Advisory Committee
Black Faculty Speaker Series Advisory Committee
This series is organized by a sub-committee of the Black Faculty Affinity Group. If you are interested in serving in the committee or volunteering for the Black Faculty Speaker Series, please email Dr. Mamadou Baro at baro@arizona.edu.
Dr. Mamadou Baro
Chair of BARA, Associate Professor, School of Anthropology
Dr. Mamadou serves as the chair of BARA (Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology) which is responsible for many successes in research and outreach presences in sub-Saharan Africa. He is an African-renowned applied anthropologist and an innovative researcher in the areas of land governance, climate change, resilience, and participatory development. He has also worked over the last 30 years as a consultant for the United Nations agencies, the World Bank, IFAD, USAID, Care International, Oxfam, Save the Children, OMVS, Tango Internationa,l and local non-governmental organizations. His African Partnerships Initiative has developed an innovative platform for channeling international assistance to poor Africans in rural and urban settings. BARA plans to create linkages with African partners, including government agencies and universities, and to use these networks to assess the needs of local communities, promote local priorities for endogenous development, and engage in problem-solving research that supports development interventions in these communities.
Dr. Jennifer Hatcher
Vice Provost, Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Inclusion Officer
Dr. Jennifer Hatcher, PhD, MPH, MSN, is the newly appointed Vice Provost of Diversity and Inclusion at the Provost Office since February 2024. Having previously served as the interim in this role since August 2023, Dr. Hatcher brings a wealth of experience, having been the associate director of inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility for the University of Arizona Cancer Center. As a full Professor and associate director of community outreach and engagement at Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the Cancer Center, she established the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement, demonstrating her commitment to fostering inclusivity and engagement.
Dr. Hatcher's impactful work includes the establishment of the Community Advisory Board, collaboration with indigenous communities, and initiatives such as the Research Outreach for Southern Arizona program. Notably, she played a pivotal role in partnering with tribal communities to enhance cancer prevention and educational programs, hosting conferences, and spearheading projects to address health disparities.
With a background rooted in nursing and public health, Dr. Hatcher earned her Bachelors and master's in nursing from West Virginia University, a Master's in Public Health, and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Kentucky. She has a distinguished career as a professor and researcher, focusing on health equity and disparities, exemplified by her leadership in initiatives like the DREAM Center. Dr. Hatcher's dedication to diversity, inclusion, and health equity positions her as a transformative leader in her role as Vice Provost.
Dr. Amy Kraehe
Associate Vice President, Equity in the Arts and Professor, School of Art
Dr. Amelia (Amy) Kraehe is Associate Vice President for Equity in the Arts and Co-founder of Racial Justice Studio, a transdisciplinary incubator for the study and practice of intersectional anti-racism in and through the arts. She is a Professor of Art and Visual Culture Education in the School of Art and a Faculty Affiliate in Human Rights Practice. She is an award-winning scholar recognized for her organizational leadership and research on arts equity through publications, workshops, podcasts, and public lectures that illuminate the roles race, racism, and anti-racism play in arts institutions and the education of arts professionals.
Her latest research examines how the arts and arts education can challenge, as well as contribute to, systems of inequality. She employs interdisciplinary theories and methodologies that draw from the social sciences, visual and cultural studies, critical race theory, women of color feminisms, and justice studies.
Amy's teaching and leadership is informed by a breadth of professional experiences. She regularly consults for national arts councils, art museums, and state arts education agencies. She taught in economically vulnerable public schools and later was a gallery educator in an art museum program designed for underrepresented groups of middle-grade students. As a Project Director with the Institute of Community, University, and School Partnerships, she co-developed and administered arts-intensive learning and leadership experiences for Black and Brown youth on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the University of Arizona faculty, she earned tenure at the University of North Texas where she also served as a peer mentor for women of color faculty and was engaged in the community as a consultant for the area's largest school district, helping to reimagine arts-rich education in urban schools.
She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Cultural Studies in Education and an M.A. in Art Education from The University of Texas at Austin. She graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College in Massachusetts with a B.A. in Studio Art and Economics.
Dr. Tarnia Newton
Assistant Clinical Professor, College of Nursing
"People Developer," "Catalyst for Change" and "Patient Advocate" are all phrases used to describe Tarnia Newton, DNP, FNP-C. Dr. Newton is in the Community and Systems Health Science Division as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) faculty. Her focus of interest is exploring the advancement of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging through culturally responsive pedagogy and service-learning immersive experiences as alternative interventions to improve cultural humility and population health. Dr. Newton is passionate about empowering students through transformational, community-based, experiential learning experiences so they learn to be pivotal in changing the healthcare landscape by authentically understanding the root causes of systemic health inequities. As a nurse practitioner, Dr. Newton can attest to the importance of education that addresses the gaps in clinical practice and why the Health Science Design program is pivotal in transforming students to transform communities by addressing inequity in healthcare through creating solutions with a design solution lens.