Identity Talk 4 Educators LIVE

In this episode, I had a great conversation with Uche Njoku about his early life in Nigeria, his evolution as an educator, and what ultimately pushed him to resign from his principal role after a long, successful career.  To learn more about Uche's work, you can visit his website at sneakerprincipal.wordpress.com or follow him on Instagram (@snkrprincipal), Twitter (@SNKRPrincipal), and LinkedIn. 

BIO: Hailing from Inglewood, California and a native of the Igbo tribe of southeastern Nigeria, Uche Njoku became a high school special education teacher and dean of students in the Bronx in 2005 through the New York City Teaching Fellows program. Starting in 2016, he served as a principal, first at The School of Mathematics, Science and Technology through the Arts (I.S. 318) in the Bronx’s District 12, and then as the principal of John Jay School for Law in the Brooklyn North High Schools District.   Uche is a member of the inaugural cohort of The Gray Fellowship for Principal Excellence, and a member of the 2021 cohort of The Cahn Fellows Distinguished Principals Program. He is also the first principal to serve as a member of the board of directors of PENCIL, a New York City not-for-profit organization founded with the goal of raising awareness about public education by inviting civic and business leaders into New York City public schools.   Uche holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Media, with an allied field in African and African-American studies from the University of Rochester, as well as advanced degrees, including a masters degree in Educational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.   Uche is an avid digital content creator, which includes The Sneaker Principal Podcast. A space for educators and allies working on closing the achievement gap in urban communities.

In this episode, I'm honored to welcome Dr. Crystal Menzies to the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, the founding of The EmanicpatED,  her collaborative research work with the Maroon communities, and how teachers can incorporate Black historical counternarratives into the curriculum.  To learn more about Crystal's work, you can visit the EmancipatED website at emancipatededucation.com or you can follow her on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter (@emancipate_ed).   

BIO: Crystal Menzies, PhD (she/her) is an educator of Black and Brown youth, a postdoctoral researcher studying cultural community wealth, and the founder of EmancipatED. A former culturally responsive teacher in urban schools, Crystal aspired to teach her students about ways of being and thinking that did not center whiteness. However, she quickly realized that it would take more than being a “good teacher” to dismantle the systems of oppression that led to the systemic violence she and her students experienced.  

In an effort to tell a more expansive story of the Black experience across the Diaspora that didn’t perpetuate trauma narratives, Crystal traveled the globe to learn about the rich history of resistance and liberation movements that are often made invisible in our collective history books.  Drawing on her Guyanese and African American roots, the legacy of Black educators, educational psychology, liberatory pedagogy, and African-Diasporan history, Crystal founded EmancipatED to uncover our hidden Black history.  

Through research-based educational products that center Black communities, Crystal hopes to create environments in which Black people, as a collective, can find joy, empowerment, and community through multi-generational learning. Her flagship product is an exploration kit that shares the stories of Maroon communities, which offers Black and Brown families a model for how to navigate as liberated beings within oppressive systems.  She lives in the Bay Area (or the Yay area as she affectionately refers to it) and enjoys reading, Marvel movies, and daydreaming of Black Futures.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Erica Glover to learn more about her personal journey in education, her love for basketball, the founding of Disrupter University, and so much more!  To learn more about Dr. Glover's work, you can visit the Disrupter University website at disrupteruniversity.com or you can follow her on Instagram, Twitter (@drericaglover), and LinkedIn.  

BIO: Dr. Erica Glover is a servant of education, committed to equity and inclusion. Throughout her career in education, Dr. Glover has worked as an educator, administrator, and also within Human Resources. As a Disrupter, Dr. Glover’s experiences reflect a common thread of one common theme: ensuring access and opportunities for marginalized groups of people.  During her time as an educator, Dr. Glover supported students learning in self-contained units, as a result of behavioral concerns and emotional disabilities. She recognized the inequities faced by students placed in her classroom, and worked to provide her students more equitable learning opportunities, where students were able to experience teaching and learning with peers.  

As Dr. Glover transitioned into her role as an administrator, she remained dedicated to standing for equity and inclusion among students, teachers, and colleagues. She developed programs to support peer-to-peer mentorship, book clubs for educators within the building, alternative to suspension programs, and parent groups to support building initiatives. All the while, Dr. Glover supported colleagues with the process of reflecting on instructional practices and strategies to grow both students and educators.  In 2017, Dr. Glover earned her doctorate degree in Urban Education, from Cleveland State University. 

With an emphasis on Policy and Planning, Dr. Glover has transferred her learning into reimagining the ways in which we socialize future teachers (current students and pre-service teachers), and in-service teachers. Within her more recent role as a Recruitment Manager, Dr. Glover continues to develop innovative systems and processes to recruit and retain underrepresented populations of people in education.  Dr. Glover is also a former Division I athlete, playing semi-professional basketball for several seasons. Her experiences as an athlete led her to coach and train youth for twelve years. During this time, she also began a boys AAU basketball program, to provide youth from urban communities the opportunity to compete without the financial burden to commit. Through AAU programming, Dr. Glover was also able to provide players with educational support needed to advance as a student-athlete in college.

In this week's episode, I had the honor of interviewing Sheila Akbar to learn about her journey in education, her love for poetry, her transition from being a  Harvard pre-med to an education entrepreneur, and helpful tips for parents and high school students who preparing for college.  To learn more Sheila's work, you can visit the Signet Education website at signeteducation.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.    

BIO: Sheila Akbar joined the Signet team in the summer of 2010, bringing with her a wealth of experience teaching SAT, ACT, GRE, literature, and composition in both one-on-one and classroom settings. Sheila loves both teaching and learning, and finds nothing more rewarding than working closely with students to overcome the challenges they face.  After graduating from Harvard in 2002, Sheila spent two years working in financial services before continuing her academic career, which culminated into two doctorates. She brings her significant business and academic experience to bear on her current role at Signet.  Her skills include speaking to every client to craft a tailored solution for their needs, managing the administrative team, and providing educational thought leadership for the company.  Sheila holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Harvard University and two doctoral degrees from Indiana University.

In this episode, I'm honored to have Kathy Lopes come on the podcast to talk about her journey in education and social work, the release of "Change the Narrative", how school leaders and administrators must engage in antiracist work within their school communities, and so much more!   To learn more about Kathy's work, you can visit her company website at inklusionconsulting.com or follow her on Instagram, Twitter (@kathylopes21), and LinkedIn.   

BIO: Kathy Lopes is a licensed clinical social worker and educator with decades of experience working in education, mental health, non-profit, and government sectors.   She began her career as a school social worker in both Boston, MA and Washington, DC, and is now settled back in her home state of Massachusetts where she has held numerous managerial and administrative roles in the field of social work and education. Throughout her career, equity and inclusion have remained an integral part of her leadership and strategic planning priority.   Currently, she is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Newton Public Schools and holds a longstanding adjunct faculty role at Simmons University School of Social Work, teaching courses on racism, policy and leadership. She is a sought-after guest lecturer and public speaker on topics of cultural humility, equity, anti-racism and social justice.

In this episode, I welcome my good friend Afrika Afeni Mills to the podcast to discuss her new book, "Open Windows, Open Minds", the pros and cons of writing in the white gaze, what it means to be pro-human, and so much more!  To learn more about Afrika's work, you can visit her website at afrikaafenimills.com or follow her at Instagram (@open_windows_open_minds) and Twitter (@AfeniMills).  

BIO: Afrika Afeni Mills is an Education Consultant and the author of Open Windows, Open Minds: Developing Antiracist, Pro-Human Students with Corwin Press. She works with colleagues, teachers, coaches, and administrators to transform instructional practices. Afrika has been featured on podcasts, blogs, delivered keynote addresses, and facilitated sessions at conferences both virtually and across the United States.  Afrika believes that all educators can be motivated, engaged, dynamic practitioners and leaders when provided with the support needed to create student-centered, culturally responsive learning environments that inspire wonder and creativity and nurture diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging from an antibias, antiracist, pro-human mindset.

In this episode, I welcome Curtis Valentine to the podcast to share his journey in education, his earlier life as a Peace Corps volunteer, the founding of Real Men Teach, and so much more!  To learn more about Real Men Teach, you can visit the organization's website at realmenteach.com or follow them on Twitter (@RealMenTeach2) and Instagram (@realmenteach).  

BIO: Curtis Valentine is Co-Director of the Progressive Policy Institute's Reinventing America's Schools Project. Curtis comes to this position with over 15 years experience in local, state, federal, and international education policy. Curtis currently serves as Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park and as At-Large member of the Prince George’s County (MD) Board of Education.   Prior to joining the Progressive Policy Institute, Curtis served as Consultant to the National Council on Teacher Quality. In the past, Curtis served as Executive Director for State Relations with Connections Education, a virtual K-12 public school provider, where he directed state level education policy in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, and Virginia. Prior to joining Connections Education, Curtis was International Affairs Fellow (IAF) with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Curtis was the first IAF posted to the Education Department where he served in Secretary Arne Duncan’s Office of International Affairs.   

As a fellow, Curtis promoted American economic competitiveness by examining the education reform efforts of four developed countries (Finland, Poland, Canada, and South Africa). Curtis is a graduate of Morehouse College and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. At Harvard Kennedy School’s Commencement, Curtis received the highest student honor: the Robert F. Kennedy award for excellence in public service for his work in post-Katrina New Orleans. After graduating from Morehouse College, Curtis joined the Peace Corps and traveled to South Africa where he led a professional development-training program for primary school educators.   After two years, Curtis returned to the Maryland and became an 8th grade Language Arts Teacher. A former appointee to the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board in Maryland, Curtis is a Contributor to the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, the National Council on Teacher Quality Blog, and the Council on Foreign Relation’s Renewing America blog. Curtis is married to Dr. Daria Valentine, a Middle School Principal, and father to Curtis and Ivy Valentine, both public school students.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Lisa Talusan to learn about her journey in education, growing up as a second-generation Filipino-American, and her book, "The Identity-Conscious Educator".  To learn more about Liza's work, you can visit her website at lizatalusan.com or follow her on Instagram (@ltalusan), Twitter (@ltalusan), and LinkedIn.   

BIO: Dr. Liza (LIE-zuh) Talusan (taLUS-ahn) is an educator, speaker, leader, writer, leadership coach and parent. With over 25 years of experience in PreK-20 education, Liza is an engaging facilitator in conversations about diversity, anti-racism, bias, privilege and power and creates environments that allow for people to discuss these difficult topics openly. Through her direct work with organizational leaders, staff, students, teachers, and communities, Liza empowers individuals to create a more inclusive organization, environment, community and team.   Dr. Talusan has been invited to more than 350 organizations across the country and internationally to deliver keynote addresses and facilitate dialogue groups, training workshops, to develop strategic planning, support change management, and empower leaders. Having achieved her Professional Certified Coaching (PCC) level credentials, Liza helps clients set and achieve goals by tapping into what it means to lead a goal-centered life. Additionally, Liza is certified in the Intercultural Development Inventory, a tested assessment to guide teams in developing greater cross-cultural capacity and determining pre-and-post DEI outcomes.  

