Valerie Bell has been a member of the Jeannette Rankin Board of Directors since 2017. She is the Executive Director of Athens – Clarke County Library, a position she has held since 2015. Valerie’s inspired leadership was instrumental in the Athens Clarke County Library being named Georgia Library of the Year in 2018.
Valerie has been a volunteer on the Rankin planning committee for It’s Time to Talk: Forums on Race since the program originated in 2017. She has leveraged her leadership as the Co-Chair for four of those years. Valerie has stepped up as a partner in the racial justice work by providing funds from grants to support It’s Time to Talk. She has partnered with us providing in-kind support via library space for training the Volunteer Racial Justice Facilitators as well as offering the first Beloved Community Dialogue.
