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“LaNesha has a warm, corporate professionalism with a passion for and commitment to people.”

- Crasha Townsend, PhD

 

Virtual Conversation with Dr. Cornel West

Author and activist Dr. Cornel West is former Harvard University Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University

 

At the Smithsonian Castle with Secretary Lonnie Bunch, the nation’s first African American Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution & Dr. Vedet Coleman-Robinson of the Association of African American Museums

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”

~ Fannie Lou Hamer

Check out LaNesha’s media kit HERE. Learn about her trailblazing work in public history, educational justice, museum advocacy, and more.

Read Black Enterprise story HERE.

Also, click HERE and HERE to learn more.

Stand with Black Women

Featured in Broadcast Media

[Click on each image to watch the video]


On KIRO 7 discussing NAAM’s award-winning Juneteenth Week programming

On KIRO 7 discussing MLK60, the 60th Anniversary of Dr. King’s 1961 visit to Seattle

On King5 discussing the “triumphant return” of the Northwest African American Museum

Featured in Print Media

[Click on each image to read the news article]


The Puget Sound Business Journal named LaNesha DeBardelaben and 12 other women leaders as 2022 Women of Influence.

Click here to read the published article.

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.



 

Media Highlights

LaNesha discusses the role of museums within communities and museum experiences upon identity development.


 

 

Media Highlights

LaNesha discusses the learning opportunities within museum exhibitions in these three news segments.


 
 
Education, connection, and self-discovery are at the center of Black museology. Black museums are like mirrors - they help us see who we are and who we can be.
— LaNesha DeBardelaben

Media Highlights

LaNesha discusses the history of the museum and its relevance to community.


Smooths seas don’t make skillful sailors.
— African proverb
Click HERE to go to NPR interview, then click on blue audio button to listen to LaNesha’s Juneteenth discussion.

Click HERE to go to NPR interview, then click on blue audio button to listen to LaNesha’s Juneteenth discussion.

 
For museums, the choice is either resilience or irrelevance. When museums see themselves not only as serving their community but AS their community, they will undoubtedly be resolute, fortitudinous, adaptive, and unrelenting, despite the challenges they face.
— LaNesha DeBardelaben

“Your work is to change the world.”

~ James Baldwin

Latest News

  • Seattle OL Reign professional women’s soccer team will recognize LaNesha DeBardelaben as a Legend during their Juneteenth home game in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to community and in her industry. Thank you OL Reign and Starbucks for teaming up to recognize women like LaNesha leading in Washington State.

  • Edmonds College tapped LaNesha DeBardelaben to be its 2024 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Keynote Speaker. Thank you Edmonds College for uplifting the radical and revolutionary legacy of love that Dr. King and Coretta Scott King modeled.

  • LaNesha DeBardelaben has been named to the Top 50 Women of Washington for 2023 by Women We Admire. Congratulations LaNesha and all 50 women leaders who are making a difference though their influence and inspiration.

  • LaNesha DeBardelaben was ordained and installed as Assistant Pastor at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, a progressive, social justice-focused historic church in Seattle’s Central District. DeBardelaben now serves under her mentor and Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Robert L. Jeffrey, Sr.

  • LaNesha DeBardelaben and 12 other women leaders were honored with a 2022 Women of Influence award by the Puget Sound Business Journal. Click HERE to read about her award. Congratulations to all honorees.

  • For the past ten years, LaNesha DeBardelaben has been actively involved in strengthening the Association of African American Museums (AAAM), having served as the 18th National President of the AAAM Board of Directors. Click HERE to watch the 2022 presidential tribute video. Click HERE to watch LaNesha’s concluding State of the Association Address at the 2022 AAAM Conference held in Miami, Florida. Congratulations LaNesha and all past National Presidents of the Association of African American Museums for your tireless dedication to the Black museums field.

  • Seattle’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Committee presented LaNesha DeBardelaben with its Edwin T. Pratt Community Service Award for “embodying the highest spirit of dedication, integrity, and honorable service to our beloved community.” This award was presented on August 28, 2021 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park on the anniversary date of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Thank you MLK Commemoration Committee for recognizing all those who are dedicated to community.

“We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”

~ Ella Baker