Our Board of Directors

Dr. Colita Nichols Fairfax, President, and Co-Founder, is Tenured Professor, Robert C. Nusbaum Honors College Senior Faculty Fellow, and Inaugural faculty scholar in the Center for African American Public Policy at Norfolk State University. She has written several articles, reviews, chapters, and the following books, Hampton, Virginia, (2005), Timeless History and Service: The Iota Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, 1922-To Our Time (2017); edited two books, Social Work, Marriage and Ethnicity: Policy and Practice (2016), and The African Experience in Colonial Virginia: Essays on the 1619 Arrival and Legacy of Slavery  (2021). She wrote the Foreword for A Guidebook to Virginia’s African American Historical Markers (2019).  A native of Richmond, VA, Dr. Fairfax earned the Doctor of Philosophy and the Master of Arts in African American Studies from Temple University; the Master of Social Work from Rutgers University and, the Bachelor of Social Work from Howard University.

Dr. Mary T. Christian was Dr. Fairfax’s mentor and they began working together to create the Barrett-Peake Heritage Foundation in 2014. Dr. Fairfax was a leader in the Commonwealth of Virginia with the 1619 -  2019 recognition of the landing of African people at Point Comfort (present day Hampton). She was appointed to the city of Hampton’s 400^th Commemorative Commission in 2010, where she contributed to documenting African American contributions on several historic markers, and articulated how the African figure of the tri-cultural anniversary statute on Settlers Landing Road in Hampton should be depicted.

Dr. Fairfax served as co-chairman of the city of Hampton’s 2019 Commemorative Commission, tasked with planning activities commemorating the arrival of African people in English North America, Point Comfort (present-day Hampton) in 1619.  Former VA Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed her to the State Board of Historic Resources in 2016, of which she served as Vice-Chairman (2018-2019) and Chairman (2019-2021). Governor Ralph Northam re-appointed her to that board, and to the Commission for Historic Statues in the United States Capitol, tasked with removing and replacing the Robert E. Lee Statue in the U.S. Capitol in 2020.

Dr. Angela Goodloe is Vice-President of the Board. She is passionate about sustainable quality education for all learners. She is an assistant professor at Norfolk State University, School of Education in Norfolk, Virginia where she teaches pedagogical philosophy and theories in educational leadership. Dr. Goodloe supervises program evaluations and promotes community development for quality educational programs.

Dr. Goodloe’s research interests include educational leadership, educational equity, urban education, global education, and strategies that advance education leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). She founded AERO, an after-school lyceum with the goal to promote an early introduction to aviation, engineering and information technology, and robotic opportunities.

As a talk show host and producer of “The Talking Teacher” with WHOV-FM 88.1, the platform for the show consisted of interviews and call-ins from the Hampton Roads community regarding educational policies and procedures. She has over twenty years of experience in public and private educational institutions across the United States of America and internationally.

She is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, an international education honors society, and a certificated on-line instructor with a Doctorate Degree in Education Leadership. Dr. Goodloe consistently uses her talents in pursuit of educational research projects that advance leadership and learning.

Omiyemi Artisia Green is a professor of Theatre & Africana Studies at William & Mary, director, dramaturg, and interdisciplinary strategist. Her scholarship and creative practice which draws deeply from the archives and embodied legacies of African ritual and Black expressive traditions, has been presented in Uganda, Kenya, Trinidad & Tobago, and Belgium. She is published in Theater: Yale’s Journal of Criticism, the Journal ofAmerican Drama and Theatre, the Journal of American Folklore, Continuum, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Journal, theAugust Wilson Journal, August Wilson in Context (Cambridge UP), August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle: Critical Perspectives on the Plays (McFarland), Voyages in Post-Colonial African and African Diasporic Theatre (Cambridge Scholars), African American Culture: An Encyclopedia of People, Traditions, and Customs (Greenwood), reprinted in Ashé: Ritual Poetics in African Diasporic Expression (Routledge), and has forthcoming work in Applied Theatre and Racial Justice: Radical Imaginings for Just Communities (Routledge).

As the founding director of the Art & Science Exchange, Green extends her interdisciplinary visionby creating a campus-wide platform where the arts and sciences intersect in collaborative inquiry, public engagement, and faculty/student development. That work complements her role as inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the Black Theatre Review — the field’s sole peer-reviewed, open-accessjournal devoted to exploring and preserving Black theatre scholarship, through which she has amplified underrepresented voices, cultivated emerging scholars and artists, and shaped innovative models for culturally grounded pedagogy.

Whether recovering the past, making connections between the past and present, or transforming a canonical text into a culturally resonant production, her stage direction is research-infused, and engages students (where applicable) as co-researchers and audiences as active participants in reflection. Her commitment to heritage—both intellectual and material— and amplifying the histories that sustain Black communities is reflected in her appointment to the Hampton 2019 Commemorative Commission, her co-development of a community-university partnership: The Local Black Histories Project, her development of Sitelines BLM for Cadence Cinema, Film & TV, and her partnership with the Village Initiative for Equity in Education on the Freedom School Series on August Wilson’s American Century Cycle.

