As a child, Dr. Amena Anderson enjoyed summer visits at her great-grandfather’s home on a coal mining camp in Grant Town, West Virginia.

During the Great Depression, her great-grandfather migrated to West Virginia from Alabama, where he found work in the coal mines and built a life for his family. Though Dr. Anderson’s grandmother left the state and rooted her family in New York, West Virginia has always been their family’s grounding place and ultimately became home for Dr. Anderson.

Following the birth of her oldest son, Dr. Anderson moved to the Mountain State, where she completed her undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees. She has forged a career as an educational leader, working for the Secretary of Arts and Education as well as public and private higher education institutions – including West Virginia University, where she is an assistant professor with an administrative appointment. Dr. Anderson’s work and research focuses on promoting the value of diversity and the importance of equitable and inclusive educational outcomes. A proud Mountain State implant, Dr. Anderson is optimistic about West Virginia’s future.