Michelle Lanier

Michelle Lanier serves as the first executive director of North Carolina's African American Heritage Commission (AAHC), which strives to preserve, promote,and protect the state's African American history, arts, and culture for all young people. Ms. Lanier has deep roots in North Carolina with familial ties to Historic Stagville, the state's African American Music Trail, the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum (Palmer Memorial Institute), Black Wall Street, and many of the state's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Ms. Lanier has a degree in Folklore, with an emphasis on African Diasporaand Black Southern Life, making her an excellent choice for AAHC. Michelle has been the curator of multicultural initiatives at the Division of State Historic Sites. She helped to create, by general statute, the state's AAHC. Ms. Lanier has served as a member of the senior staff of the North Carolina Arts Council. She has had the honor of growing the impact of two cultural heritage trails--The African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina and Freedom Roads. Michelle uses her background as a folklorist, public historian and documentary educator to connect communities to the rich and transformative power of African American heritage.