MEET OUR TEAM

Rev. Maureen Gerald is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Princeton. She is the only the second woman to serve in this role since the church’s founding in 1880. She is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary. The church’s mission statement is: "We are the church with open doors, where hearts are healed, souls are saved, and God is praised!” In addition to her former pastoral duties in prominent New Jersey churches, Gerald has experience as a licensed mental health counselor, coach and consultant. "I am a lifelong faith builder within the Christian community. As a mental health professional, I will continue to blend theological insight with an advocacy for mental health, social justice, and spiritual growth in my role as senior pastor,” she said. She is also a strong advocate for promoting inclusive teaching of US history, and sees her role as the society’s president as an optimal opportunity to achieve this goal.

 Maníge Blackburn-Giles (Muh-knee-zha) is a seasoned community organizer and advocate with over two decades of experience mobilizing communities, fostering coalitions, and leading outreach initiatives. She has worked extensively in education, community building, maternal and child health, and public health advocacy, centering lived experience in her approach. As the co-founder and Executive Director of Swing By Street Supply, she provided barrier-free resources to marginalized communities, and as the Director of National Outreach at Nurse-Family Partnership, she led engagement efforts across 43 states. Manige's fifth great grandfather purchased land in Timbuctoo in 1829, and her grandmother still lives there. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion in public education, and is very grateful to be able to help promote her own family's history in this context.

Stephanie serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Timbuctoo Historical Society. With deep personal ties to the community, she is a proud descendant of one of its earliest settlers and is passionate about honoring the legacy of those who came before while helping to ensure future generations remain connected to their heritage. Outside of her board service, Stephanie joyfully embraces her role as a “domestic engineer,” homeschooling her little ones and cherishing quality time with her husband. Believing that strong families and strong communities go hand in hand, she values community engagement, storytelling, and education as powerful tools for preservation, and she is dedicated to helping the organization grow in both impact and reach. Her unique perspective as both a leader and descendant makes her voice an invaluable part of the team.

Dr. Kenneth Cruz-Dillard is a clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma as well as youth at risk for gun violence and juvenile justice involvement. Prior to becoming a psychologist, he spent more than two decades in various HIV counseling, professional development, and grant monitoring roles in state and local health and human services programs in New Jersey and Philadelphia. Dr. Cruz-Dillard says it is important for children and youth to see diverse landscapes of American history in classroom learning.  He also believes the history of Timbuctoo provides an array of substantial material to create engaging history lessons for students of all ages.

 Shannon DeLizio has worked for over twenty-five years as a counselor, including fifteen years as a bilingual counselor at PEI kids in Lawrenceville, as well as two-and-a-half years at the Hispanic Family Center in Camden, where she worked as a Domestic Violence Counselor. For the past eleven years, she has been working as a school counselor in the Trenton Public schools. Her passion is advocacy for children and ensuring their voices are heard.  Shannon believes that educators play a vital role in how Black history is understood. "It can be either demoralizing or empowering. Taught correctly, all students learn what the evolution of freedom looks like," she said, concluding that we should empower and embolden our students through a variety of programs that elevate social justice.

 Dr. Linda J. Caldwell Epps is President and CEO of 1804 Consultants, a consulting firm dedicated to the advancement of educational and cultural organizations. Linda has more than forty years of experience working with educational and cultural institutions, including the New Jersey Historical Society and New Jersey Network Television and Radio. Linda is a founder of the Sankofa Collaborative, whose mission is to build the capacity of individuals, groups, and organizations to learn about, present, and discuss the complex and difficult issues in the history and current experiences of African American citizens of New Jersey. Linda earned her doctoral degree from Drew University, where her dissertation was entitled, " From Zion to Brick City: What's Going On? Newark and the Legacy of the Sixties.”  She also has degrees from Rutgers University and Seaton Hall University.

  Cheryl Cliver earned her Master of Arts degree in American History from Pace University in conjunction with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in 2021. In addition, she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Social Studies Education with a minor in Political Science from Messiah College in 2005. She has been actively engaged in public history as high school teacher and through her involvement with the Timbuctoo Curriculum Project, where she serves as lead teacher. At present, she is finalizing a children's book about Timbuctoo.

 JoAnn Donnelly taught Middle School Social Studies for more than thirty years, retiring in 2023. In 2018, she coordinated an online student exchange program between Westampton Middle School and a school in Timbuktu, Mali. In 2023, she led a revision to the Middle School curriculum on Timbuctoo to ensure alignment with standards established by the New Jersey Department of Education. JoAnne earned a Master of Education degree from the College of New Jersey and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Delaware.

 Kevin Risley earned a Master of Arts degree in History from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Education from the College of New Jersey. He has taught at Winslow Township High School and Seneca High School. He learned about Timbuctoo through his student teaching assignment at Rancocas Valley High School, as well as through an undergraduate internship at Jacob’s Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is a historic congregation in Mount Laurel, founded around 1824. Kevin is currently researching nineteenth newspaper articles about Timbuctoo.