Our team
The Dedicated Hearts and Minds Driving Our Mission
Dr. Eleanor Vance, Executive Director
Dr. Vance holds a Ph.D. in African American Studies and a Master’s degree in Non-Profit Management, bringing over twenty-five years of experience blending academic research with practical community leadership to the center. Before joining the AAACCC, she led the cultural preservation department at a major university museum, where she oversaw the acquisition and digitization of historical documents from the Civil Rights era, demonstrating her deep commitment to accurate historical record-keeping and accessibility. Dr. Vance’s vision for the Center is one of radical inclusion, ensuring that our programs not only honor the past but are actively shaped by the voices and needs of the contemporary community, utilizing her expertise to secure vital grants and foster strategic partnerships that amplify our mission. She views her role as a cultural steward, dedicated to creating an organizational structure that is sustainable, ethical, and deeply responsive to the artistic and educational needs of the families we serve, consistently prioritizing the warmth of community connection alongside professional rigor.
Marcus “MJ” Johnson, Director of Creative Programs
Marcus Johnson, known affectionately as “MJ” by students and peers, is an accomplished professional visual artist and educator with a B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design and a decade of experience teaching art in public school and non-profit settings. His professional focus is on contemporary Black realism and digital illustration, allowing him to bridge traditional artistic techniques with modern digital platforms, making the arts relevant and engaging for today’s youth. As Director of Creative Programs, MJ designs and oversees the implementation of our entire arts curriculum, ensuring every course, from pottery to spoken word, is both technically challenging and culturally significant, frequently integrating themes of identity, social justice, and historical narrative into the artistic process. He is known for his energetic teaching style and his unwavering belief that every student possesses innate creative genius, working tirelessly to provide the high-quality materials and supportive environment necessary for that genius to flourish, often citing art as the most powerful tool for self-discovery and cultural celebration.
Sarah Chen, Community Engagement Coordinator
Sarah Chen is a dedicated advocate for community bridge-building, holding a Master’s degree in Social Work with a specialization in Community Organizing and having spent five years managing volunteer and outreach programs for a major youth development organization. Her background is crucial to the Center’s mission, as she focuses on ensuring the AAACCC is not just a destination but an active participant and partner in the broader Stockton community, effectively making our resources available to those who need them most. Sarah’s responsibilities include coordinating our expansive volunteer team, managing the family involvement initiatives, and establishing collaborative relationships with local schools, churches, and businesses to co-sponsor cultural events and educational initiatives, thereby expanding our physical and programmatic reach. She possesses an exceptional ability to listen and respond to community feedback, using data-driven approaches to ensure our engagement strategies are inclusive and relevant to the diverse populations we strive to serve, making her an indispensable liaison between the Center and the public.
Lillian Hayes, Lead Cultural Historian and Archival Specialist
Lillian Hayes is the guardian of the Center’s historical integrity, possessing a Master’s degree in Library Science with a concentration in Archival Studies and having previously worked at the Library of Congress digitizing collections of African American newspapers and historical texts. Her primary role is to manage and grow our permanent collection of historical documents, photographs, and oral histories, ensuring their meticulous preservation while simultaneously making these resources accessible for public education and scholarly research. Lillian also designs and leads our core history workshops, moving beyond basic narratives to explore the deep complexities of African American life, invention, and resilience across various historical periods, often bringing primary source documents directly into the classroom to create an immersive learning experience. Her commitment to accurate storytelling and her passion for uncovering lost or neglected historical facts are instrumental in fulfilling the preservation mandate of our mission, providing the authentic, factual bedrock upon which all our artistic programs are built.
Community & Engagement
Building Bridges Between the Center and the Home
The African American Arts and Culture Community Center firmly believes that the family is the child’s first and most important teacher, and as such, deep and meaningful family involvement is a mandatory cornerstone of our engagement strategy and vital for participant success. We foster this connection through regular communication, including bi-monthly family newsletters detailing curriculum highlights and opportunities for engagement, alongside personalized progress reports that keep parents fully abreast of their child’s artistic and academic growth within our programs. Beyond communication, we actively invite family members to participate in various ways, hosting family heritage workshops where parents and children can learn and create together, encouraging them to attend all performances and exhibitions, and establishing a Parent Volunteer Network that provides essential support to our administrative and programmatic functions. This commitment to partnership ensures that the cultural and educational values promoted at the Center are reinforced in the home environment, creating a continuous, supportive learning ecosystem that leads to greater academic achievement and deeper familial bonds rooted in shared cultural appreciation.
Join Us
Invest Your Career in Cultural Excellence
The African American Arts and Culture Community Center offers much more than just a job; we offer the profound opportunity to invest your professional skills, artistic passion, and intellectual curiosity into a mission-driven environment that is actively shaping the cultural and educational landscape of the community. We are continually seeking highly qualified, dedicated, and culturally fluent professionals across a spectrum of disciplines, including teaching artists specializing in African American and African diaspora arts, experienced administrative and operations staff, development and grant writing experts, and archival specialists committed to historical preservation. Working here means joining a team that values both professional rigor and personal passion, where your contributions directly translate into empowering young people and preserving an invaluable cultural legacy, offering competitive salaries and benefits alongside unparalleled job satisfaction rooted in tangible community impact. We look for individuals who are not just competent but are deeply committed to our core values of Reverence, Creativity, and Excellence, and who are excited by the prospect of contributing to a living, growing cultural institution.