Liza is the recipient of numerous awards including "Best 40 Under 40"; NASPA Region I Mid-Level Professional Award; NASPA APIKC VIP Award; Asian Women for Health's Peer Leader Award; Promise in Action Mentoring Nominee; Network for Equity, Excellence in Education Award; the REAPA (AERA) Dissertation of the Year Award; the Harriet Buescher Lawrence Prize from Connecticut College; and a number of institutional grants: Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Child Development from Connecticut College, Masters of Arts in Higher Education Administration from New York University,  Ph.D. in Higher Education from University of Massachusetts Boston, Certificate in Human Resources, Stonehill College, PCC Coaching Credentials, ICF Certified Coach, Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching   

Liza's cumulative research interests include the experiences of historically underrepresented and excluded populations; Asian American and Pacific Islander issues; socialization to graduate programs; navigating academic parenthood; cross-racial solidarity movements; recognizing and reducing unconscious bias; and the impact of federal financial aid policies. Liza's dissertation, "The Formation of Scholars: Critical Narratives of Asian American and Pacific Islander Doctoral Students in Higher Education" is available on ProQuest. Her new book “The Identity Conscious Educator: Building habits and skills for more inclusive schools” is published by Solution Tree Press and available at all bookstores.   Liza's Top 5 StrengthsQuest Themes are Achiever, Maximizer, Discipline, Activator, and Connectedness. She is someone who is driven, results-oriented, effective and organized, engages others to reach their potential, and practices the principles of community and human connection.

In this episode, I'm honored to have Rebekah Macden come on the podcast to share her journey in education, life as an international educator, the origin of the Maracujá program, and the need to foster identity and character development in our schools.  To learn more about Rebekah's work, you can visit her website at rebekahmacden.com or connect with her on Instagram (@rebekahmacden and @maracujaeducation), Twitter (@rebekahmacden), and LinkedIn.  

BIO: Rebekah Macden is a dynamic international educator, consultant, speaker, and writer. Rebekah is also the co-creator of Maracujá, a character-driven SEL program that continues to have a life-changing impact on thousands of students in several schools around the globe.

Growing up as a first-generation immigrant in a small Midwestern town in the USA played a monumental part in the shaping of Rebekah’s multifaceted identity. Coming from a rich cultural heritage and a loving family of musicians, singers, ministers, educators, and social workers, Rebekah’s passion for impacting others whether in mass numbers or 1-1, has been generations in the making.

A visionary and innovative educator with 18 years of experience, Rebekah has developed and implemented student-centered programs that have had a transformative effect on students' lives and educational journeys. She is a powerful and engaging keynote speaker, thought leader, panelist, and facilitator of virtual and on-site training.

As a fierce advocate for joy, purpose, and identity, Rebekah’s mission is to transform the world of education by empowering others to find their unique voice and walk in true freedom.

For this special episode, I caught up with the one and only Patrick Harris II to learn about his unique journey in education, his new book, "The First Five: A Love Letter to Teachers", and the important of controlling our personal narratives as educators in the midst of this Great Resignation period.  To learn more about Patrick's work, you can visit his website at itspatrickharris.com or follow him on Instagram & Twitter (@PresidentPat).  

BIO: Patrick Harris II is a Black queer writer, storyteller, and middle school humanities teacher. He has won multiple national teaching awards for his leadership and innovation in the classroom, including recognitions from NCTE, ASCD, and ILA. Teaching and creating is only part of who Patrick is. He is a big brother, a cat dad, lover of all things horror, a WWE fanatic, and is obsessed with scenic hikes.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Christina Rodriguez to learn about her journey in education, her Nicaraguan upbringing, life as a Latina in academia, the founding of Latinas with Masters, and so much more!  To learn more about Christina's work, you can visit the Latinas with Masters website at latinaswithmasters.com and/or you can follow her on Instagram (@latinaswithmasters) and Twitter (@latinaswmasters).  

BIO: Christina V. Rodriguez is a first-generation Nicaraguan-American Latina with a multi-cultural and equity-minded mindset with a commitment in creating equitable opportunities for Women of Color in Business, Housing and Academia. Christina received her Bachelor's degree in Latino/a Studies from San Francisco State University and went on to receive her Master's degree (MBA) with an emphasis in Marketing at Notre Dame de Namur University.   She is a currently pursuing her doctorate in Educational Leadership and provides 15+ years of marketing experience in the San Francisco Bay Area. When Christina is not working on Latinas with Masters or doing research for her dissertation, she enjoys spending quality time with her husband and two children, including their family dog Frijol.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of welcoming my good friend Lizette Roman to the podcast to share her educator journey, as well as engage in a conversation about engaging our emerging bilingual learners in a culturally responsive manner within the classroom.  She also shares how growing up as a first-generation Cuban-American has shaped her development as an educator.  To learn more about Lizette's work, you can follow her on Instagram (@educating_with_love) and Twitter (@lizetteRoman13).   

BIO: Lizette Roman is a certified bilingual educator in one of the most heavily integrated school districts on Long Island, NY. The need for specialized, actionable teaching methodologies that can be implemented into the classroom became a pressing need, in order to effectively teach & connect with her students.  Her classroom environment has been created so all students feel and know they are respected and that their individual needs will be met. Walking into her bilingual classroom, Lizette finds a variety of flexible seating arrangements, evident Sheltered Instruction Operation Protocol strategies & planning, differentiated instruction, flipped classroom & student lead 21st century lessons infused with technology!  In addition to teaching her students the material necessary to progress through their studies, she also works to equip them with life skills that challenge many children of non-English speaking parents. She teaches them how to set goals for themselves, bring in a financial advisor to teach students about financial awareness, teach students how to handle conflict-resolution & to listen like a diplomat!  Lizette also works to help advocate for parents by regularly meeting with them, speaking with them on the phone, to connect them to community resources for things like legal advice, or helping them communicate with medical professionals on behalf of their children. She strives to help them advocate for their children in the classroom which includes making suggestions on how to better help their children meet their individual needs, how to prioritize goals & setting them up for success with proper study skills & organization skills.  Her main focus as a teacher is to build up her students & teach them self-love, providing them with the social & emotional confidence so they can feel confident in their ability in the classroom. It’s from this place that Educating With Love was born.  Lizette believes, with the right tools, teachers can do the same for their students. As both a speaker & consultant she is available to come to your educational facility or education conference to teach others how to implement these practices and strategies into their classroom. The goal of Educating With Love is to empower teachers to reach & teach their students with new confidence.

In this episode, I had the special honor of interviewing Britt Hawthorne to learn more about her educator journey, life as an antiracist momma, and her new book, "Raising Antiracist Children: A Practical Parenting Guide".  To learn more about Britt's work, you can visit her website at britthawthrone.com or follow her on Facebook & Instagram (@britthawthorne).   

BIO: Britt Hawthorne (she/they) is an antiracist educator, teacher, speaker, visionary, and advocate. She is the current PBS Children’s Media and Education- Educator and Community Engagement: Antiracist and Anti-bias Consultant and Advisor. She also serves on the Association Montessori International/USA Human Rights and Social Justice Committee and works with the Sankofa Learning Center, an African-centered learning ecosystem, in New Haven, Connecticut.  

She is committed to raising a generation of antiracist children by centering families of the global majority and fostering equitable learning environments for students and children of all ages and backgrounds. Britt’s work moves the idea of equity in education from a goal to reality. She partners with action-orientated educators to create classroom environments that are inclusive and equitable for all learners.  Britt was an antiracist educator in the classroom but was pushed out of teaching when her two Black sons experienced educational racism. Now, as an anti-racist facilitator, she creates spaces where the intersection of education and social justice may be explored. Her honest and inspiring journey to create space, documented on Instagram, has since garnered over 100k engaged readers as well as a deeply committed online community.

In this episode, I had the honor of welcoming April Boyce to the podcast for a deep dive into the significant impact of ableism at both the K-12 and higher  education level.  To learn more about April's work, you can visit the Beyond Inclusion website at gobeyondinclusion.org or follow her on Instagram (@gobeyondinclusion) and Tiktok (@ms.april_) 

BIO: April Boyce is a doctoral student and researcher based in Seattle, WA.  She has been in the field of education for over ten years,  serving as an early childhood educator, K-5 accessibility specialist, and adjunct professor for racial equity coursework.  After working with students with disabilities, she became increasingly frustrated with the inequities and injustices my students faced within the education system. She began advocating for anti-racist and anti-ableist education through social media but was distracted by the noise of those not yet ready to engage in this work. April sensed the urgency to continue professional learning at a deeper level, so she created Beyond Inclusion to reach educators that are open to the possibilities of a more equitable education system.  

April's goal for Beyond Inclusion is to engage anti-racist/anti-ableist educators through learning opportunities that enable them with the skills to liberate every child. They welcome all teachers, specialists, and administrators at every stage of the journey to become more anti-racist/anti-ableist professionals.  This is a space for educators to build connection, engage in the process of inquiry, and empower one another to reflect and transform our own practice and school communities. Through our collective work, she knows that meaningful change can be made in education.

In this episode, I welcomed Dr. Qiana O'Leary to the podcast for a conversation about her personal journey in education, the founding of Minty Educational Services, the impact of Black women in educational leadership, and much more!  To learn more about Dr. O'Leary's work, you can visit the Minty Educational Services website at minty-es.org or follow her on Instagram (@mintyes20).    

BIO: Dr. Qiana O'Leary is an Assistant Professor for the Texas A&M University System and the co-founder of Minty Educational Services, a former administrator for charters and public schools, and a Social Justice educator. She co-created and produced a web series highlighting the success of Black Educators teaching unique and creative lessons for students called BlackademX.  Dr. O’Leary is dedicated to transforming schools by mentoring school leaders as they examine issues of equity, inclusion, and racism in their effort of becoming agents of radical school reform.

In this episode, I had the honor of chatting with teacher-librarian extraordinaire Julia E. Torres about her personal journey in education, her evolution in librarianship, the current banned books controversy impacting schools during the pandemic, and so much more!  To learn more about Julia's work, you can visit her website at juliaetorres.com and you can also follow her on Instagram & Twitter (@juliaerin80).  

BIO: Julia E. Torres is a veteran language arts teacher and librarian in Denver Public schools.  She is a teacher/activist committed to education as a practice of freedom. Her practice is grounded in the work of empowering students to use Language Arts to fuel transformative resistance and social progress. Julia has been awarded the 2020 NCTE Colorado Affiliate Teacher of Excellence award chosen as a 2020 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, and serves educators as a member of the ALAN (Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE) Board of Directors, Educolor Collective Steering Committee member, Book Love Foundation Board Member and Co-founder of #DisruptTexts. Through her work with The Educator Collaborative, and other organizations, Julia facilitates workshops and professional conversations about anti-bias/anti-racist education, social justice, and culturally sustaining pedagogies in Language Arts, as well as digital literacy and librarianship. Her work has been featured in several publications including NCTE’s Council Chronicle, NPR, AlJazeera’s The Stream, PBS Education, KQED’s MindShift, NY Times Learning Network, The Chicago Tribune, ASCD’s Education Update, Rethinking Schools, School Library Journal, and many more. Her forthcoming co-authored title Liven Up Your Library will be published by ISTE in 2022.

