Directors

Wray Gunn, Sr., President Emeritus, was a trustee of the Clinton A. M. E. Zion Church, which he attended for more than 70 years. A fifth-generation descendant of Agrippa Hull, his family roots in the Berkshires date back to the Revolutionary War. Wray retired from Pfizer Industrials after a 40-year career as an analytical chemist. He currently serves on the board of the Olga Dunn Dance Company and is a member of the W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site Working Committee, Friends of the W.E.B. Du Bois Homesite, and the advisory council of the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail.

Cora Portnoff, Director Emeritus, a former teacher of the hearing impaired, was a longtime member of the Clinton A. M. E. Church, where she was involved in various church activities with the late Reverend Esther Dozier, the Church’s first female pastor. She has served on the board of the Olga Dunn Dance Company for more than 30 years and is a member of the W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site Working Committee.

Beth Carlson, Treasurer, is a partner in Silo Media, a design firm specializing in graphics, website and video production. She serves as board president of the historic Dewey Hall in Sheffield, and is a producer of TapRoot Sessions, a traditional music series. As a community activist, Beth was a key player in the effort to save the historic Searles School in Great Barrington.

Johnathan Speer, Interim Board Chair, is Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at Berkshire School, where he is also a member of the English and History faculty. He specializes in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on social justice pedagogy and leadership frameworks, and has served as a curriculum specialist and coach in Asheville, Atlanta, and Seattle independent schools for over 9 years.

Dan Bolognani, ex officio, is Executive Director of the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, a system within the National Park Service. Housatonic Heritage’s initiatives include the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail, the W. E. B. Du Bois National Historic Site initiative, the Housatonic Heritage Oral History Center at Berkshire Community College, and Reclaiming Our Local Heritage.

Virginia Conway was a member of the Clinton Church congregation for more than three decades and has served on several committees to help inform the restoration and transformation process. A resident of The Berkshires, Virginia grew up in the South at a time when African-Americans were often denied access to freedom. Virginia is committed to ensuring that all can access the freedoms and rights that are at the core of our constitution. As the sister-in-law of Rev. Esther Dozier, we are honored to have Virginia's guidance as we move forward.

Sharon Mathieu is the Manager of Curriculum & Instruction, Commonwealth of Massachusetts - MADOC. Ms. Mathieu is a highly skilled education manager with a proven ability to execute projects that align with business goals and priorities, and has a successful background leading people, scheduling tasks, and exceeding expectations in fast-paced, progressive, deadline-driven environments.

She has a deep knowledge of education and operation management acquired during 22 years of hands-on experience managing the full project cycle, including identifying risks, requirements, analyzing , stakeholder relations, collaboration, deliverables, quality, and reporting.

Staff

Dr. John D. Lloyd, Interim Executive Director is an accomplished executive with over two decades of leadership experience in the nonprofit sector. He is the principal of Agile Consulting Group, a management consulting practice that offers a wide range of strategic management services, including assessment and evaluation, financial management, fundraising, board development, and training/facilitation, all tailored to nonprofit organizations in the Northeast region.

Additionally, through strategic partnerships, Dr. Lloyd provides interim executive director services, as well as executive search and transition services to nonprofit organizations. Beyond his consulting work, Dr. Lloyd is an adjunct faculty member at Bentley University, where he teaches strategic management, human dynamics in organizations, and leads the capstone course for the undergraduate honors program.

A Massachusetts native, Dr. Lloyd holds a Doctorate in Organizational Learning and Development from University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from Bentley University, and a Bachelor of Science from Plymouth State University.

Kendra T. Field, Du Bois Forum Director, is Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Tufts University. Her first book, Growing Up with the Country (2018), traced the migration of her Afro-Native ancestors after the Civil War. Her current book project, The Stories We Tell, is a history of African American genealogy from the Middle Passage to the present. Dr. Field abridged David Levering Lewis' Pulitzer-prize winning W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography (2009). 

She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Harvard University's Charles Warren Center. Dr. Field has advised and appeared in historical documentaries including Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross,” "Roots: A History Revealed,” and “Tulsa Burning.”