(CEDAR RAPIDS, IA) – Effective February 1, 2017 LaNisha Cassell will step into the role of Executive Director of the African American Museum of Iowa after serving as Deputy Director since last February. Cassell will carry out the museum’s strategic plan to develop its endowment and to increase capacity by expanding its statewide presence. She sees the Museum as “a catalyst in promoting education that breeds understanding, empowerment and advocacy.”
Prior to her positions with the Museum, LaNisha Cassell was Executive Director of the Marion Independent School Foundation and Alumni Association for eleven years. Her professional career began in the Washington, DC area where she held several positions in public relations and fundraising. Cassell graduated from Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD where she majored in English and minored in Public Relations.
In 2004 she moved to Cedar Rapids with her husband Karl Cassell, President and CEO of Horizons A Family Service Alliance. They are the proud parents of two children, Lydia Grace and Solomon Joseph. She serves the community through leadership at the family’s church, Cedar Valley Bible Church as well as past service on the boards of Aging Services and Marion Cares. LaNisha is a 2014-15 graduate of the prestigious Leadership Iowa program, the 2012-13 Marion Leadership in Action program and the Leadership for Five Seasons class of 2007. LaNisha is also an active member of the Marion East Cedar Rapids Rotary Club; recently selected as Nominee President Elect for 2019-20. She was also recognized by the Corridor Business Journal as a 2012 recipient of their Forty Under 40 award.
For more information please visit the AAMI website at www.blackiowa.org or call 319-862-2101. The AAMI is open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and is located at 55 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
###