LINKS:  

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Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/identity-talk-4-educators-live/id1509599570

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/23k0HRkXxi1OJSahtqS7xO  

Google Podcasts - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xMDNjZGQ2Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiA6NSi6rT1AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en

Anchor - https://anchor.fm/identitytalk4educators

In this episode, I had the honor of welcoming long-time education leader Dr. Ian Buchanan to the podcast to share his personal journey in education, his process for developing strong leaders through his company The Nia Education Group, his perspective on the current state of educational leadership during COVID-19, and so much more!  To learn more about Dr. Ian's work, you can visit his company's website at niaeducationgroup.org and/or follow him on Twitter (@docianbuchanan).  

BIO: Dr. Ian Buchanan, President/CEO of Nia Education Group, has committed almost three decades in service of students, organizations, families and communities. “Dr. Ian” has an impressively broad range of leadership, coaching, teaching and professional development experiences. His work has primarily been in the sectors below:  - Traditional Public School District Leadership (St. Louis Region) - Public (Portfolio) Charter District Leadership (Achievement School District-Tennessee) - Informal Science Education Leadership (National Science Foundation, St. Louis Science Center) - Education Nonprofit Leadership (Teach For America-St. Louis, Inspire STL) - Higher Education Administration (Harris-Stowe State University) - Adult Basic Education  (The School of University City – Adult Education Program) - Board Leadership (Jamaa Academy, IamESTL Foundation)  Capacity-building is a skill, passion and gift for Dr. Ian. This commitment to capacity-building is driven by two guiding principles. The first guiding principle is “To whom much is given, much is required.” Ian recognizes his level of access, opportunity and capital. He leverages that and decades of experience, technical skills and passion for change to help individuals and organizations reach their fullest potential.  The second principle that undergirds the work at Nia Education Group is the West African concept, ubuntu. Loosely translated, in means, “I am because we are.” Nia Education Group understands that we can only achieve transformative change if we embrace a commitment to a collective responsibility. We do our work with the belief that our commitment to our clients will translate into structural and systemic change.

In the final episode of 2021, I bring on my good friend Dr. Melanie Dillett-Dukes for a timely conversation about the importance the radical self-love and liberation as educators.  We also discuss her life abroad as a United Nations baby, how she navigated her multiple identities as a Black woman,  the release of her debut book, "My Freedom Journey"', and so much more!  To learn more about Dr. Dukes' work, you can visit the BeyondFree website at beyondfreellc.com or you can follow her on LinkedIn and Instagram (@maddukes).  

BIO: Dr. Melanie Dillett-Dukes is passionate about creating brave spaces for diverse groups of people to engage in discussions, empower action, and create change.  Growing up outside of the United States for 15 years of her life, as a United Nations baby, gave her great insight into the intricacies of varying perspectives and their connection to practices and ideologies of people.    With 20 plus years in the educational arena, Melanie has taught school-aged children from preschool to high school, founded her non-profit Creative Community to ignite student voices, coached teachers on culturally relevant pedagogy, designed curriculum, analyzed statewide data systems, and facilitated diversity, inclusion & equity workshops for adult professionals.  

To deepen her contemplative practices, she has completed intense training on Cognitive Based Compassion Training (CBCT) through Emory University. Her experience as an Equity Facilitator Fellow through CREATE, deepened her skills to facilitate conversations and create actionable items around identity, systemic oppression, and anti-racist work. In her current role, she is leading equity work with over 110 teachers and staff members and the parent/guardian community.  Melanie’s ability to listen for understanding, empathize, and to connect with others translates easily into developing organic and holistic coaching strategies that fosters growth mindsets and stimulates environments for people to thrive.  ​ 

Over the many years of working in traditional education and facilitating sessions in equity, social justice, and anti-racist work in corporate and educational arenas, has revealed the deep need for healing and reconciliation.  Motherhood and the deep desire to restore hope to people has led her on this journey of liberating the minds of people and creating platforms to create viable solutions to breaking systems that bind our true selves.    

Dr. Dillett-Dukes graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in education from Spelman College.  She fostered her skills in curriculum development when she earned her Masters of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.  Melanie remained at Columbia to complete her Education Doctorate in International and Transcultural Studies with a specialization in Family and Community as Educator.  She has inherited her mother’s green thumb at a later stage in life, enjoys cooking her father’s Belizean dishes, and watches her children embark on their unique journey of life in pure amazement.

In this episode, I had the honor of welcoming Dr. Stephanie Boyce to the podcast to share her personal journey in education, the founding of The FRESH Classroom, the release of her new book, "The FRESH Classroom: Why Culturally Responsive Education Can't Wait", the evolution of scholarship around culturally responsive teaching, and so much more!  To learn more about Dr. Boyce's work, you can visit The FRESH Classroom website at thefreshclassroom.com or follow her on Instagram (@freshclassroom and @dr.srboyce) and Twitter (@Fresh_Classroom). 

BIO:  Dr. Stephanie R. Boyce is an edupreneur driven by her passion to reshape the educational landscape by making culturally responsive teaching a way of life. For the last decade, Boyce has focused her studies and work on matters of racial justice and equity for historically marginalized people with a focus on educational spaces. She currently serves as the Chief Education Officer of Stephanie Boyce & Associates, LLC., the parent company of The FRESH Classroom, Professor & Director of the Writing Program at Paul Quinn College, and Lecturer of African American Studies at the University of Houston.

Dr. Stephanie Boyce’s ironic journey along the path of academia was anything but typical, having taken her from being a rebellious student in at-risk schools to teaching and leading in at-risk schools, and eventually serving as a researcher and advocate in the same schools. By the time her journey is half complete, she will be added to a list of phenomenal innovators who advocate tirelessly for the millions of students who may otherwise be left voiceless in classrooms across America.

In addition to her work within educational institutions, Dr. Boyce works as an educational advocate partnering with allies in the fight for equitable policies and legislative priorities for ALL. In a world where the complicated processes and verbose industrious jargon cause many citizens, especially those in marginalized groups, to disengage with the legislative entities that govern them, Dr. Boyce’s goal is to demystify complicated systems and show ALL people entry points into engaging with the political processes and collaborating with elected officials to ensure equitable outcomes for students and distribution of resources and opportunities.n addition to her work within educational institutions, Dr. Boyce works as an educational advocate partnering with allies in the fight for equitable policies and legislative priorities for ALL. In a world where the complicated processes and verbose industrious jargon cause many citizens, especially those in marginalized groups, to disengage with the legislative entities that govern them, Dr. Boyce’s goal is to demystify complicated systems and show ALL people entry points into engaging with the political processes and collaborating with elected officials to ensure equitable outcomes for students and distribution of resources and opportunities.

In this week's episode, I welcomed hip-hop educator Vernon Thompson Jr. to the podcast to share his personal journey in education,  the making of "The Joe Clark Tape", the emergence of hip-hop pedagogy in education, and so much more!   To learn more about Vernon's work, you can follow him on Instagram & Twitter (@vernonsthompson).  You can also purchase "The Joe Clark Tape" right now on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Clark-Tape-Explicit/dp/B08V53DZ77) and Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-joe-clark-tape/1550842836).  

BIO: Vernon Thompson graduated from Quinnipiac University with a BA in Marketing.  He was the school’s first Division 1 walk-on to receive a scholarship. He also served as the Assistant Basketball Coach at Albertus Magnus College leading the school to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance.  He received his Masters in Special Education with a concentration in Learning Disabilities from Southern Connecticut State University.  He completed his 092 Educational Administrators certification at the University of Bridgeport. He has taught in the Bridgeport Public school district for 14 years.  In the 2018-2019 school year he served as Assistant Principal at Hartford Public High School, he is currently the Assistant Principal at Warren Harding High School. As a teacher he utilized community organizing and community relationships to advocate for Bassick students and families. He has made himself known as a Hip Hop Educator, utilizing Hip Hop Visual Arts to send positive messages to the urban community.  His videos have received over 120,000 views. His most recent project titled "The Joe Clark Tape" has received nearly 10,000 streams in the last two months.

This week's episode is dedicated to all the music educators who are making a positive impact in schools all over the world!  I had the honor of interviewing award-winning music teacher Franklin Willis to learn about his journey in education, how Music came into his life, the importance of culturally relevant teaching in the music classroom, and so much more!   To learn more about Franklin's work, you can visit his website at fwillismusic.com or follow him on Instagram (@fwillismusic and @princerhythmcompany).   

BIO: For more than a decade, educator, and leader, Franklin Willis has served the students and families of the Metro Nashville Public Schools community. Through music, Willis has educated, mentored, and developed young minds to be forward thinking contributors to society. A servant leader specializing in authentic culturally relevant teaching, empowering student contributions, and developing teachers to reach their full capacity, Willis finds true joy when at the service of others.  As Elementary Music Coach for MNPS, he equips teachers with instructional support and necessary resources to strengthen their professional acumen and enhance their classrooms. This includes shepherding colleagues and teachers through the reality’s students are faced with around equity, inclusion and racism. 

Through his work, he has developed a passion in the cultivation of musicianship for young minds as every child has musical potential and deserves a music teacher who will see the best in them. Willis believes that music education is a vital tool to teach students about other cultures, create community, and inspire a love for learning. Willis consistently uses his network to provide opportunities for students to utilize their passion for music for all to see. This includes producing music videos and stadium performances at CMA Fest, a four-day music festival in Nashville, TN.  Willis has created and facilitated professional development sessions for music teachers of all grade levels sharing his unique and relevant teaching practices. He consistently collaborates with colleagues, community organizations, local businesses, colleges, and universities to advocate for the importance of music education in our schools as well as developing curriculum that will lead to higher engagement from students. 

Through his work Willis has received national recognition for his commitment to student learning, his passion for the profession and his innovative teaching practices. He is a three-time recipient of the CMA Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence Award. ('16, '18, '19).  Willis is a children’s book author and graduate of the University of Memphis with a Bachelor of Music Education with an emphasis in Choral Music in 2009. In 2012, he earned the Master of Education Degree in Nonprofit Leadership from Belmont University. Most recently Willis completed the Education Specialist Degree with an emphasis in Instructional Leadership from Tennessee Technological University.

In this episode, I had an awesome conversation with veteran international education leader Kevin Simpson about his personal journey in education, life as an international educator, the need to diversify the international teaching force, and so much more! To learn more about Kevin's work, you can visit the Association of International Educators & Leaders of Color website at aieloc.org and/or you can follow him on Instagram (@kdslglobal) or Twitter (@GlobalKdsl).    

