Join the Team | Fauquier Juneteenth

Help Build Juneteenth 2027

Your Talent Belongs Here.

Bring your ideas, experience, relationships, creativity, or willingness to work. Help us preserve history, celebrate freedom, and strengthen our community.

Our Growing Team

2027 Annual Planning Committee

As community members commit, their names can be added below. Every “Open” space is an invitation to bring your strengths to the work.

Festival Leadership

Annual Planning Committee Chair

Chair: [Name]

Open

Annual Planning Committee Vice Chair

Vice Chair: [Name]

Open

Operations & Logistics

Logistics & Coordination

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Safety & Security

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Site Layout & Signage

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Programming & Entertainment

History & Education

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Health & Wellness

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Audio, Stage & Music

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Youth & Children

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Contests

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Community Outreach & Engagement

Media: Social, Print & Website

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Sponsor Engagement

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Volunteer Coordination

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Vendor Coordination

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Budgeting, Fundraising & Compliance

Budget & Accounting

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Fundraising & Grants

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Process Improvement & Compliance

Lead: [Name]

Members: [Names]

Open

Help Turn Vision Into Celebration

What Planning Committee Members Do

Members work throughout the year to create an event that is historically meaningful, welcoming, safe, accessible, and joyful.

Plan With Purpose

Develop programs, activities, budgets, educational experiences, schedules, and milestones that keep the celebration rooted in Juneteenth’s meaning.

Build Community

Coordinate vendors, volunteers, performers, sponsors, schools, nonprofits, businesses, public agencies, and community partners.

Deliver the Experience

Support stages, equipment, signage, parking, accessibility, health, safety, youth activities, contests, media, and guest services.

Improve What Comes Next

Gather feedback, document results, complete financial and grant reporting, and help strengthen future celebrations.

Find Your Place

Explore the Committees

Open a committee below to see where your interests and experience can make the greatest impact.

Logistics & Coordination

Great for: project managers, planners, energetic problem-solvers, and people who enjoy making complex events work.

  • Coordinate permits, venues, tents, stages, equipment, restrooms, parking, accessibility, setup, and cleanup.
  • Manage deliveries, inventories, transportation, wayfinding, and sustainability needs.
Safety & Security

Great for: people with safety, security, emergency-management, sanitation, or public-service experience.

  • Coordinate with police, fire, emergency medical, and security partners.
  • Support emergency, weather, evacuation, and missing-child procedures.
Site Layout & Signage

Great for: spatial planners, mapmakers, designers, and clear communicators.

  • Develop the site map and assign space for vendors, stages, services, sponsors, and activities.
  • Plan and install parking, restroom, accessibility, health, and directional signs.
History & Education

Great for: historians, educators, researchers, storytellers, archivists, and exhibit designers.

  • Create accurate, engaging exhibits, panels, displays, and learning experiences.
  • Connect Juneteenth’s national significance with Fauquier County’s local history.
Health & Wellness

Great for: healthcare professionals, wellness advocates, educators, and community-resource partners.

  • Recruit providers and coordinate screenings, demonstrations, resources, and first aid.
  • Promote mental, physical, and emotional well-being as essential parts of freedom.
Audio, Stage & Music

Great for: music lovers, producers, stage managers, audio professionals, and performer liaisons.

  • Secure performers and coordinate contracts, schedules, technical requirements, and hospitality.
  • Manage arrivals, sound checks, stage transitions, and the day-of entertainment flow.
Youth & Children’s Activities

Great for: educators, parents, coaches, artists, youth leaders, and the young at heart.

  • Plan safe, inclusive, age-appropriate games, art, storytelling, movement, and educational activities.
  • Coordinate providers, volunteers, accessibility, screening, and safety procedures.
Contests

Great for: creative organizers, judges, hosts, educators, and community-engagement leaders.

  • Develop culturally meaningful contests, rules, judging criteria, prizes, and promotions.
  • Coordinate contestants, judges, scholarships, Community Heroes, and award presentations.
Media: Social, Print & Website

Great for: writers, designers, marketers, photographers, videographers, and digital storytellers.

  • Create coordinated social, print, web, radio, and community-awareness campaigns.
  • Capture and share the people, stories, and moments that define Fauquier Juneteenth.
Sponsor Engagement

Great for: relationship-builders, fundraisers, business leaders, and community ambassadors.

