Keith W. Stokes

Mr. Stokes has a long and distinguished career in business, historic preservation, and community development, with degrees from Cornell University and the University of Chicago.

He has also been an Advisor for Rhode Island with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and served on numerous local, regional, and national business and public boards, including Preservation Society for Newport County, Touro Synagogue Foundation, Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission Historical Review Board, Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, Quonset Development Corporation, Rhode Island Foundation, and Governor’s Workforce Board.

Mr. Stokes frequently appears on national historical programs, including C-SPAN, Fox News Legends & Lies, and Ted Talk. Recently, he was the lead researcher and author of “A Matter of Truth” report for the examination and documentation of the role of the City of Providence and State of Rhode Island in supporting a “Separate and Unequal” existence for African heritage, Indigenous, and People of Color.

Mr. Stokes is also a direct descendant of an African family that took part in one of the most documented and successful slavery emancipation and reparation efforts in 1795.