The Northwestern University Black Professionals Network leadership team strives to build community by fostering programing and providing resources to promote an environment in which Black professionals can share experiences, have an open dialogue, network with leadership, and seek mentorship that will improve the Northwestern Black professional experience.
Rhea Banks joined Northwestern in 2009 after earning her bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, where she double majored in Psychology and Women & Gender Studies. She is the Business Administrator in the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law and in her current role, she manages budgets, grants, and HR functions for her area, and serves on the Bluhm Legal Clinic Leadership Team.
Tracey Gibson-Jackson joined Northwestern University in 2007. She serves as the Director in Student Organizations & Activities. Tracey has a bachelor's degree in Theatre and a master's degree in political and justice studies. As Administration Co-Chair she assists in guiding the steering committees mission and strategic goals while interfacing with the university president and senior leadership team.
Focusing on marketing and communication, as well as student development and event planning in a higher education setting, Adrienne has spent most of her career in the realm of collegiate recreation. Prior to Northwestern, she spent a year with the RecSports department at the University of Notre Dame as the Marketing and Special Events intern. And four years in various recreation and recruitment roles at Ohio University. In her role, she assists with the quarterly newsletter, collaborates with her fellow committee members, and assists as needed in various capacities.
Maureen has been a valued member of Northwestern University Information Technology since 1992. In her role as the Associate Director for Application Development and Operations within Northwestern IT Administrative Systems, she spearheads software development teams for key university systems such as CAESAR (Student), myHR, and NUfinancial. Her focus is on delivering exceptional services, providing business support, and driving operational and strategic initiatives to elevate the overall experience for students, faculty, and staff.
Eric McGhee joined Northwestern’s Global Marketing and Communications in 2021. Prior to Northwestern, he worked at BNP a publishing company for 9 years managing Desktop Support for their Deerfield office and has over 15 years of experience in technology-related fields. In his current role as a Senior User Support Specialist he provides technical support for OGMC as well as client facing website support/quality assurance for the digital team. In his role within BPN he assists with copy, graphic design, and manages the BPN website.
Toni has been a member of BPN since its inauguration in 2016. As the BPN Co-Chair she manages all financial operations. She also develops and overseas open dialogue sessions for members on the Chicago and Evanston campus. Toni holds a bachelor degree in Biological Sciences and a Masters in business administation.
Omar is a Senior Support Specialist at Northwestern University Information Technology. He is a graduate of ITT Tech with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. He has over a decade of experience as an IT Specialist working with Servers, JAMF, Active Directory and CrashPlan backup server. In his role with BPN Omar facilitates programming and access by managing the BPN website and creating opportunities for open dialogue among our members.
Serena Simpson joined Northwestern IT’s communications team as a communications specialist in March 2020. She brings more than a decade of experience in strategic communication, writing and editing, project management, and more. In her role, she focuses on content development for various Northwestern IT communication channels, guiding the editorial direction of Northwestern’s Digital Learning site, IT project communication, and leading IT social media efforts.
Joining Northwestern in 2017 as archivist her primary focus is to document the history of Black students, faculty, alumni, and organizations at Northwestern University. She also supports exhibition curation, outreach, instruction, and reference for the University Archives. Charla holds a degree in American Studies with a course concentration relating to African American history and culture. Similarly she assists BPN as the historian and maintains BPN records.