Anytown Alabama Co-Director Team
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Katherine NanceKatherine has been a part of ACE since 2015, serving as a board member and education consultant in the early stages of our organization. You may know her as Kat if you've been to Anytown—she's been a staff member at camp since 2015 and served as Co-Director in 2022. Most recently, she volunteered with our life-skills program in Fairfield City for the 22-23 school year.
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Lorraine ShackelfordLorraine attended Anytown in 2015 as a delegate which sparked xer passion for social justice. Xe then was closely involved with Peace Birmingham as a student from 2015-2108. Xe later continued xer fight for social action as xe served as the Social Justice Program Coordinator under AmeriCorps VISTA for ACE from 2021-2022. In addition to serving as an AmeriCorps member, Lorraine has also served on staff for Anytown from 2021-2023. Outside of ACE, Lorraine is a creative and works as a field producer for a creative storytelling agency with clients such as: EdFarm, Apple, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Xe is also a freelance photographer and filmmaker. Xe hopes to one day use xer love of storytelling, digital media and art to elevate the voices of those who are marginalized and eradicate injustice.
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Anamaria SantiagoAnamaria began her journey with ACE as one of its first board members when it was founded in 2016. After serving on the BOD for several years, including as its secretary, she decided to devote more of her time on cultivating the social justice programs that she helped ACE to acquire in 2020. These programs hold a special place in her heart, as she has worked with them consistently in some capacity for over 17 years after having been a Heritage Panelist, Anybuddy, and Make a Change participant while in high school. She has staffed Anytown since 2006 and has served as one of the camp's co-directors for a decade. She has experience teaching all age groups, from preschool to college, including as a therapeutic class teacher for children on the autism spectrum. She currently holds a full-time faculty appointment at a local university where she served as chair of her department’s DEIB committee from 2020-2022. In her free time she works on her novel, crochets amigurumi, gardens, studies honey bee husbandry, and hikes with her husband and toddler son.
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Kierra BurksKierra fully understands the value of the programs ACE has to offer as she began her journey with ACE participating in Heritage Panel at her high school. She then participated in Anytown Alabama as a delegate in 2019 then came back to serve on staff in 2022 and as co-director in 2023. Kierra is highly involved in her community as she works with The Transformative Justice Coalition to encourage young people to use their vote, has been a fellow for the Jefferson County Memorial Project, and an active member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Incorporated. She aims to empower young people to use their voice and make a change in their communities. In her free time Kierra enjoys to read, write poetry, and study for the LSAT as she has dreams of becoming a lawyer.
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