  • Develop sponsorship packages, recruit partners, and renew past commitments.
  • Coordinate recognition, onsite hospitality, appreciation, and follow-up.
Volunteer Coordination

Great for: people who enjoy communication, scheduling, training, and supporting teams.

  • Collect volunteer needs and create shifts, assignments, orientation, and check-in procedures.
  • Match volunteers with meaningful roles and support them throughout the event.
Vendor Coordination

Great for: customer-service leaders, small-business supporters, organizers, and compliance-minded communicators.

  • Manage registration, selection, communications, payments, and required documentation.
  • Coordinate locations, check-in, inspections, onsite questions, and departure.
Budget & Accounting

Great for: accountants, financial managers, recordkeepers, and people committed to public trust.

  • Track income, expenses, budgets, payments, deposits, and reimbursements.
  • Maintain accurate records and prepare post-event financial reports.
Fundraising & Grants

Great for: researchers, writers, fundraisers, program evaluators, and partnership-builders.

  • Identify opportunities and prepare proposals, budgets, and supporting documents.
  • Track awards, compliance, expenditures, outcomes, and required reports.
Process Improvement & Compliance

Great for: policy, governance, risk, quality, operations, and organizational-development professionals.

  • Strengthen procedures, transparency, accountability, and compliance.
  • Identify risks, opportunities, lessons learned, and improvements for future years.

How We Work Together

What We Ask of Committee Members

You do not need to be an expert in Juneteenth or event planning. You do need to be ready to learn, communicate, collaborate, and follow through.

Active ParticipationAttend meetings, contribute ideas, and take part in decisions.
ReliabilityComplete accepted assignments and communicate early when support is needed.
CollaborationCreate a respectful environment where different voices are welcomed.
Mission AlignmentRepresent Fauquier Juneteenth positively in the community.
IntegrityProtect sensitive information and disclose potential conflicts of interest.
InclusionHelp create an accessible celebration that welcomes the entire community.

Planning Schedule

Monthly: September–January   |   Biweekly: February–April   |   Weekly: May–June

Additional subcommittee meetings are scheduled as needed. Availability during the Juneteenth celebration is strongly encouraged and may be essential for operational roles.

Board Leadership & Community Roots

Meet the Board of Directors

This is a working Board—not a symbolic one. Members provide strategic direction, protect the mission, oversee accountability, build partnerships, and support sustainable growth.

Executor of the Board

Barrie Newman

Barrie brings extensive nonprofit governance, community development, and historical leadership. His service with Fauquier Habitat for Humanity and the Afro-American Historical Association strengthens the organization’s partnerships, credibility, and cultural foundation. In 2020, he helped return a Juneteenth celebration to Fauquier County after a long hiatus.

Board Member

Leonard A. Settles

Leonard brings more than two decades of military service, national-security experience, federal law-enforcement leadership, and operational management. A Warrenton native and active veterans’ organization leader, he contributes a disciplined approach to safety, risk oversight, accountability, and community engagement.

Board Member

Karen Hughes White

Karen is a distinguished historian and archivist dedicated to preserving African American heritage in Fauquier County. As co-founder and director of the Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County, she helps ensure Fauquier Juneteenth remains historically accurate, educationally meaningful, and deeply connected to local history.

Board Member

Miriam Wallace

Miriam brings systems-level leadership, technical expertise, strategic planning, and process improvement. With degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Systems Engineering, she connects organizational vision with the people, processes, technology, fundraising, and data-informed decisions required for sustainable growth.

Help Guide What Comes Next

Board Member Openings

We seek prospective Board members prepared to provide active leadership and meaningful service—not simply lend their names to the organization.

Governance & Accountability

Protect the mission; review major budgets, contracts, policies, and organizational decisions; and provide fiscal, legal, ethical, and compliance oversight.

Strategy & Sustainability

Establish long-term goals, strengthen fundraising and resource development, and help position the organization for responsible growth.

Community Leadership

Build relationships with community institutions, sponsors, public agencies, supporters, and partners while serving as an ambassador for the mission.

Active Service

Attend meetings, review materials, participate in informed decisions, maintain confidentiality, disclose conflicts, and contribute to the work.

Another Way to Help

Not Ready for a Year-Round Role?

Day-of volunteers support setup, vendor check-in, wellness services, safety, youth activities, contests, stage management, sanitation, community meals, and guest assistance.

Your Talent Belongs Here

Help Us Carry Freedom Forward.

You do not have to know everything to make a difference. Bring what you know, bring what you love, and bring your willingness to serve.

FauquierJuneteenth@gmail.com