parents of two sons.
Chanel Compton, Arts Educator
Chanel Compton is an active artist and arts educator. As an artist, Ms. Compton has created murals and led art projects with community participants both nationally and internationally. Internationally, she was selected as the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Envoy, where she created 3 murals with community youth in cities throughout Brazil. Locally, she has created murals with youth for the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Perry Center Inc, Albus Cavus, and Extreme Home Makeover’s Home Addition. Ms. Compton is a member of the artist collective Albus Cavus, and has exhibited her work regionally. As an arts educator, Ms. Compton has coordinated and directed youth programs for the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and the Perry Center Inc. Under the belief that art, art expression, and cultural education can heal and revitalize communities, Ms. Compton is passionate about her work as the Community & Youth Education Coordinator.
ccompton@pgaamcc.org
Matthew Thorn, Public information & Government Relations Officer
Matthew is a leading fundraising and non-profit management professional. For nearly the last decade his work has consisted of a variety of areas including the homeless, the arts, education, the developmentally disabled and LGBT issues.
He has worked with numerous local, state and federal candidates raising funds for their election campaigns. Matt has lectured and provided advisement for companies, candidates and non-profits on business practices, non-profit management, board development and corporate solicitation.
His commitment to social change is unwavering and Matt looks at the possibilities the world has to offer to change, modify and grow. Matt is passionate about helping those who need it and educating the public to better understand the need for compassion. He is a fierce advocate for what he believes in and the mission of progressive change. He is committed to uniting and bringing education, awareness and a variety of services to progressive and socially conscious community. Matt is a graduate of the The Catholic University of American in Washington, DC with his Bachelor's in International Relations. Matt sits on a variety of Boards of Director's from state to national organizations and volunteers his time to a variety of progressive and social change non-profits and advocacy groups.
