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Linda Goss
1984-1991
Co-Founder of Affiliate Keepers of The Culture, Philadelphia
Zora Neale Hurston Award Winner, Life Member
Co-founded organization; Incorporated as the National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc.; Festivals coordinated by Host Cities; Zora Neale Hurston Award Established; Liar's Contest Established; Love Circle Established; 1st Newsletter Published; Published Talk that Talk
Positions Held: Chair of Nominations & Elections Committee; Festival Director; Editor, Sayin' Somethin'
"Think before you speak and pray before you think." – Willie Louise Martin McNear
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Eleanora E. Tate
1991-1992
Zora Neale Hurston Award Winner, Life Member
Adopt-A-Teller Program Modeled; Landmark Festival in Horry & Georgetown Counties, SC (Winner of Chamber of Congress "Top-Ten" Award); NABS Trademark Redesigned; President's Award Established; First Membership Handbook Produced
Positions Held: Co-Festival Director
"As long as the living tell the stories the people shall not die." ~ West Africa
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Baba Jamal Koram
1992-1994
Zora Neale Hurston Award Winner, Brother Blue Circle of Elders
1st to Receive Passing of Cowtail Switch; New By-Laws Enacted; National Affiliate Program Established; Festival Community Outreach Named "Adopt-A-Teller"; First Heritage Tour
Positions Held: 1st President-Elect; Treasurer; Festival Director; Affiliate Director (Sole)
"Kwa Mashu – Where is the courage in this place?" ~ Jamal Koram
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Dr. Caroliese Frink Reed
1994-1996
Co-Founder of Affiliate Keepers of The Culture, Philadelphia
Zora Neale Hurston Award Winner, Brother Blue Circle of Elders; Life Member
Application of NABS 501(c) 3; Festival Guidelines Established outlining all Festival Committees; The Elder's Chair in Honor of Brother Blue Established; First Board Professional Development; First Full Youth Program at Festival & Conference
Positions Held: Administrative Assistant; Festival Director; Festival Selection Committee Chair; Festival Creative Director; Editor, Sayin' Somethin', Education Committee Chair
"We are what our thinking makes us." ~ Nigeria
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Linda Jenkins Brown (Ancestor)
1996-1998
Zora Neale Hurston Award Winner, Life Member
501 (c) 3 Received; The first NABS-sponsored Festival; National Youth Program Established; First Village Telling; The National Adopt-A-Teller Program Established
Positions Held: Festival Director; 1st Executive Director
"Guard your Relationships." ~ Linda Jenkins Brown
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Bill Grimmette
1998-1999
The Elders Chair in Honor of Brother Blue expanded to The Elders' Circle and Awards
"Whoever is ignorant of his roots, his intellect has vanished. Whoever does not know his place of origin, his honor has collapsed." ~ A Scholar of Old Mali - 14th Century
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S. Bunjo Butler
2000-2002
Co-founder and 1st President Affiliate Griots' Circle of Maryland
Zora Neale Hurston Award Winner, Life Member
Executive Director Position Established
Positions Held: Adopt-A-Teller Director; Festival Director; President Griots' Circle of Maryland
"A child doesn't belong to the father or mother; a child belongs to the ancestors." ~ African proverb
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Cheryl Sparkle Mosley
2003-2004
Presidents' Round Table Initiated; New Website Established (www.nabsinc.org); Festival Preview Stage Established
Positions Held: Festival Director; Newsletter Editor
"Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped." ~ African proverb
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Barbara Eady
2005-2006
Co-Founder Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers
Brother Blue Circle of Elders, Life Member, Zora Neale Hurston Award Winner
Publication of NABS 1st Anthology: Sayin' Somethin'; Katrina Fund Established
Positions Held: Secretary; Membership Committee Chair; Newsletter Editor; Festival Director; President Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers
"If you want to buy some cloth, go to the weaver, if you want a hoe, ax or knife, then go to the blacksmith. But if you want to know the history of the people, you must go to the Griots." ~ Foday Musa Suso
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Dylan Pritchett
2007-2008
Zora Neale Hurston Award Winner, Life Member
Akawabaa Gathering Established; Linda Goss Enshrinement Established; First Master Classes & Zora Neale Hurston Series; 25th Festival & Conference Milestone; Love Circle renamed Mother Mary Love Circle; Preview Stage renamed the Anansi Stage
Positions Held: Sayin' Somethin' Editorial Committee Chair and Editor; Festival Director
"Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding." ~ Proverbs 4:7
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Vanora Franklin Legaux
2009 -2010
Brother Blue Circle of Elders, Gold Life Member, Linda Jenkins Brown Nia Award Winner
Positions Held: Secretary; Festival Director; Public Relations Chair, Newsletter Editor; Executive Director
"Do not let what you cannot do tear from your hands what you can." ~ Ashanti
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Akbar Imhotep (Ancestor)
2011-2012
Positions Held: Public Relations Chair; Fund Development Chair; President, Kuumba Storytellers
"The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching a goal. The tragedy of life is having no goal to reach for." - Benjamin E. Mays
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MaryAnn Harris, Ph.D
2013-2014
Life Member
Annual Storytelling Contest established; 1st Professional Webinar conducted; Fireside Chat initiated; Products & Development, Education and Legacy Committees established; Redesign of Website; NABS Blog launched; Youth Awards renamed Baba Jamal Koram Harambee Youth Award; Linda Jenkins Brown Nia Service Award established
Positions Held: Secretary; Chair Mama Linda Enshrinement Committee; Festival Director; President Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers
"Se Wotra Dua No A Wobehu Ahemfie" (When you pass the tree you will see the palace.) ~ Ghana
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Karen Abdul-Malik
"Queen Nur"
2015-2016
Gold Life Member
Positions Held: Board Member; Membership Chair; Adopt-A-Teller Director; President Keepers of the Culture, Inc.
Headquarters at National Great Blacks in Wax Museum established, Mother Mary Carter Smith Day proclaimed February 10, August established as Founders' Month, NABS featured at PANAFEST in Ghana West Africa, Awarded NEA Challenge America, Nora Roberts Foundation and Lois Lenski Covey Grants, Awarded McGraw Hill Education Foundation book grants, Established Awards & Scholarship and Tradition & Protocol Committees, 1st MENU (Monthly News Update) andThe Fourteenth (Presidential Monthly Newsletter) published, 1st On-line Spread the Word Newsletter published, NABS Care initiated, Position of Financial Operations Manager secured, Sankofa Intergenerational Oral History Project implemented, NABS featured performers at Grand Opening of National African American Museum of Cultural and Heritage on the Freedom Sounds Stage, National Collegiate Affiliate Program established, One Story At A Time online project launched, Virtual Wall of Remembrance in honor of Ancestors implemented, Partnerships established with NSN and the State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, 1st Resource Guide published on website, Language, Literacy and Lore Project launched.
“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” ~ Rumi
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