2024 UMBC Alumni Awards
2024 Awards Ceremony
Thursday, October 10, 2024 · 6 - 8 PM
Extraordinary UMBC alumni, faculty, and staff are making a difference in the world, and the UMBC Alumni Association Board of Directors holds an annual celebration of their accomplishments.
Come and celebrate our INDS Outstanding Alumni Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman '95. Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman is the 2023 – 2026 Poet Laureate of Prince George’s County, Maryland. She is the author of the poetry collections For the Girls Who Do Too Much and The Summoning of Black Joy, the children’s book Mariah’s Maracas, and co-editor of the book Homeschooling Black Children in the U.S. More than a dozen of her plays have been presented publicly in venues throughout the country.
As a student, Dr. Ali-Coleman was a McNair Scholar and served as a resident assistant, writer for The Retriever Weekly and the Black Student Union’s VOICES Literary Magazine, a member of the Black Student Recruitment Team, and a summer student peer advisor with the Advisement Center. She credits her experience at UMBC as a student leader with building her skills in creating and implementing public programs and engaging with the community.
Dr. Ali-Coleman is founder of Liberated Muse Arts Group, a touring multidisciplinary arts organization, and Black Writers for Peace and Social Justice, a 501(c)3 organization that leads the charge in providing transformative learning experiences for writers dedicated to advancing principles of peace and social justice through their work. She founded Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, LLC, in 2020 during the COVID-19 quarantine, providing vital training support to over 3000 families. She is currently an associate professor of English at Coppin State University. Dr. Ali-Coleman earned her doctorate from Morgan State University and her M.A. in mass communication from Towson University. She earned a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies from UMBC.