Sheila Afnan-Manns

Sheila’s commitment to racial justice is rooted in the teachings of the Baha’i Faith, while her allyship is built upon the visceral understandings gained during 29 years of interracial marriage. Sheila has been an academic librarian for more than two decades and currently serves as the Library Department Chair at Mesa Community College. Over her career, she has collaborated with students and colleagues to infuse DEI across library collections, instruction, and services with an emphasis on African American and Indigenous partnerships.

Sheila received the 2022 NAACP Maricopa-Branch Racial and Social Justice Award for her work on the Public Discourse and Social Action Task Force of the Baha’is of Scottsdale, AZ including collaboration on Race Unity Day each June and the I, Too, Sing America Black History Month Film Festival. Sheila has lived in Israel and Japan and presented on critical pedagogy, open access and social justice, and user interface design at several domestic and international conferences.

Sheila holds a Graduate Certificate in Digital Information Management, University of Arizona; Master of Library & Information Studies, UCLA; MS, Public-Policy, New School; and BA, Economics, University of Washington. She lives in Scottsdale with her husband and college-aged son.