Our Staff
Sandra Phoenix, Executive Director
Email: sphoenix@hbculibraries.org
Phone: 404.702.5854
Ms. Phoenix has more than 30 years’ experience at nonprofit organizations and extensive project management experience. Responsible for the overall operations of the HBCU Library Alliance, her duties include providing leadership in developing strategic and financial planning, managing an organizational budget with the Board of Directors, managing, publicizing and promoting grant-related activities of the organization, and promoting active participation on grant projects by member institutions.
Prior to assuming this role, Ms. Phoenix served as Executive Services Librarian at LYRASIS where served as Project Manager for a two-year Gates Foundation Opportunity Online Grant project resulting in $1.7M grant funding.
She believes in the power of knowledge, the power of the endless contributions of people of color, and the power of the library in strengthening community. Ms. Phoenix is committed to the goals and vision of the HBCU Library Alliance and its future directions in supporting HBCU libraries.
In her free time, she enjoys vegetable gardening, spending time with twin rescue dogs Lilly and Sissy, and the compelling message of the djembe drum.
LaTasha Denard, Executive Assistant
Email: ldenard@hbculibraries.org
Phone: 678.210.5801 ext. 102
Ms. Denard has more than 20 years of secretarial experience. Her duties at the HBCU Library Alliance include providing comprehensive support in a range of strategic areas for the Alliance. She serves as the primary point of contact for the Executive Director, a liaison to the Board of Directors and communications manager for internal and external information delivery to members of the Alliance.
Prior to assuming this role, Ms. Denard served as the Senior Administrative Secretary at the Asa H. Gordon Library at Savannah State University. She has also worked with the University of Georgia’s Strong African American Families Project as a program facilitator and as a partnership assistant with the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau. Before that, she was the Executive Assistant to the President/CEO of the Center for Education, Networking, Training and Empowerment Resources, Inc. (C.E.N.T.ER., Inc.), a non-profit organization.
Her education includes a Bachelor of Business Administration (Savannah State University, Summa Cum Laude); Associate of Applied Science in Teacher Education (formerly Waycross College, now South Georgia State College), and she is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma (a premier business honor society).