Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute Staff
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Dr. Jelani Favors
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Chelsey Beasley
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Keeley Copridge, Ph.D.
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Dwayne Harris
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Dr. Danie Marshall
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Dr. Deatra L. Neal
Dr. Jelani Favors
Dr. Jelani M. Favors serves as VP of the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, the primary research unit of the United Negro College Fund. He is one of the world’s leading historians and scholars on historically Black colleges and universities. He has been awarded major fellowships in support of his research that includes an appointment as a Humanities Writ Large Fellow at Duke University in 2013, and he was an inaugural recipient of the Mellon HBCU Fellowship at the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke in 2009. In 2019, Dr. Favors released his first book entitled Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism, which was published by the University of North Carolina Press. Shelter in a Time of Storm was the recipient of the 2020 Stone Book Award presented annually by the Museum of African American History in Boston. As one of the nation’s most regarded and coveted scholarly prizes, the MAAH Stone Book Award recognizes the best exemplary, contemporary scholarship, and writing in the field of African American history and culture. Additionally, Shelter in a Time of Storm was the recipient of the 2020 Lillian Smith Book Award given yearly by the Southern Regional Council and the University of Georgia Libraries and it was also one of five finalists for the 2020 Pauli Murray Book Prize presented by the African American Intellectual History Society.
Dr. Favors formerly served as the Henry E. Frye Distinguished Professor of History and the founding director of the Center of Excellence for Social Justice at North Carolina A&T State University. His research and commentary have appeared in several publications and media outlets, including CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, The Root, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Teen Vogue, The Point, and The Conversation. Favors earned his Ph.D. in History and his M.A. in African American Studies from The Ohio State University. He is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history with honors. Dr. Favors is a native of Winston-Salem, NC and he resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
Chelsey Beasley
Chelsey Beasley is an experienced administrative professional with over a decade of experience supporting mission-driven organizations across the nonprofit, education, and healthcare sectors. She takes pride in being dependable, organized, and service-oriented, and currently serves as the Senior Administrative Assistant for the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, where she enjoys helping the Patterson team work more efficiently and supporting initiatives that make a real difference.
She is currently pursuing a degree in Paralegal Studies at Atlanta Technical College, with long-term aspirations of becoming an attorney. Her interest in the legal field is rooted in a passion for advocacy, justice, and empowering others—values that guide both her professional path and the work she does in her community.
Outside of work and school, Chelsey loves getting lost in a good book, watching classic films, and volunteering with organizations throughout the Metro Atlanta area. Whether she’s supporting community efforts or continuing her own professional growth, she is guided by a genuine desire to uplift others and contribute in meaningful ways.
Keeley Copridge, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate
kcopridge@uncf.org
Keeley Copridge, Ph.D. is a Senior Research Associate for UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI). Before joining UNCF, Keeley worked as a Project Associate for Indiana University’s Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and the Center for Postsecondary Research on research projects examining underrepresented students’ engagement experiences.
Keeley is a first-generation college graduate, who obtained her B.A. in Psychology and Master of Science in Social Work at the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY. She is currently enrolled in the Higher Education doctoral program at Indiana University, where she will defend her dissertation examining the college choice experiences of Black college women in December 2020.
Dwayne Harris
With over 17 years of experience in Information Technology, Dwayne Harris specialize in data analysis, system implementations, migrations, and integrations. He is highly skilled in writing and optimizing SQL queries and has extensive expertise working with relational databases such as SQL Server and Oracle.
In recent years, He has focused on the education sector, managing and analyzing diverse datasets for schools and higher education institutions. His career path has allowed him to serve in multiple IT roles—including Database Administrator, Systems Administrator, Operations Analyst, and Data Analyst—before returning to his true passion as a Senior Data Analyst with the United Negro College Fund.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Dwayne attended Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School (grades 1–5), Crawford Long Middle School (grades 6–8), and Frederick Douglass High School (grades 9–12). He went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Clark Atlanta University.
Outside of work, Dwayne enjoy bowling and spending time pursuing activities that keep him both engaged and balanced.
Dr. Danie Marshall
Danie Marshall, Ph.D. has over 10 years of experience in education, specializing in the areas of oral history research, curriculum development, and program evaluation. Her research, art, and activism centers on Womanist principles, uplifting the experiences of Black women teachers, students, and communities. Her personal and professional goal is to advocate for teachers and students who have found themselves on the margins because of their race, class, gender. Danie currently serves as a researcher at The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and is the founder of Well ManifestEd, a wellness writing company. Her work involves qualitative data collection and analysis, including archiving oral histories of Black women educators, and creating retreat spaces for those in academia to write, rest, and recover. Danie earned her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education and Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from Georgia State University.
Dr. Deatra L. Neal
Deatra L Neal, PhD, is a scholar and creative entrepreneur whose interdisciplinary research intersects with policy, technology, and the arts. Deatra founded FDPRI’s inaugural online journal, Sankofa Futures, and is leading AI research at the institute. With a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and a master’s degree in marketing from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University, Deatra combines academic rigor with cultural insight to help leaders connect with their identity and design futures grounded in purpose. As an IT executive consultant, Deatra led major migration and disaster recovery initiatives while managing a global team of database administrators. She has taught at the University of Cincinnati and the Art Institute, bringing her distinctive blend of scholarship and creativity into the classroom. Beyond academia, she is an award-winning filmmaker whose projects have received over 25 international honors. Deatra has contributed to The Democratic Republic of Congo’s leading publication, Le Potentiel, and worked alongside Nickelodeon writing executives and some of the most talented independent filmmakers in the industry. Her short film, What About Us?, was featured on the ASPIRE cable network and received recognition from the New York City Council for important community stories. Deatra co-produced the 2011 Sundance award-winning film Kinyarwanda and served as lead writer on several hour-long dramatic series for EbonyLifeTV, Africa’s first Global Entertainment & Lifestyle network in Nigeria.
Through her work at the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute at UNCF, Deatra seeks to showcase the diaspora’s rich history and culture through research, creative storytelling, and innovative technology.