Management Entity Staff

The mission of The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University  is to promote greater understanding of Mississippi Delta culture and history and its significance to the world through education, partnerships and community engagement. The Delta Center is the management entity of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, serving as its administrative staff.

Dr. Rolando Herts  (rherts@deltastate.edu)
Director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning and Executive Director of the MDNHA

Dr. Herts is the director of The Delta Center and executive director of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, a Congressionally designated partnership with the National Park Service. As a 2016 Executive Academy Fellow with the Delta Regional Authority’s Delta Leadership Institute, he was awarded an executive education certificate from the Authentic Leadership for the 21st Century Program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He also is a Research Fellow with Tourism RESET, a multi-university and interdisciplinary research and outreach initiative focused on race, ethnicity, and social equity in tourism.

Dr. Herts is a university-community engagement scholar who is committed to stimulating diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultural heritage development activity in the Mississippi Delta and throughout the United States. His community engagement and partnership development expertise has strengthened university collaborations with the National Park Service, the Alliance of National Heritage Areas, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Alliance, Mississippi Delta Blues Festival Brazil, and various regional and community-based organizations. He serves on the Alliance of National Heritage Areas governing board, and the Advisory Committee for the Center for the Center of Southern Culture at University of Mississippi. He also has served on the Delta Regional Authority’s Delta Leadership Network Regional Advisory Council (federal appointment), the Mississippi Blues Commission (statutory member), and the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Services (gubernatorial appointment).

Previously, Dr. Herts served as Associate Director with the Office of University-Community Partnerships at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. As a Leadership Newark Fellow, he received the Berkowitz Distinguished Service Award for his commitment to the Greater Newark community. He also is an alumnus of the Teach For America Mississippi Delta corps and the Engagement Scholarship Consortium's Emerging Engagement Scholar Program.

Dr. Herts holds a Ph.D. in planning and public policy from Rutgers Graduate School-New Brunswick. He also holds a M.A. in Social Science from The University of Chicago and a B.A. in English from Morehouse College. A product of the Great Migration, he grew up in the Chicagoland area and in the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta region. His interest areas include university-community engagement and partnership development, community-based tourism planning, place branding/marketing, and regional development.

Asha Done (adone@deltastate.edu) Program Associate for Projects

Asha Done is the Program Associate for Projects at The Delta Center.  Asha received her bachelors from Jackson State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Arkansas State University. She is also a member of the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society.

Asha grew up in Illinois and graduated high school in Bolivar County. Asha most recently worked at Loyola University Chicago, first working with students as an advisor and then in administration as a coordinator. After living and working in Illinois for several years she has returned to the Mississippi Delta where her family has deep roots. 

Todd Campbell (tcampbell@deltastate.edu) Grants Compliance and Community Capacity Building Manager

Todd Campbell is the Grants Compliance & Community Capacity Building Manager for the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. Todd graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse College and an Oprah Winfrey Scholar, where he studied Economics. He also obtained a Master’s of Business Administration in Personal Financial Planning from Georgia State University, a Certificate in Financial Planning from Emory University, and obtained the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation in March 2020.

Todd previously worked in the securities industry as a Compliance Examiner for a national self-regulatory organization and as a Senior Compliance Officer for different brokerage and investment advisory firms. Most recently he worked in the financial planning field as a Senior Financial Coach and as an Associate Wealth Advisor for a large wealth management firm. Todd is also a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. where he serves as the Treasurer and Financial Literacy Program Chair for his local chapter where he conducts financial planning seminars and CashFlow 101 board game clinics.

Wayne Dowdy (Wdowdy@deltastate.edu)
Program Manager

Wayne Dowdy is the Program Manager for the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. Wayne graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Millsaps College, where he studied History and Spanish. Wayne’s historical interests include 20th century Southern history and the history of Mississippi. He has presented research on Mississippi history at the Mississippi Historical Society’s Annual Meeting. While at Millsaps, he helped to organize and facilitate a Civil Rights heritage tour of Jackson, Mississippi, and served as a Ford Teaching Fellow, Student Manager of the Millsaps ITS Department, and a member of the Millsaps Men’s Soccer Team.

Wayne recently worked in the Information Technology field. Wayne has served as website administrator for a COVID community response group and as a volunteer for a Mississippi-based immigrants’ rights organization. Wayne spent much of his childhood visiting family in the Mississippi Delta and is happy to now call it home as he manages the MDNHA’s diverse program portfolio.