BIO: KDSL Global is an education consulting company launched by Kevin Simpson in 2016 in the USA and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Simpson and his team have served thousands of schools, organizations, educators, and leaders worldwide in over 25 countries. The majority of this work in education has centered on American curriculum schools.  Since 2008, Simpson has been focused on education in the MENA region, assisted numerous schools with accreditation, training, development, and served as a thought partner to investors on school start-up projects. Simpson is co-founder of the UAE Learning Network and leads the GCC ASCD Connected Community. In addition, he has co-authored papers on American curriculum in the MENA region with a focus on Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, social studies, the arts, and the history of American Education in the UAE.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education and a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Michigan State University (USA).

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing bestselling author and critical race sociologist Dr. Crystal Marie Fleming.  In our conversation, she shares about her childhood and humble beginnings, her time at Wellesley College, her new book, "Rise Up!: How You Can Join in the Fight Against White Supremacy", her evolution as a scholar in academia, and so much more!  To learn more about Dr. Fleming's work, you can visit her website at crystalfleming.com and follow her on Twitter (@alwaystheself).

BIO: Crystal Marie Fleming is a critical race sociologist, the author of three books and an internationally recognized expert on racism and antiracism. Her work empowers people of all backgrounds to become change agents and dismantle white supremacy. She is Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at SUNY Stony Brook where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on racism and ethnic relations, sociological theory and qualitative methods. Dr. Fleming’s passion for speaking truth to power and promoting social transformation infuses her scholarship, writing and pedagogy. She earned a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in Sociology from Harvard University and graduated with honors in Sociology and French from Wellesley College. Her research appears in leading journals such as Social Problems, The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Poetics, Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race and Mindfulness.

Her first book Resurrecting Slavery: Racial Legacies and White Supremacy in France (Temple University Press, 2017) uses critical race theory and qualitative research to significantly advance scholarship on racism in France and Europe. The book marshals ethnographic data, archival research and in-depth interviews with French activists and Afro-Caribbean descendants of slaves to consider how commemorations of enslavement and abolition both challenge and reproduce the racial order.   Her critically acclaimed primer, How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy and the Racial Divide (Beacon Press, 2018), combines memoir, critical race theory, social commentary and satire to debunk common misconceptions about racism. The book earned a starred Kirkus review and has been widely praised as essential anti-racist reading by everyone from Publisher’s Weekly to Bustle, ESPN/The Undefeated to the Los Angeles Lakers, Buzzfeed, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and MarketWatch. Dr. Fleming's latest book, RISE UP! How You Can Join the Fight Against White Supremacy, is a YA nonfiction work that explores the roots of racism and its modern day legacies while empowering young people with actionable ways to create a more just and equitable world. It will be published in October of 2021 by Henry Holt for Young Readers. She is currently co-editing a fourth book, Beyond White Mindfulness: Critical Perspectives on Racism, Health and Wellbeing, forthcoming with Routledge and completing a fifth project, Words to Remake the World: A People's Dictionary for Social Change, under contract with Beacon Press.

A public intellectual known for her frank talk and insouciant humor, Crystal's provocative writing, lectures and workshops engage a wide array of scholarly and social topics, from racism and white supremacy to pop culture, spirituality, feminism, sexuality and philosophy. Her work and commentary are regularly featured in a range of national and international media, including Courrier International, The Sunday Times, France24, Agency France Presse, Newsweek, Vox, Black Agenda Report, The CBS Sunday Morning Show, The Root, NPR, and the New York Times among others.  She is represented by literary agent Michael Bourret and Outspoken Agency for keynotes and speaking engagements.

In this episode, I had the honor of speaking with fellow Math educator and Pan-African scholar Akil Parker.  In our conversation, we touched on his personal journey in education, how attending HBCUs shaped his development as an educator, the founding of his company All This Math, the role that mathematics can play in the Pan-Africanism movement, and so much more!  To learn more about Akil's work, you can visit the All This Math website at allthismath.com or you can follow him on Instagram and Twitter (@allthismath)

BIO: Akil Parker retired from the School District of Philadelphia in 2018 to grow and develop his math tutoring and educational consulting company, All This Math, LLC. He works diligently to empower youth through mathematics education.  He worked in Philadelphia Public School classrooms as a math teacher for over 15 years, teaching courses ranging from pre-algebra to calculus, including state-standardized test prep and SAT/ACT prep. He has transitioned from working on the front line in the classroom to working behind the scenes as a math tutor, preparing students to perform well in their classrooms. Even in a different capacity, his goal has remained to empower youth to understand mathematics as a viable tool for student benefit. His own children have inspired him to expand his mathematics teaching and tutoring beyond the classroom.

In this episode, I had the honor of welcoming 2021 Oregon Teacher of the Year Nicole Butler-Hooton as my special guest.  In our conversation, Nicole shares her personal journey in education, how she centers her identity as an Indigenous educator in the classroom, her educational advocacy work throughout her home state of Oregon, transitioning from the classroom into her new role as a Teacher mentor for this new school year, and so much more!  To learn more about Nicole's work, you can visit the CCSSO website at https://ntoy.ccsso.org/2021-state-teacher-of-the-year-oklahoma-jena-nelson/ or follow her on Instagram (@nbutlertoy2021) and Twitter (@ButlerHooton). 

BIO: “Be the Change you wish to see in the world,” by Mahatma Ghandi, is the quote that best describes 2021 Oregon Teacher of the Year Nicole Butler-Hooton. She is a thoughtful, connected, loyal Native American woman who believes in the value of family, friendships, community, and growth. She exemplifies living each day to its fullest. Born into a minority family where neither parent graduated high school and raised in a small coastal town, Butler-Hooton’s personal drive to excel at the highest level resulted in her success in high school academics, sports, college, and in her personal and professional life. Butler-Hooton earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oregon (UO) in sociology with a minor in ethnic studies, and she was a recipient of the Sapsik’ʷałá grant, provided to high-performing Native American students striving to earn their Master’s degree in education. Upon receiving her Master’s, she secured a job in the Bethel school district teaching second grade at Irving Elementary in Eugene, Oregon, where she has taught for 15 years. Irving Elementary boasts a supportive community, which has empowered and affirmed Butler-Hooton’s vibrant, inclusive, and culturally competent teaching style. Her colleagues, families, and students respect her well established classroom culture. Each day she teaches and transforms the lives of her students and families. Butler-Hooton’s primary professional goal is to build rapport and make a positive difference. Butler-Hooton is involved in the Oregon Indian Education Association, Eugene Education Association, Northwest Christian University consortium, UO elementary education, and the Bethel School District professional learning community for culturally sustaining practices.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Transformative Justice practioner and educator Neha Sobti.  In our conversation, Neha shares about her personal journey in education, the need to decolonize restorative justice practice in our schools, life as a queer South Asian woman while engage in antiracist education work, and so much more!  To learn more about Neha's work, you can follow her on Instagram and Twitter (@nehajoya).

BIO: Neha Sobti is a Transformative Justice practitioner, anti-racist school leader, scholar and poet. She supports educators in creating school communities grounded in relationships, healing, care, and culturally sustaining practices. She dreams and leads conversations about dismantling systems of racism in schools while supporting you on your journey to adopt anti-racist and transformative practices. Neha is currently a Doctoral Student at New York University in the Department of Administration, Leadership and Technology. She writes on topics of school discipline and transformative/restorative justice in education.

In this episode, I had the special honor of welcoming Tema Okun to the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, her evolution as an antiracist scholar under the mentorship of the late Dr. Kenneth Jones, the publishing of her widely used article, "White Supremacy Culture", the need for white educators to transition from performative ally to active co-conspirator, and much more!  To learn more about Tema's work, you can visit the White Supremacy Culture website at whitesupremacyculture.info or you can follow her on Instagram (@okuntema) and Twitter (@TemaOkun). 

BIO: Tema Okun has spent over 30 years working with and for organizations, schools, and community-based institutions as a trainer, facilitator, and coach focused on issues of racial justice and equity. Dr. Okun currently co-leads the Teaching for Equity Fellows Program at Duke University, which works with faculty seeking to develop stronger skills both teaching about race and racism and across lines of race, class, and gender. She was a member of the Educational Leadership faculty at National Louis University in Chicago and has taught undergraduate, master's, and doctoral level students in educational leadership and education.   She is the author of the award-winning The Emperor Has No Clothes: Teaching About Race and Racism to People Who Don't Want to Know (2010, IAP) and the widely used article White Supremacy Culture. She publishes regularly on the pedagogy of racial and social justice. Tema is a participant in the Living School for Action and Contemplation and a member of the Bhumisphara Sangha under the leadership of Lama Rod Owens. She is an artist, a poet, and a writer. She lives in Durham, NC where she is fortunate to reside among beloved community. Her current project is deepening her ability to love her neighbor as herself. She is finding the instruction easy and the follow through challenging, given how we live in a culture that is afraid to help us do either or both.

In this episode, I had the special honor of interviewing anti-bias anti-racist educator and consultant Liz Kleinrock to learn about her personal journey into education, growing up as a transracial adoptee, the release of her debut book, "Start Here, Start Now", what it means to be an ABAR educator, and so much more!  To learn more about Liz's work, you can visit her personal website at teachandtransform.org or you can follow her on Instagram (@teachandtransform) and Twitter (@teachntransform).  

BIO: Liz Kleinrock is an anti-bias anti-racist educator and consultant based in Washington, DC. A transracial adoptee, Liz was born in South Korea and grew up in DC before attending Washington University in St. Louis, MO. After graduating, Liz moved to Oakland, California, where she served as an AmeriCorps teacher with Girls Inc. and Super Stars Literacy for two years. Following her service, Liz moved to Los Angeles, where she attended UCLA's Teacher Education Program, where she earned her M.Ed. After spending a year student teaching a 5th grade class in Watts, Liz joined the founding faculty of a startup school in East Hollywood where she spent seven years teaching 1st through 4th grades.   In addition to classroom teaching, Liz also works as an anti-bias anti-racist facilitator for schools, organizations, and companies across the country. Her work has gained national recognition through a documentary short produced by Fluid Film, and media outlets such as CNN, The Washington Post, NPR, and BBC. In 2018, Liz received Teaching Tolerance's 2018 Award for Excellence in Teaching, and currently serves on the Teaching Tolerance Advisory Board. Liz is proud to share her 2019 TED Talk from "Education Everywhere" on building foundations of equity with young learners, and is the author of “Start Here, Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community”.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Siriana Abboud on the podcast.  In our conversation, Siriana shares about her personal journey in education, the founding of Allusio Academy, the public perception of early childhood programs pre and post-COVID-19, her thoughts to the colonial situation in Palestine, and so much more!  To learn more about Siriana's work, you can visit the Allusio Academy website at allusioacademy.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@allusio.academy) and Twitter (@siriana_).   

