M EET SEMC’S NE W CO U N C I L DIREC TO RS
Brigette Janea Jones
Director of Equitable Partnerships, Belle Meade Historic Site and Winery, Nashville, Tennessee Brigette Janea Jones is the Director of Equitable Partnerships for Belle Meade Historic Site and Winery in Nashville, Tennessee and founder of Bridge Builders Historical Consulting, LLC. Her work includes the preservation and interpretation of the vast social
histories of the many diverse cultures that inhabit the state of Tennessee, including but not limited to, African American history, Latino history, and Middle Eastern history, as well as fostering the types of partnerships with community institutions that will aid in the enhancement of their quality of life. Ms. Jones is a Memphis native and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Historically Black, Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2019, she gained certification through the National Association of Interpretation and the Smithsonian Institute: National Museum of African American History and Culture to become an official interpreter of the African American experience. Most recently, she served as Curator of Social History for the Tennessee State Museum and Director of African American Studies for the Belle Meade Plantation Museum in Nashville, where her academic focus was primarily on the lasting legacy of American chattel enslavement on Tennesseans and surrounding areas. As of 2019, Ms. Jones has established Bridge Builders Historical Consulting, LLC, where she provides historical research assistance and interpretive design consulting for museum sectors and other institutions with a focus on cultural remembrance. She also conducts public and keynote speaking engagements focusing on topics such as the history and legacy of Southern race 16
