We salute the men listed in our annual list of INFLUENITAL BROTHA’S not only for the exceptional in work in their related fields but also for their commitment to uplifting of our people and community.
Vincent Clark – Associate Vice President, Pace University
Vincent Clark is the Associate Vice-President of Development & Alumni Relations at Pace University in New York. Prior to that appointment he served as Director of Development at Stony Brook University where he is part of the university’s effort to successfully complete a $600 million fundraising campaign. Prior to relocating to Long Island, Elder Clark served as Vice-President of Development & Communications at the Buffalo Urban League. A member of the senior executive team, Vincent Clark oversaw all aspects of fundraising, marketing, media relations, government affairs and membership. Before coming to the Buffalo Urban League, Vincent served as Executive Director of the Ellicott-Masten YMCA (Buffalo, NY). He has also served as the first-ever Director of Community Relations for the University at Buffalo and Senior Director for Government, Corporate and Foundation Relations at Medaille College (Buffalo, NY). From 1997 to 2004, Elder Clark worked in the Office of U.S. Congressman Jack Quinn as Director of Grants. As a member of Congressman Quinn’s staff, Elder Clark was responsible for grants, appropriations, community and economic development, education, homeland security & emergency preparedness, housing issues, labor unions, and urban policy. He also served as one of the Congressman’s speechwriters, senior advisors, and key spokesmen.
Vincent Clark has spent the last twenty-years in various capacities giving back to the community. It is the core of who he is. A gifted communicator and strategic planner, he continues to look beyond the boundaries set before him and connects resources to the needs of the people to make not only the community but the world better.
Peniel Joseph, Ph.D. – Educator/ Author @ The University of Texas at Austin
Peniel Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD). His career focus has been on “Black Power Studies,” which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women’s and ethnic studies, and political science.
Prior to joining the UT faculty, Dr. Joseph was a professor at Tufts University, where he founded the school’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy to promote engaged research and scholarship focused on the ways issues of race and democracy affect people’s lives.
In addition to being a frequent commentator on issues of race, democracy and civil rights, Dr. Joseph’s most recent book is The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. He also wrote the award-winning books Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America and Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama. His book Stokely: A Life has been called the definitive biography of Stokely Carmichael, the man who popularized the phrase “Black Power.” Included among Joseph’s other book credits is the editing of The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era and Neighborhood Rebels: Black Power at the Local Level.
Dante Stewart – Author, Minister
Danté Stewart is an award-winning writer, ordained minister, and author of Shoutin’ In The Fire: An American Epistle. Named by Georgia Writers Association as “Georgia Writer of the Year” 2022 (Memoir); by The Center for American Progress as one of “22 Faith Leaders to Watch in 2022”; and by Religion News Service as one of “Ten Up-And-Coming Faith Influencers,” his work in the areas of race, religion, and politics has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Times, the Washington Post, TIME, ESPN’s Andscape, Oxford American, Sojourners, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, and more.
He received his B.A. in Sociology from Clemson University. He is currently studying at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.
Keith Beauchamp – Writer/Producer
Award-Winning Filmmaker Keith A. Beauchamp attended Southern University in Baton Rouge where he studied Criminal Justice with the intention of becoming a Civil Rights Attorney. As a young boy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Beauchamp had his share of run-ins with racism but it wasn’t until an incident where he was assaulted by an undercover police officer after dancing with a white classmate at a party that he felt compelled to fight racism and move to New York. It was here he could pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker. And through this feat, he’d attempt to remedy some of the past and present injustices that plague communities abroad. In the fall of 1997, Beauchamp relocated from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to New York. He quickly found work at Big Baby Films, a company founded by childhood friends that focused on music video production.
Keith Beauchamp has been featured on ‘60 Minutes’, ABC World News Tonight ‘Person of the Week,’ Court TV, MSNBC, ‘Good Morning America,’ CNN, BBC as well as in hundreds of publications around the world including The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Associated Press and the Chicago Sun Times. Beauchamp’s past works included TV One’s ‘Murder in Black and White’ hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton and ‘Wanted Justice: Johnnie Mae Chappell’ for the History Channel and ‘BET’s Exceptional Black Women.’
Beauchamp is the former Executive Producer and Host of Investigation Discovery’s Award-winning crime reality series, ‘The Injustice Files,’ and currently the producer of the upcoming feature film “Till,” which is being co-produced by Fred Zollo, Whoopi Goldberg, and Barbara Broccoli. He is also a frequent lecturer at colleges and universities around the country
Shaun Nelms – Educator, Author, Leader
Shaun Nelms is the superintendent of East Upper and Lower Schools, formerly East High School in Rochester, N.Y., a new position created through a unique partnership between the New York State Education Department, Rochester City School District, and University of Rochester. As the Educational Partnership Organization (EPO) superintendent for East, Nelms has been charged with creating a school reform model that can be replicated in urban settings throughout the United States.
In 2018, he was named the first William and Sheila Konar Director for the Center for Urban Education Success (CUES) at the Warner School. In this role, Nelms leads the center’s efforts to support the success of K-12 urban schools both locally and nationally through a combination of research, relationship building, and a commitment to pursue and share best practices.
Prior to his superintendency, Nelms served as chief of schools for the Rochester City School District, where he supervised the Northeast Zone and successfully led implementation of the New York State Regents reform initiative. His focus on professional development for principals and teachers led to improvements in leadership capacity, instructional delivery, and student achievement. Nelms also worked as a principal in the Rush-Henrietta School District, and as an assistant principal and social studies teacher in the Greece School District.
Throughout his career, Nelms has maintained a focus on helping students to be successful. He has served as a role model and mentor for students and faculty alike, and his legacy includes several successful programs that he established to give all students the opportunity to reach their academic and personal goals.
On July 2023, released his new book “Leading with Purpose” and was appointed Vice President of Community Partnerships at the University of Rochester in New York.
