Norma Adams Wade graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966, with a degree in journalism. She also pursued graduate studies at Amber University in Garland, Texas, and completed the Institute for Journalism Education’s summer editor training program at the University of Arizona in Tucson. From 1972 until 1974, Adams Wade was a reporter and editor’s assistant at The Dallas Post Tribune before being hired as the first African American full-­time reporter for The Dallas Morning News. She was also a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in 1975. Adams ­Wade’s many awards and honors include the Bronze Heritage Award for preservation of African American history; NAACP Dallas Chapter’s Juanita Craft Award; Dallas Urban League’s Legacy Award; “The Dallas Morning News” Joe Dealey Publisher’s Award; ; Top Ladies of Distinction’s Humanitarian Award; and Maurine F. Bailey Cultural Foundation’s first outstanding community service award.

A 1969 graduate of North Texas State University, Bob Ray Sanders’ journalism career spanned more than four decades and three media: newspaper, television, and radio. In 2015 he retired as Associate Editor and Senior Columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Prior to that, he started as a reporter for KERA-TV’s Newsroom program in 1972 and later became the vice president/station manager host and producer of the station’s award-winning program, News Addition. Sanders is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists.  He has served as “Professional in Residence” in the Journalism Department of Texas Christian University and has received many awards from organizations including the Dallas Press Club, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the National Association of Black Journalists. Sanders has also won a regional Emmy Award and a National Headliner Award for outstanding investigative reporting.

Rosalind Withers is the Director of the Ernest Withers Museum and Collection of Memphis, Tennessee, and daughter of Ernest C. Withers. She founded the Withers Collection Museum & Gallery in February 2011 with a mission to educate from the pictorial legacy of over 1.8 million images and preserve the works of her father, Dr. Ernest C. Withers, Sr. Under Withers’ development and leadership, the Collection has received funding to organize and digitized this large body of work. Withers has worked in Management, Sales, and Marketing for more than 30 years at companies including Eastman Kodak, Raytheon, Ryder, and FedEx. During her career she has developed strategic planning with leading edge technology systems and implementation of new methods in products and services supporting sales, marketing, operations, human resources, and public relations.