BIO: Siriana Abboud, founder of Allusio Academy, is devoted to a life in early childhood education. Her career began at Carnegie Mellon University. She received her B.S. in Psychology, with concentrations in developmental and social/personality psychology. Her additional major in French and Francophone Studies introduced her to bilingual acquisition and multilingual learning.   At Columbia University, Teachers College, Siriana gained her Masters in Early Childhood Education, in both general and special education. There, she became the youngest student selected as a QUIERE scholar, studying education through social justice. She received an additional certification in French teaching.   She has taught in twelve classrooms across New York City and Pittsburgh, ranging from infant to second grade. Her extensive experiences have equipped her with the knowledge and skills to serve students of all diverse backgrounds and abilities. 

Through her latest role as a head teacher in an NYC Universal Pre-K, Siriana developed an elementary mastery of Spanish, adding to her linguistic skills in English, Arabic, and French.  Siriana values progressive pedagogies that are child-centered and informed by developmental research. As a teacher, she honors families as leaders of their child’s education. Her approach is inspired by those of Reggio Emilia, Montessori, and other play-based philosophies. She invites children to explore their communities while bringing their world into the class. She has been featured on NPR’s On Point Radio, Vogue Living Arabic, The Telegraph Food UK, and Pittsburgh Today Live.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing Buffalo's finest Dr. Tiffany M. Nyachae on the podcast to learn about her personal journey to education, her transition from the classroom to academia, how she manages racial battle fatigue as a Black woman in academia, the importance of incorporating 'race space' critical professional development in our school communities, and so much more!  To learn more about Tiffany's work, you can visit The Evolving Education Project at evolvingeducationproject.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@tiffany.m.nyachae or @evolvingeducationproject) or Twitter (@tiffany_nyachae or @EvolvingEduProj)

BIO: Tiffany M. Nyachae is Assistant Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at The Pennsylvania State University, College of Education. She is also podcaster, educational consultant, and founder of the Evolving Education Project; a fellow in the STAR (Scholars of Color Transitioning into Academic Research Institutions) Mentoring Program through the Literacy Research Association (LRA); and 2018-2020 Cultivating New Voices (CNV) Among Scholars of Color Fellow through the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Dr. Nyachae earned her Ph.D. in Literacy Education: Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning at the University at Buffalo (SUNY). 

As a native and longtime resident of the city of Buffalo, NY, at the heart of her research agenda is, has been, and will be improving the educational experiences of students of Color. This agenda is evident in her research on supporting the racial literacy, social justice ideological becoming, and classroom practice of urban teachers committed to social justice through “race space” critical professional development. Additionally, she provides educational consulting and professional development to college/university faculty, school districts, administrators, and teachers through the Evolving Education Project. 

As a former middle school teacher of urban Black youth, Dr. Nyachae is interested in the continuous transparent and reflective work that is required from those who claim to center social justice in their leadership, instruction, and research. Thus, she also facilitates social justice literacy workshops and programming for youth of Color broadly—and for Black girls specifically at times—interrogating the degree to which these spaces are liberatory in actuality. Dr. Nyachae finds her greatest joy in learning with (and from) young people. Her publications have appeared in journals such as Urban Education, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Multicultural Learning and Teaching, Gender and Education, and Qualitative Inquiry. Finally, she also volunteers her service to various community and professional organizations.

In this special episode, we switch things up a little bit!  My wife Natalie makes her podcast debut as my co-host and we're excited to chat with our good friend Zenda Walker about her natural hair journey, creating the Know Your Hairitage book series, redefining hair education, her thoughts on the CROWN Act, and so much more!  To learn more about Zenda's work, you can visit the Know Your Hairitage website at knowyourhairitage.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@zzenlife or @know_your_hairitage) and Twitter (@knowurhairitage).  

BIO: Zenda Walker is recognized as a dynamic and accomplished Marketing and Sales Executive with a proven track record in developing and executing strategic business plans that achieve sales goals for global beauty brands. She also has a strong background in managing marketing campaigns to increase profits and brand awareness, and she makes informed, data-driven decisions to support growth initiatives and transform key brands.  

Zenda is respected as a motivational, influential leader and collaborator who guides teams in realizing aggressive sales goals. She leverages a passion for the beauty industry to deliver exceptional customer service, and educate team members in best practices, service techniques, and product knowledge. Zenda drives new business by establishing strategic partnerships, and she is a natural networker and communicator, who fosters and maintains lasting relationships with strategic partners, C-Level executives, and key stakeholders. She also thrives in fast-paced, challenging environments that champion diversity and innovation.  Zenda holds a Masters of Business Management from Cambridge College to support her exemplary educational and service background. She is also the author of the No. 1 Amazon New Release, "Know Your Hairitage: Zara's Wash Day", a children's book that celebrates diversity.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing early childhood educator Jerilee Melo on the podcast!  In our conversation, she share about her early upbringing in Southern California, her family's influence in directing her to a career in teaching, the founding of Classroom to Go, the overall impact of COVID-19 on early childhood programs and students, and so much more!  To learn more about Jerilee's work, you can visit the Classroom to Go website at missjerireads.wpcomstaging.com or you can follow her on Instagram (@classroomtogo).  

BIO: Jerilee Melo is the founder and creator of Classroom to Go, a mobile classroom that provides preschoolers with the social interaction they were missing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Born and raised in Southern California, she knew at a very early age that she wanted to be a teacher, just like her mother and two of her grandparents. Jerilee loved watching The Elephant Show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Lamb Chop’s Play-Along, and Reading Rainbow as a child and still looks to those shows for inspiration. She has had the privilege of working with children for more than 16 years and was able to learn and teach in a variety of schools with various approaches to education including Montessori, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, and Reggio Emilia.  Prior to teaching, I was a co-director at My Gym Children’s Fitness Center and even developed their Preschool Prep (Jump Start) program which is now offered at locations domestic and worldwide.

This week's episode was necessary and special!  If you are a Black woman in  education, this episode is for you!  For this conversation, I welcomed my good friend and thriving edupreneur Deidra Fogarty to the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, the founding of Black Girls Teach, the need for school districts to create safe community spaces for Black women educators, and much more!  To learn more about Deidra's work, you can visit the Black Girls Teach website at blackgirlsteach.com or follow @blackgirlsteach on all social media platforms.  

BIO: Deidra Fogarty is a native of Bridgeport, Connecticut and is currently an Educator, Literacy Consultant and Entrepreneur.  Deidra has worked in education for over a decade in various capacities. Her natural leadership ability allowed her to venture into leadership positions in Washington Metropolitan area. After a decade working in education and frustration with the current state of it, Deidra decided to make a pivot in her career entering back into the classroom as a teacher.  Deidra used this as an opportunity to develop her teacher craft by working with students who needed the most academic support. With her new setting and role, came a happier mindset, thus allowing her to use her time to focus on her other passions such as diverse children’s literature, supporting teachers, providing resources literacy to parents and bringing awareness to current issues in Urban Education. She, along with her sister, launched a successful subscription service called WAM! Book Bundle where she provides a selection of diverse children’s books to parents and educators each month.  Through all of her ventures, Deidra realized that there was a void in Urban Education. Along her journey, there was never a support system, community or outlet for Black women in Education, besides her own educator friends.  She knew that women like herself often felt isolated and frustrated with not being able to share their thoughts about Education and their role in it, unapologetically. She wanted to create a community where other Black women working in Education could discuss topics, get advice, share best practices and connect with one another. She wanted to create a way for more people to see and hear the perspective of Black women working in Education.  Black Girls Teach was the solution.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting it up with my good friend Bobby Morgan.  In our conversation, Bobby shares his personal journey in education, the founding of Liberation Lab,  his thoughts on the state of teacher performance evaluations, the need for antiracist solidarity in the fight for liberation, and much more.   To learn more about Bobby's work, you can follow him on Instagram (@liberation.lab), Twitter (@myliberationlab) or you visit his website at myliberationlab.com.   

BIO: Bobby Morgan is an educator, writer, speaker, and consultant who specializes in working with other educators to promote equity and culturally responsive teaching practices. With over a decade in education, primarily in under resourced populations, Bobby is passionate about cultivating the brilliance in Black and Brown communities. Through coaching, workshops, and meaningful professional development, Bobby desires to change the educational landscape, ensuring pathways of success for students. In addition to his work within educational institutions, Bobby works as an educational advocate partnering with allies in the fight for equitable policies and legislative priorities for all students. He founded Liberation Lab, an educational consulting firm to build pathways for internal and external accountability. Internal accountability for teachers to put liberatory practices to work, immediately benefitting student outcomes. External accountability will come through empowering parents and families with the resources necessary to hold schools accountable for more than aspirations of equity.

In this episode, I welcome Yaribel Mercedes to the podcast to talk about your  personal journey in education, life as a teacher influencer on social media, the need for principal preparation programs to train principal candidates into anti-racist school leaders, and much more!  To learn more about Yaribel's work, you can follow @yari_mercedes on Instagram.  

BIO: Yaribel Mercedes is a graduate of the 2018 Cohort o the Summer Principals Academy, New York City.  Currently, she serves as an Academic Response Team Specialist, situated in Manhattan’s Borough/Citywide Office, for the Department of Education. As an ART Specialist, she works in a collaborative partnership with districts, school leaders, and various stakeholders to build capacity and accelerate student learning. More specifically, she leads through a social justice and anti-racist leadership disposition to advance racial equity, inclusion, access, and opportunity.   As a radicalized being, she understands the impact of race in education, and her passion and purpose is grounded in her commitment to disrupt racist and oppressive systems, structures, and policies that marginalize and minoritize Black, Indigenous, students of color.  She deeply believes in the brilliance of every child and work with community stakeholders to cultivate curiosity, knowledge, intellect, and skills for all students to achieve at the highest level possible. Her greatest superpowers are words, writing them, speaking them, and BEING them.

In this episode, I was honored to have educator, speaker and activist Ernest Crim III on the podcast to talk about his personal journey in education, the inspiration behind the making of his book, "Black History Saved My Life", how his college years served as a pivotal point for his evolution as an activist, and much more!  To learn more about Ernest's work, you can visit his website at ernestcrim.com or follow him on all social media platforms with the handle @mrcrim3.  

BIO: Ernest Crim III is a self-proclaimed Black History Advocate who is a native of the southside of Chicago and a product of the late 80s. He is a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alum who advocates for Black History, equity and justice as a speaker, cultural consultant, sociopolitical commentator, cast member on the PBS documentary ‘Divided We Fall’, author of the Amazon best-seller Black History Saved My Life, former City Council Candidate and high school social science instructor.  As a consultant and speaker, he uses his experience with fighting a hate crime that went viral, to teach the important role Black History plays in becoming cultural compliant and equitable in the workplace, school and broader community. He has spoken at various conferences and institutions nationally, such as the United States Department of Education’s Black History Month panel, the University of Chicago, Illinois State University and Nevada State College. Internationally, he’s been a featured speaker in Canada and the United Kingdom.  

