
Amy Howard
Senior Administrative Officer, Equity & Community
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Profile
Dr. Amy Howard is the Senior Administrative Officer (SAO) for Equity and Community and associated faculty in American Studies.
As the first SAO at UR, Dr. Howard brings experience connecting and catalyzing stakeholder groups to collaborate for culture change as the former AVP of Community Initiatives and the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement. Over the past four years, Dr. Howard has served as the co-chair of the Thriving and Inclusive Community strategic plan working group; participated in the Council for Independent Colleges’ Diversity, Civility, and the Liberal Arts Institute as part of a UR team; and served on the Interim Coordinating Council, Presidential Commission on University History and Identity, and as the Interim SAO.
In her capacity as SAO, Dr. Howard provides institutional (s)trategy for equity and community engagement, serves as a consistent (a)dvocate for equity, inclusion, community engagement, and (o)rganizes efforts across the institution and in the community to further UR's mission, values and DEI and civic goals.As SAO, Dr. Howard convenes and consults with the ICC, led by a faculty and staff co-chairs, serves as a member of the President’s Cabinet, and collaborates with the Executive Director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, Dr. Sylvia Gale, and Director of Institutional Equity and Inclusion, Dr. Glyn Hughes on aligning and supporting institutional commitments in diversity, equity, inclusion, and community engagement and outreach. Dr. Howard reports jointly to EVP and Provost Jeff Legro and EVP and COO Dave Hale who have been charged by the President will overseeing the implementation of our goals.
Dr. Howard has taught courses on urban history and American studies, including a Sophomore Scholars in Residence course, "Urban Americas". Howard's book, More Than Shelter: Activism and Community in San Francisco Public Housing, explores the history of tenant activism, community building, and racial and ethnic alliances in San Francisco public housing. She is currently working on a book about leadership and politics in Richmond, Virginia with Thad Williamson. She is also co-editing a book on urban history and public humanities contributions to community development with Robin Bachin.
In 2013, she chaired the housing task force of Mayor Dwight Jones' Maggie L. Walker Initiative for Expanding Opportunity and Fighting Poverty.
She holds an A.B. with honors in history from Davidson College and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William and Mary.
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Presentations
“Engaging Place: The Uses of Urban and Planning History and Civic Engagement in Community Development,” panel participant and organizer, Society for American City and Regional Planning History, November 2017
“The Liberal Arts Mind: Tools for the 21st Century and Global Contexts,” panel participant, AAC&U, January 2016
“Planning History, Civic Engagement, and Influencing Social Change,” roundtable organizer and presenter, Society for American City and Regional Planning History, Los Angeles, November 2015
“Civic Engagement and Community Development: University of Richmond Downtown and Liberal Arts in Place,” Urban History Association, October 2014
“Legacies of Hope? The Remaking of San Francisco’s Public Housing,” Society for American City and Regional Planning History Conference, October 2013
Invited Speaker, UR Leadership Summit, “Bringing Life to Learning:Student Engagement and Experiential Learning,” University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, November, 2012
“This Bridge Called My Job: Translating, Re-valuing, and Leveraging Intermediary Administrative Work” panel presentation with Dr. Sylvia Gale, University of Richmond, Dr. Kevin Bott, Syracuse University, Dr. Miriam Bartha, University of Washington, Imagining America Conference, New York City, NY, October 2012
Invited Speaker, “Engaging Richmond: The University of Richmond and Civic Engagement,” Short Pump Rotary Club, Richmond, VA, September 2012
“Why Contemporary Richmond Is Not (But Should Be) A Progressive City,” co-presented with Dr. Thad Williamson, University of Richmond, Policy History Conference, Richmond, VA, June 2012
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Community Service
National
- National Advisory Board, Imagining America, 2017
- National Advisory Board, Fundraising and Strategic Communications Committee, 2020-
- Strategic Planning Task Force, 2017-2018
- Board, Society for American City and Regional Planning History
Regional
- Better Housing Coalition, Board Member, Richmond, VA, 2008 - 2016
- City of Richmond Anti-Poverty Initiative Housing Task Force, Chair, 2013-14
- City of Richmond City Planning Commission, Richmond, VA 2009-2015
- Better Housing Coalition, Strategic Planning Working Group, 2010 – 2015
- Community Futures Foundation, Board Member, Richmond, VA, 2006-08
- Advisory Council, NextUp
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Presentations
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Selected Publications
Books
The Making of 21st Century Richmond: Race, Politics, and Governance, co-authoring with Thad Williamson and Julian Hayter, currently under review, University of North Carolina Press.
More than Shelter: Community and Activism in San Francisco Public Housing, 1938-2000 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, April 2014)
Engaging Place, Engaging Practices: Urban History and Campus-Community Collaboration, co-edited with Robin Bachin (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, in press, December, 2022).
Journal Articles“Community Engagement Professionals at Play: Collaborative Assessment as Culture Change,” Co-authored with Terry Dolson and Sylvia Gale, Journal of Higher Education Engagement and Outreach, 23.1: 2019, 227-246.“Many Spiders, One Web: Distributing Leadership for Inclusive Excellence at the University of Richmond,” co-authored with Ashleigh M. Brock, Patricia Herrera and Glyn Hughes with Ronald A. Crutcher, Jeffrey Legro, and David Hale in Shared Leadership in Higher Education; Responding to a Changing World, edited by Judith Ramaley, Adrianna J. Kezar, Fran Elrod, and Elizabeth M. Holcombe, Stylus, December 2021.“Reframing public housing in Richmond, Virginia: Segregation, resident resistance and the future of redevelopment”, co-authored with Thad Williamson, Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning, December 2015
“This Bridge Called My Job: Translating, Re-valuing and Leveraging Intermediary Administrative Work,” Public, vol. 2, issue 2, 2015
“Planning Note: Public Art, Public Housing, and Community,” Journal of the America Planning Association, special issue, “American Public Housing at 75: Policy, Planning, and the Public Good,” December 2012“People Power” co-authored with Thad Williamson, Style Weekly, July 2011
“Another Kind of Giving,” co-authored with Sylvia Gale, Style Weekly, Giving, Summer 2010
“Engaging the City: Civic Participation and Teaching Urban History,” Journal of Urban History, January 2010Book Chapters“Bringing Life to Learning: Civic Engagement, Intersections, and Transforming College Students,” co-authored with Juliette Landphair and Amanda Lineberry, in Intersectionality in Action: A Guide for Faculty and Campus Leaders for Creating Inclusive Classrooms and Institutions,edited by Brooke Barnett and Peter Felten, Stylus, 2016