A current resident of Hampton, Green is a graduate of Hampton City Public Schools, William & Mary (B.A. in Psychology, 2000), and Virginia Commonwealth University (M.F.A. in Theatre Education,2003) and has been recognized with numerous honors for her leadership in teaching, scholarship,and community engagement, including university-wide fellowships and national arts funding.

Richard and Nancy Moore have been married for nearly 50 years. Mr. Moore is a Hampton-born native. Mrs. Moore moved to Hampton in 1962, when her father was stationed at Fort Monroe. Both are 1964 graduates of Hampton High School. Richard is a graduate Naval Architect from the University of Michigan and worked with Newport News Shipbuilding for nearly 40 years retiring in 2013 as Senior Research Engineer.  For several years, Richard was a Research Scientist at the University of Michigan and headed a Shipbuilding Technology Group in the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Nancy is a graduate of the College of William and Mary.  She has worked as a travel agent and led offices for both educational and insurance businesses.  She was active in Hampton PTA while their sons were in public school and served as president of the Hampton Council of PTAs. After returning to Hampton in 1996, they have been active community members, committed to local public education and efforts to amplify the historic significance of the Hampton community. They are currently members of First Presbyterian Church in Hampton.

Mr. Lloyd Seay, Advisor to the Foundation, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Norfolk State College, now NSU.  He also studied in the Guidance and Counseling curriculum at Hampton Institute, now HU, in their Master’s Program.  He worked for the Federal Government Postal Division in Financial Planning and Budgeting.  He was promoted to a diverse range of management positions in the Richmond division office.  Last serving as the Assistant Director of Planning in the Philadelphia Eastern region, and responsible for financial planning encompassing 15 states.   While working for the Federal Government he was elected to leadership positions in Labor and secured the top-level position of the State of Virginia President.

Mr. Seay retired from the Federal Government and set up a small real estate development company focusing on affordable housing and community development.  He is a strong advocate for education and community services.  He has volunteered to work with many political leader’s campaigns, senators, mayors, councilpersons and others.  He managed Delegate Jeion Ward’s campaign and worked for her at the General Assembly.  Currently, he has volunteered to work with former Delegate Mary T. Christian on the Barrett-Peake Heritage Foundation project creating an education and cultural center.  He serves as Co-Chair for the Capital Fund Campaign.

No biography currently available.

Dr. Vanessa D. Thaxton-Ward is Director of the Hampton University Museum.  Previously, she was Director of the York Bailey Museum, at Penn Center on St. Helena Island, South Carolina.

As Director, she has secured funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Save America’s Treasures, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Luce Foundation, Art Bridges Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in partnership with the Chrysler Museum of Art.  She is publisher of the International Review of African American Art, has curated exhibitions with various artists from Hampton’s collection like Margo Humphrey, Elizabeth Catlett, John Biggers, and has served as organizer and curator of the biennial National Juried Exhibition: New Power Generation, for emerging artists of African descent.  In 2018, Thaxton-Ward and the museum hosted the Association of African American Museum’s 40th Conference. Thaxton-Ward is also on the board of Arts for Learning and previously served on the Virginia Association of Museums board and the Commission on African American History Education in the Commonwealth, appointed by Governor Ralph Northam.

She received her Ph.D. in American Studies, concentrating in African American Material Culture, from the College of William and Mary and Master of Arts in Museum and Archival Studies from Hampton University.

Benita. B. Toler, Ed.D is a seasoned educator and dedicated leader with over 40 years of experience in administration, teaching, and program development. Her career highlights include 22 years in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), where she shaped the educational landscape as a school administrator, teacher, and innovator of educational programs. Before her impactful tenure in FCPS, Dr. Toler taught and consulted on educational programs across Europe and the United States, honing her global perspective on education.

Dr. Toler's academic journey includes a Bachelor of Science degree from Hampton University, a Master of Education in Urban Education with a focus on Gifted Education from St. Louis University, a Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from Virginia Tech, and a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Policy from Virginia Tech.

Beyond her prolific educational career, Dr. Toler is deeply committed to breast cancer advocacy. A survivor herself, she passionately serves as a Board Member for the Donna M. Saunders Breast Cancer Foundation, where she works tirelessly to raise funds that provide critical educational and financial support to breast cancer patients. As the leader of the Breast Cancer Community Outreach initiative, she strives to maximize the collective impact for patients in treatment.

A lifelong member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Dr. Toler is a proud wife to Garvis W. Toler, Jr. and mother to three wonderful children and three grandchildren. She now resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she continues to inspire and uplift those around her.

Mr. Erik T. Wilson serves an Assistant Principal at George P. Phenix PreK-8 School in Hampton.  He has served the students and families of Hampton City Schools for almost two decades as history teacher, academy coach and now administrator.  In 2020-2021 he was recognized as the city-wide Teacher of the Year for Hampton City Schools.

A native of Hampton, Wilson earned a bachelor's degree in history from Howard University, a master's degree in elementary education with a focus in urban education from The Ohio State University, and a master's degree in educational policy, planning and leadership from The College of William and Mary.