As an educator and activist, Mr. Crim has been awarded “Most Inspiring Teacher” more than five times, the “Joliet Chamber of Commerce’s Great Teacher Award”, the National Hook-up of Black Women’s “Gold Star Award for Education”, the P.E.P.S. “Community Activist of the Year Award”, and the “Dr. Isaac Singleton Award for Extraordinary Service” by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Joliet.  His debut book, Black History Saved My Life: How My Viral Hate Crime led to an Awakening, which chronicles his experiences and triumphs with racism in relation to the hate crime he was the target of, is an Amazon best-seller. He has been featured on WVON radio, the NY Post, the Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune, PBS as a cast member on the documentary Divided We Fall, NPR, CBS, Matter of Fact (a television show produced by former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien), the podcast of Red Table Talk co-host Adrienne Banfield-Norris, which is entitled Positively Gam and several other podcasts.  Mr. Crim hopes to use his life experiences to inspire others to fight injustices and educate themselves for the purpose of empowerment, equity and justice. Black History saved Ernest’s life. What’s going to save yours?

In this episode, I had the honor of having Akiea "Ki" Gross on the podcast to talk about their personal journey in education, the founding of Woke Kindergarten, what needs to be done to improve our education system for our early childhood educators and students, the need to create queer-affirming, abolitionist learning spaces in our schools, etc.  To learn more about Ki's work, you can visit the Woke Kindergarten website at wokekindergarten.org and you can follow them on Instagram (@WokeKindergarten, @WhyAbolition, @WomxynAmplify and @SistersUnsigned) and Twitter (@akieag).  

BIO: Akiea “Ki” Gross (they/them) is an abolitionist early educator, coach, consultant and creative entrepreneur currently innovating ways to unlearn, heal, liberate and create with their pedagogy, Woke Kindergarten. In the many years they spent teaching in classrooms, their experiences spanned infancy to 6th grade. Prior to leaving the school system, they served as a Kindergarten Teacher and an Instructional Coach of Inquiry-Based Learning in Harlem.  

Recently, Ki was selected as the Early Childhood Education Assembly’s 2020 Social Justice Award Recipient and has participated as a speaker, panelist and moderator for many organizations and events including Bank Street’s Black Lives Matter at Schools Week Symposiums, SXSW EDU, Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented, Teachers for Social Justice, Montclair State, UMBC, NYPL, Abolitionist Teaching Network and more.  It was their experiences with the carceral state of schooling and the trauma enacted upon Black children in these systems, that galvanized them to create #BlackTeachersMatter, Black Teachers Mentor and Equitable Schools years ago. As their ideologies and experiences with abolition evolved, they dissolved Equitable Schools and created @WhyAbolition.  

Their commitment to creating safe, inclusive and liberatory spaces for BIPOC queer & trans artists also led them to create Sisters Unsigned, an intimate concert series that amplifies the voices of independent queer, trans, gender and genre expansive BIPOC artists and creators.  Along with their partner Sonic and creative team, Womxyn Amplify, they’ve directed, curated and hosted many other creative pursuits including Sisters Unsigned presents: Women in Hip Hop, Archway Pride, and SEASONS: A Voyage Through Sound, their team’s 2020 artist residency at National Sawdust. 

Currently, they serve as Coaching Manager for 4.0 Schools, an early stage investor and incubator for education entrepreneurs, and are working on the release of a few entrepreneurial projects of their own.  They hold an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, an M.S. in Childhood Education/Special Education from the Progressive Education Institute/Touro College and two B.A.’s in Child Development and Family Studies and Psychology, respectively.  

You can find them on Twitter @akieag and their work on Instagram @WokeKindergarten, @WhyAbolition, @WomxynAmplify and @SistersUnsigned.

This special episode is dedicated to the librarians and media specialists who are holding it down in their schools!  I had the honor of interviewing K.C. Boyd, Sandra Albini, and Forrest Evans, who took the time to share their personal journeys to librarianship, the significant role that librarians play in supporting students and teachers, the need for racial equity and diversity within the librarian media specialist field, and much more!  To learn more about their work, you can check out their respective websites or follow them on their social media handles:  

K.C. BOYD:  Website: kcboyd.com;  Social Media: (IG & TWITTER  - @boss_librarian)  

SANDRA ALBINI: Social Media: IG - @hoodlibrarian  

FORREST EVANS: Website: favoritelibrarian.com  Social Media: (IG - @favoritelibrarian, TWITTER - @MsForrestnoGump)

BIO: K.C. Boyd is currently a school librarian with the Washington D.C. School System.  She has previously worked as the Lead Librarian for the East St. Louis District #189 in East St. Louis, IL., a Area Library Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools and a District Coordinator for the Mayor Daley Book Club for Middle School Students.  She is a second generation educator and holds Master’s degrees in Library Information Science, Media Communications, and Education Leadership.  Boyd currently serves on the executive boards for the District of Columbia Library Association and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.  She is an active committee member for the American Library Association Chapter Council representing Washington, D.C., American Association of School Librarians Digital Tools, American Library Association’s Center for the Future of Libraries Advisory Group, Every Library Institute and Advisory Board, and the Washington Teachers’ Union Equity Collaborative.  In addition, Boyd is a National Ambassador representing the Washington D.C. are for the Checkology Virtual Classroom and The News Literacy Project.

Sandra (Maríne) Albini earned a BA in English from Cal Poly Pomona. As an undergrad, she worked as a Foster Child Caregiver in a group home for teenage girls in L.A. County. She earned an MA in English from Cal State University, Los Angeles. Sandra has worked as an English and AVID teacher for almost two decades. She has taught in Orange County, Los Angeles County, and Santa Clara County, all at Title I schools. She occasionally teaches night classes in adult education. Sandra has recently completed an MLIS degree and Teacher Librarian credential from San José State University.  Sandra has worked as a Teacher Librarian for three years. She was also the 2020 recipient of the California State Library Association’s Leadership for Diversity scholarship. Sandra is now an active member of the CSLA Leadership for Diversity committee. 

Forrest Evans is an Atlanta-based, licensed librarian working at the Auburn Avenue Research Library. Evans has worked in various libraries from Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the south to special collections and television. The avid DC Comic Book collector combating under education, and fighting for gender equality. Their love for reading fuels my passion to circulate Black and Queer Literature, and resources. The low country native, also known for her published poetry in Pen+Brush, Lavender Review: Lesbian Poetry and Art, TQ Review: A Journal of Trans and Queer Voices, and The Apogee Journal. When the poet is not in the library, they are with their Queer Tribe combating xenophobia or sharing joy. For more information about Evans, visit favoritelibrarian.com or their official social media.

With the national conversation about critical race theory gaining so much momentum in recent weeks, I invited Dr. Angel Jones and Dr. Kate Slater to educate our listeners of what critical race theory is, the true origins of the theory, and the specific actions that K-12 educators can take to integrate the basic tenets of the theory into their curriculum and daily teaching practice.  They also shared about the ups and downs they experienced being women in the Academy.  To learn more about Dr. Jones' work, you can visit her website at angeljonesphd.com and follow her on all social media platforms with the handle @angeljonesphd.  To learn more about Dr. Slater's work, you can visit her website at kateaslater.com and follow her on Instagram (@katerslater).   

BIO:  Dr. Angel Jones is a passionate educator with 15+ years of experience in K-12 and Higher Education. At her core, as both an educator and a researcher, she endeavors to improve the lives of marginalized students while providing opportunities for their stories to be told. Broadly, her research focuses on the experiences of Black and Brown students at historically White institutions. More specifically, she examines how their experiences impact their mental health and overall well-being. Her areas of interest include microaggressions, racial battle fatigue, gendered-racism, and the psychological impact of each on Students of Color. Additionally, her research is informed by Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Feminism, and other theoretical frameworks that acknowledge and highlight the impact of race, gender, and other marginalized identities on the experiences of Students of Color. ​She is a proud first-generation college student who received her Ph.D. in Education from George Washington University with a focus on inequality in Higher Education. She also has an M.Ed. and Ed.S. in School Counseling from Georgia State University, as well as a B.A. in Political Science from Syracuse University. She is also a Brooklyn native and proud Afro Latina.  

Dr. Kate Slater is a White anti-racist scholar and educator.  She is currently the Assistant Dean of Graduate Student Affairs at Brandeis University. Previously, she was the Associate Director & Manager of Programs at the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, a nonprofit that promotes racial equity in the American educational sector. She is also a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire for the course Teaching Race, which explores the history of race and racism in America. Her doctoral research centers the experiences of underrepresented minorities students in higher education, and in particular, at predominantly White institutions. She also investigates White racial identity formation and how racism operates individually, organizationally, and systemically. She leads facilitations, trainings, and affinity groups with K-12 institutions and universities, as well as with numerous private organizations.

In this episode, I welcomed special education professors Dr. Jen Newton and Dr. Mira Cole Williams to the podcast for an important conversation about combating ableism in our K-12 schools.  They also shared how ableism plays into the national conversation about critical race theory, the founding of the Teaching is Intellectual Platform, the actions that educators & school districts must take to integrate anti-ableist practices into their school communities, the future of special education during the COVID-19 pandemic, and much more!  This episode is dedicated to all the special education teachers and inclusion teachers who are in the trenches!   To learn more about their work, you can visit their website at teachingisintellectual.com or you can follow them on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter with the handle @teachingisintellectual.   

BIO: Jen Newton, PhD is an assistant professor in special education.  Dr. Newton’s research interests include strengths-based approaches to families, early childhood inclusion, inclusive teacher preparation, and socially just and equitable educational practices.  She presents locally, regionally, and nationally on a range of inclusive educational topics.  She served as an early interventionist and an inclusive prekindergarten teacher prior to pursuing doctoral studies.  Dr. Newton earned her doctorate in special education with a focus on teacher education from the University of Kansas and spent four years as an assistant professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., then three years at Saint Louis University before finding her home at Ohio University.  

Mira Cole Williams, PhD, is an associate professor in the Educational Foundations and Exceptionalities Department at James Madison University. Dr. Williams earned a doctoral degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education from the University of Virginia. She also received her Master’s of Teaching and B.S. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. Dr. Williams taught for six years in inclusive early childhood preschool and elementary classrooms in Virginia. In addition, she served as an educational specialist, consulting with teachers and families of children with disabilities, focusing on differentiating instruction and providing curricular access to all children.  She is a strong advocate of high-quality teacher preparation in the area of Early Childhood Inclusive and Special Education and is focused on social justice and equity for young children and their families. She presents locally and nationally on a range of topics related to improving teacher preparation, inclusive practices in early childhood education, and disrupting microaggressions in P-16 educational settings.

This week, I had the special honor of interviewing Baruti Kafele on the podcast. In our conversation, we touched on a number of topics, including the different expressions of anti-Blackness in K-12 schools, the specific actions that educators and school districts should take to engage in culturally relevant and antiracist pedagogy that centers Black students, and the release of his newest book, The Equity and Social Justice Education 50. To learn more about Principal Kafele’s work, you can visit his official website at principalkafele.com and you can also follow him on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter with the handle @PrincipalKafele.

