Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Ph.D. 

Beverly Guy-Sheftall is the founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center (since 1981) and an Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies at Spelman College. She is also an adjunct professor at Emory University’s Institute for Women’s Studies, where she teaches graduate courses in their doctoral program. She is currently President of the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA). 

Guy-Sheftall has published a number of texts within African American and Women’s Studies, including the first anthology on Black women’s literature, Sturdy Black Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature. Guy-Sheftall is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, among them a National Kellogg Fellowship; a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for dissertations in Women’s Studies; and Spelman’s Presidential Faculty Award for outstanding scholarship. 

In her role as Director of Spelman’s Women’s Center, she has also been involved with the development of student activism around misogynist images of Black women in hip hop as well as a broad range of social justice issues, including reproductive rights and violence against women. She teaches women’s studies courses, including feminist theory and global Black feminism. 

Cathelean Chambers Steele 

Cathelean Chambers Steele was an educator in Alabama for more than twenty-five years. Upon retirement, she started her own business Smart Minds an after-school tutoring service.

During her tenure as an educator, Cathelean served on the state-wide Social Studies Curriculum Committee and the Theatre Tuscaloosa Board of Directors. She is a Diamond Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., where she served in several elected positions, including Vice President. Cathelean is the program director for the national office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and founder of Justice for Girls, a sex trafficking prevention initiative. She is the recipient of many awards and the author of Smarty Arty, a children’s book. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, walking, and traveling. Her global travels include thirteen countries.

Cathelean is married to Charles Steele, Jr., President and CEO of the National Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She is the mother of two daughters, Lekeisha (Cleveland) and Charla (Desmond). Her proudest achievement is being the grandmother of Carson, Cruz, Harper Grace, and Paige.

Rev. Chelsea D. Waite, MDiv 

Rev. Chelsea D. Waite serves as the Assistant Pastor for Children, College, and Women’s Ministries at Ebenezer Baptist Church.  Prior to Ebenezer, Reverend Chelsea Waite served in several churches where her ministry areas included overseeing the Church’s ministries with children and families, young adults, community engagement and outreach, and event planning.     

Reverend Waite received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Studies from Spelman College and obtained her Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University. In 2019, Reverend Waite received her preaching license and was ordained at Ebenezer Baptist Church under the leadership of Reverend Raphael Warnock. 

Ummul-Khairi Adamu, M.A. – Moderator 

Ummul-Khairi Adamu is a humanities scholar that focuses on African American women based out of Atlanta, Georgia. She recently received her M.A. in Africana Women’s Studies from the Historic Clark Atlanta University, writing her thesis on “Objectification and its Impact on the Romantic Relationships Between Black Women and Men.” She received her B.A. in African American Studies and Sociology from Georgia State University.