BIO:  A highly-regarded urban educator in New Jersey for over twenty years, Principal Baruti Kafele distinguished himself as a master teacher and a transformational school leader. As an elementary school teacher in East Orange, NJ, he was selected as the East Orange School District and Essex County Public Schools Teacher of the Year, he was a New Jersey State Teacher of the Year finalist, and a recipient of the New Jersey Education Association Award of Excellence.

As a middle and high school principal, Principal Kafele led the turnaround of four different New Jersey urban schools, including "The Mighty" Newark Tech, which went from a low-performing school in need of improvement to national recognition, which included U.S. News and World Report Magazine recognizing it three times as one of America's best high schools.

One of the most sought-after school leadership experts and education speakers in America, Principal Kafele is impacting America’s schools! He has delivered over two thousand conference and program keynotes, professional development workshops, parenting seminars and student assemblies over his 34 years of public speaking. An expert in the area of “attitude transformation,” Principal Kafele is the leading authority for providing effective classroom and school leadership strategies toward closing what he coined, the "Attitude Gap.”

A prolific writer, Principal Kafele has written extensively on professional development strategies for creating a positive school climate and culture, transforming the attitudes of at-risk students, motivating Black males to excel in the classroom, and school leadership practices for inspiring schoolwide excellence. In addition to writing several professional articles for popular education journals, he has authored eleven books, including his six ASCD best sellers - Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School & in Life, Closing the Attitude Gap, The Teacher 50, Is My School a Better School BECAUSE I Lead It?, The Principal 50 and The Assistant Principal 50. He is also the author of the ASCD book, The Aspiring Principal 50. His next book – The Equity and Social Justice Education 50 will be released in May, 2021.

Principal Kafele is married to his wife Kimberley, and is the father of their three children, Baruti, Jabari and Kibriya. He earned his B.S. degree in Management Science/Marketing from Kean University and his M.A. degree in Educational Administration from New Jersey City University. He is the recipient of over 150 educational, professional and community awards which include the prestigious Milken National Educator Award, the National Alliance of Black School Educators Hall of Fame Award, induction into the East Orange, New Jersey Hall of Fame, recognition as one of the World’s Top 30 Education Professionals for 2020 & 2021 by Global Gurus Top 30 and the City of Dickinson, Texas proclaiming February 8, 1998 as Baruti Kafele Day.

In this episode, I welcome Takeru "TK" Nagayoshi to the podcast to share his personal journey in education, the prevalence of anti-Asian racism in our K-12 schools, the need to debunk the "Model Minority" narrative that decenters the intersectional identities within the Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, and many more topics.  To learn more about Takeru's work, you can follow him on Twitter with the handle @tk_nagayoshi or Facebook.

BIO:  Takeru "TK" Nagayoshi is the 2020 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. He teaches high school AP English, writing, and research in New Bedford, MA. Having joined education through Teach For America (TFA), Takeru advocates for education policy through an equity lens. When not teaching, he coaches developing teachers and writes on education issues for local, state and national publications.

A recipient of the Sontag Prize Award, Takeru has piloted the research-based AP Capstone program. With over 92% of his students passing the AP Seminar course, he not only achieved the highest percentage of qualifying AP scores in his school’s history but also helped the district lead the state in the number of AP Certificates awarded (2018). Outside the classroom, he works with educators through mentorship programs and runs workshops on ELA content, class management, and instructional pedagogy. For example, as school operations manager and educator coach, Takeru has spent his summers training developing middle and high school teachers across the country. During the school year, as one of the content instructional leaders for TFA Massachusetts, Takeru has designed and facilitated dozens of professional development sessions for first and second-year teachers.

When not teaching or coaching, Takeru lends his voice to conversations on education-related policy issues, be they through op-ed writing or his participation on panels, committees, and fellowships. He has served as fellow for organizations such as Harvard's Education Redesign Lab, Teach Plus, DESE's Teacher Advisory Cabinet, and InSPIRED ("In-service Professionals Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity")

A native of New Jersey, Takeru has lived in Japan for 5 years and in and out of Providence for the past 8 years. He earned a BA in International Relations from Brown University and an M.Ed in Curriculum and Teaching from Boston University.

In this episode, I welcomed my good friend Sharla Stevens and the Ancestors to the show to talk about her personal journey in education, how her HBCU experience shaped her development as an educator, the inspiration behind the founding of her company, Healing Racism in Schools, and so much more!  To learn more about Sharla's work, you can follow her on Instagram (@healingracisminschools), Facebook (The Antiracist Educator - Fighting White Supremacy in Schools) and LinkedIn.  You can also visit her company website at sharlastevensconsulting.com 

BIO: Sharla Stevens is a passionate educator eager to see our schools deliver on their promise to educate ALL children. In her 20+ year career in education, she has seen the ways that white supremacy causes great harm in our schools. As a mother of 2, her mission became even more urgent! She created her business, Healing Racism in Schools, LLC to provide school leaders with the anti-racism training necessary to serve ALL students.

In this special episode, I had the honor of welcoming Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz to the podcast to share about her personal journey in academia, her best-selling poetry book "Love from the Vortex", the love lessons she has learned from her past relationships, her evolving work around racial literacy development, and much more!  If you're a lover of love, this episode is tailor made for you!  To learn more about Dr. Sealey-Ruiz's work, you can visit her website at yolandasealeyruiz.com or follow her on Instagram (@yolie_sealeyruiz) and on Twitter (@RuizSealey).  

BIO: Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz is an award-winning Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on racial literacy in teacher education, Black girl literacies, and Black and Latinx male high school students. A sought-after speaker on issues of race, culturally responsive pedagogy, and diversity, Sealey-Ruiz works with K-12 and higher education school communities to increase their racial literacy knowledge and move toward more equitable school experiences for their Black and Latinx students. Sealey-Ruiz appeared in Spike Lee’s “2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright”, a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement and the campus protests at Mizzou. Her co-authored book [with Dr. Detra Price-Dennis] Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Toward Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces will be published in April 2021.  Her first full-length collection of poetry Love from the Vortex & Other Poems (Kalediscope Vibrations LLC) was published in March, 2020, and her sophomore book of poetry, The Peace Chronicles will be released in Summer 2021.

In this episode, I virtually made my way to Toronto, Canada to have a conversation with Sylvia Duckworth.  In our conversation, Sylvia shares her personal journey as an educator, the future of ed tech in this virtual learning era, the benefits of sketchnoting as a useful tool for students & teachers in the classroom, and how she has evolved in her engagement in antiracist work during her retirement.  To learn more about Sylvia's work, you can visit her website at sylviaduckworth.com or follow her on Instagram and Twitter (@sylviaduckworth).   

BIO: Sylvia Duckworth is an award-winning teacher and sketchnoting enthusiast from Toronto, Canada. She is a Google Certified Innovator, Trainer and Apple Distinguished Educator and frequent keynote speaker at educational events. She is the author of two books: "Sketchnotes for Educators" and "How to Sketchnote: A Step-by-Step Manual for Teachers and Students". She blogs and shares her teaching resources at sylviaduckworth.com. To see samples of the drawings in "Sketchnotes for Educators", please visit https://sites.google.com/view/sketchnotesforeducators/home. For more information on ""How to Sketchnote: A Step-by-Step Manual for Teachers and Students", please visit https://sylviaduckworth.com/how-to-sketchnote-a-step-by-step-manual/

In this episode, I had the honor of welcoming Latania Marr y Ortega to talk about her personal journey in educator, her Chicana heritage, the emergence of bilingualism, her doctoral work on the community cultural wealth of culturally linguistically diverse families, and much more!  To learn more about Latania's work, you can follow her on Instagram (@_my_own_muse) and Twitter (@LMarr98)!  

BIO: Latania Marr y Ortega is an Ed.D Candidate at Kansas State University (K-State) where she facilitates Teaching English as a Second Language courses in the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy (CIMA). Most recently, she assisted in organizing and facilitating the inaugural conference, "Beyond Envisioning Equity: Situating Teachers of Color Voices".  A New Mexico native, Latania has been an educator for 19 years. She taught in a dual language elementary school program where she also was an instructor in the University of New Mexico (UNM) Family Literacy program in Albuquerque, NM. She continued her work with families when she taught adult ESL programs during her time as a secondary English Language Arts Teacher. Her passion to advocate for and engage BIPOC families in our school communities has continued by sharing strategies to current and future teachers to use the Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005) to drive instruction as well as resist the injustice and systemic racism that is prevalent in our school systems.  Latania proudly earned her MA in Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies (emphasis: Bilingual Education) at UNM. She earned her BA in Elem.Ed (minors:Bilingual/TESOL & Sociology) from New Mexico Highlands University.

For this special episode, I had the privilege of speaking with laryngologist Dr. Sandra Stinnett.  In our conversation, we discussed the importance of teachers exercising vocal health, the correlations between voice disorders and teacher burnout, the need for school districts to invest in sound-field amplification devices for teachers, and so much more!  To learn more about Dr. Stinnett's work, you can follow her on Instagram & Tiktok (@thevoiceboxdoctor), as well as on Twitter (@thevoiceboxdoc).   

BIO:  Dr. Sandra Stinnett, popularly known as "The Voice Box Doctor", is most recently from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD where she completed her fellowship in Neurolaryngology (study of the voice box). She received her Medical Degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and was then accepted into the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital - Department of Otolaryngology where she completed her internship and residency training.   She is a classically trained pianist and has performed in venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Cami Hall. She is also a vocalist with experience in performing, recording and leading worship in her local church. Dr. Stinnett joins the University of Tennessee Health Science Center as Assistant Professor and Director of the Division of Laryngology. She is passionate about creating an awareness for vocal hygiene and prevention in the Memphis community and providing state of the art care in this field. Her areas of expertise include the full spectrum of disorders of the voice which range from management of the professional voice, treatment of neurological conditions of the larynx, benign and malignant conditions of the vocal folds, vocal fold paralysis, endoscopic airway and reconstruction as well as swallowing disorders. She also is particularly interested in endoscopic and office-based approaches, in addition to the use of laser treatment in laryngeal disorders.

In this episode, I'm honored to welcome Trisha Moquino to the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, the inspiration behind the founding of the Keres Children's Learning Center and the Indigenous Montessori Institute, and what actionable steps that educators, school districts, and teacher education programs need to take to center the cultural, historical, and lived experiences of Indigenous People with fidelity.  To learn more about Trisha's work, you can visit her personal website at indigenouscheerleader.com or the Keres Children's Learning Center website at kclcmontessori.org.  You can also follow Trisha on Instagram with the handles @indigenouseducators and @indigenouscheerleader.  

BIO: Trisha Moquino (Cochiti, Ohkay Owhingeh, Kewa) is the co-founder of Keres Children's Learning Center (KCLC), a Keres-immersion early childhood classroom using Montessori pedagogy that includes a Montessori dual-language Elementary classroom. The vision for a school supporting Keres language and cultural learning and academic development came largely from Moquino’s master’s thesis in Bilingual Education at the University of New Mexico.   

For the last 3 years, Moquino has been working with her KCLC colleagues and Montessori Partners to build the Indigenous Montessori Institute (IMI), a teacher training program that uses indigenous knowledge systems and Montessori philosophy to approach education reform.   Before KCLC and IMI, Moquino taught in public, private, and BIE schools, but realized she was perpetuating an educational system that didn’t work for many Indigenous children, propelling her to develop a different approach to education for her own and other Pueblo children.   

Moquino is a founding board member of Montessori for Social Justice and is a Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow with the First Nations Development Institute. She has a Montessori Elementary I certification from the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies and completed her Primary training with United Montessori Association.

In this episode, I had the honor of having Dr. Tyra Good on the podcast to share about her upbringing in Pittsburgh, PA, how her time at an HBCU (i.e. Howard University) shaped her development as an educator, and the current work she's doing as the founding executive director of the Center for Equity in Urban Education (CEUE) at Elms College in Chicopee, MA.  To learn more about Dr. Good's work, you can follow her on all social media platforms with the handle @tyrathegooddr or visit the Center for Equity in Urban Education website at https://www.elms.edu/ceue/.  

BIO: Dr. Tyra Good is the founding executive director of the Center for Equity in Urban Education (CEUE) at Elms College. Good has more than 10 years of experience teaching education, and, most recently, she was assistant professor of practice in education at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA. Good is the founder and chief academic consultant for GOOD Knowledge Connections and the founder of the Black Educators Network (BEN) of Greater Pittsburgh. The BEN is a strategic team of K-12, Higher Education, and community educators working across school district and community lines to help ensure the academic and personal success of African-American youth from underserved communities.  

For her dedication and commitment to diversifying the teaching pipeline and preparing pre-service teachers to work in urban settings, Good has received a myriad of award recognitions. Most recently, she was awarded a 2019 National Deeper Learning Equity Fellowship through Big Picture Learning and Internationals Network for Public Schools. Deeper Learning Equity Fellows are exceptional leaders, education practitioners, policy advocates, and researchers who are committed to expanding Deeper Learning educational practices aimed at improving public education opportunities for underserved communities.  

Dr. Good received her bachelor’s in business management from Howard University, a master of arts in teaching from Chatham University, and a doctorate in educational leadership and evaluation from Duquesne University.

In this episode, I'm honored to have the good brother Justis Lopez on the podcast.  In our conversation, he shares his personal journey in education, the inspiration behind the founding of his company, Just Experience, the evolution of hip-hop pedagogy in K-12 education, and the reason why "happyvism" is the key for centering youth voice and creating liberatory spaces within our education system.  To learn more about Justis' work, you can visit the Just Experience website at justexperienceus.com or the Project Happyvism website at projecthappyvism.com.  You can also follow him on Instagram (@social_justis) and Facebook!   

BIO: Justis Lopez is an educator, consultant, activist, youth advocate, and a  proud native of Manchester, CT. A first-generation college student, Lopez enrolled at the University of Connecticut through the TRIO program and graduated with a Master's Degree in Curriculum & Instruction. Upon graduating from the University of Connecticut, Lopez returned to his alma mater, Manchester High School, as a social studies teacher for a few years before moving to New York to work as a high school Government & Politics teacher and taught hip-hop & civics classes in the South Bronx, an experience that he says transformed him.  

He then continued work at a consulting startup he began during his time at UConn, Just Experience LLC, a multiplatform company that seeks to create spaces of joy to entertain and empower others. His consulting work extends to several higher education institutions and K-12 schools, along with the Council for Opportunity in Education, where he had previously served as the Director of Alumni Relations.  Most recently, Lopez, along with his business partner Ryan Parker, launched Project Happyvism, which is a project centered on choosing joy and self-love as a radical form of activism.  Aside from the Project Happyvism, Lopez currently serves as an adjunct professor of Education at Stephen F. Austin State University and plans to return to school to pursue a Master's Degree in Educational Entrepreneurship at the University of Pennsylvania.

In this episode, I'm honored to have the dynamic duo of Claudine Miles & Kimberlie Milton of Restore More on the podcast.  In our conversation, they shared their personal journeys in education, the inspiration behind the founding of Restore More, and why it's important for K-12 school districts to center social-emotional learning, antiracism, and restorative practices to improve the educational experiences of their students.  To learn more about Restore More, you can visit their website at werestoremore.com or you can follow them on all social media platforms with the handle @werestoremore.  

BIO: Claudine Miles holds an English Degree from Hampton University, and an Educational Leadership degree from Georgia State University. As a proud TFA alum her work started at KIPP WAYS ACADEMY, a Title I. public charter in SW Atlanta. During her 10 years there, she served in several roles including: 6th grade Science Teacher, Grade Level Chair, Gifted Coordinator, Upper School Dean, and Dean of Restorative Practices. She’s won Teacher of the year and led her school to winning Charter School of The Year in 2016.   

Kimberlie Milton is a graduate of Jackson State University in Jackson, MS where she received her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry. After graduating in 2002, Ms. Milton joined the Teach for America program and began teaching at L.J. Price Middle School in Atlanta Public Schools. During this time, she completed the Mercer University Tift College of Education Master’s program with an emphasis in Middle School Education.  Over the past 20 years, Ms. Milton has served in several capacities in the education management arena across the nation. From assistant principal to regional director, Ms. Milton has been committed to developing an effective learning atmosphere for colleagues, parents, and scholars.   

In 2018, Claudine and Kimberlie co-founded a consulting firm called Restore More, which helps organizations build capacity with Restorative Practices, Self-Awareness, and Social-Emotional health. The central mission is to continue sharing wellness strategies nationwide to uplift communities of color.

In this episode, I’m honored to welcome my good friend Angela Broadus to the podcast to share her personal journey in education, her life as a first-generation Ghanaian immigrant, the need for school districts to emphasize Science education in K-12 schools, and so much more! To learn more about Angela’s work, you can visit her website at sciencewithmrsbroadus.com or follow her on Instagram (@ang.broadus) & Twitter (@angelabroadus6)

BIO:
Angela Broadus is a wife, mom, educator, and teacherpreneur. She received her Bachelors in Biological Sciences at UMBC. She is certified in STEM Elementary Education via the Resident Teacher Program in Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS). She was awarded a Delegate Citation from the Maryland General Assemblies for being "A Real SuperHero to the Students of Prince George's County Public Schools". In addition, she serves on the PGCPS ES Science Leadership Team where she currently writes Science curriculum and provides Science professional development to K-5 educators across the school district. She also operates as the Science Department Chair and the Engagement and Tech Lead at Kettering Elementary School in Upper Marlboro, MD.

Outside of her roles within PGCPS, she is also a teacherpreneur who creates interactive, engaging, tech enhanced Science activities/lessons for educators. Through her business and services, she hopes to equip and empower educators to create resources that engage students in Science and increase student achievement. Angela was recently featured in her local ABC 7 News for creating Science video lessons to close the distance learning digital divide for PGCPS students.

In this episode, I'm honored to have Patricia Bebe on the podcast to share her personal journey in education, the inspiration behind the founding of LearninginHues, the actionable steps that teachers can take to engage in activism and civic engagement, and so much more!  To learn more about Patricia's work, you can visit her website at learninginhues.com or you can connect with her on Instagram (@learning_inhues).  

BIO: Patricia Bebe is the founder & CEO of LearninginHues and a 4th grade teacher at Lake Silver Elementary who graduated from the University of Florida with her bachelors in English Literature. She then went on to complete her masters in Elementary Education. Currently she is working on customizing and designing diversified classroom decor and materials that is representative of every student.   Having filled a myriad of educator roles for over 12 years through being a camp counselor, children’s choir director, director of bible studies for children, mentor, tutor, and volunteer; Patricia has gained firsthand insight as to what children require to learn.   

When not in the classroom, she is in her and her student’s communities, partnering with local non-profit organizations which advocate for equal opportunities for minorities, urban youth, anti gun-violence, and social activism; working relentlessly to aide those who are oppressed and disadvantaged to find their voice and power to make changes in their community.    

In her spare time, Patricia travels the world to not only have some fun in the sun, but to conduct service in other countries; and to bring the experiences and knowledge that she has gained back into her classroom and back into the good fight that she is fighting each day to make the world any even better place.

In this episode, I welcome high school history teacher and adjunct professor Ben Bruhn to the podcast to share his personal journey in education, his insights on the current state of social studies education, and the current gaps that exist in teacher education.  To learn more about Ben's work, you can follow him on LinkedIn and on Instagram with the handle @ben.bruhn.  

BIO: Ben Bruhn is a high school social studies, AVID, and credit recovery teacher at St. Helens High School in St. Helens, Oregon. He is also an adjunct instructor at Portland State University where he coteaches the social studies methods courses to future teachers. He grew up in Seattle and did community development work around the USA and overseas before earning his MAT at the University of Washington in 2012 with endorsements in social studies, language arts, and ESOL. He is a National Board Certified Teacher who has worked in a wide range of school settings. He has earned his administrative license and is in the process of completing a Master of Science in Ed. from Portland State University. His desire to help bridge cultural divides and his love for collaboration drives him to engage with all levels of the educational community to foster and advocate for student-centered engagement.  

Currently, he is co-leading a grassroots effort in his district to establish a collective vision and infrastructure for equity with a specific focus on antiracist work. He is also on the national leadership team of Teachers for Good Trouble, which is a group of passionate educators focused on reforming learning environments to build safe, nurturing, and justice driven academic communities, by advocating for legislation, policies, and resources that center the well being of students, teachers, and learning communities. He lives outside of Portland, Oregon with his wife and two kids.

In this episode, I'm honored to welcome Vennieta Grant to the podcast to share her personal journey in education, her thoughts on the current state of teacher education, her role as an AVID coordinator in her school district, and much more!  To learn more about Vennieta's work, you can visit her website at linktr.ee/loveteachrepeat or you can follow her on Instagram with the handle @loveteachrepeat. 

BIO: Vennieta Grant is an 8th grade English teacher at Cesar Chavez Middle School in Lynwood, California. In addition to teaching, she is an AVID coordinator, a curriculum writer, a social justice advocate, and a Lead Teacher for the CSI3 Teacher Education program at California State University Dominguez Hills. Vennieta often vaunts that through her work as an educator, she has truly found her passion and life's purpose. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, impromptu game nights, brunch, traveling abroad, and ridiculously spoiling her three fur babies; Sam, Rebel, and Leo.

In this episode, I'm honored to have the dynamic father-daughter duo of Eva Jean-Charles and Jamaal Thomas from Black on Black Education come on the podcast to talk about their special relationship as father & daughter, the founding of Black on Black Education, their evolving relationship as business partners, and much more!  To learn more about the work of Black on Black Education, you can visit their website at blackonblackeducation.com or you can follow them on Instagram with the handle @blackonblacked.  

BIO: Evalaurene Jean-Charles is the founder of Black on Black Education, an education consulting firm dedicated to bridging the gap between the education Black students are getting and the one they deserve by providing educators with the tools to become change agents in the lives of their students. Although their content intends to be catered to the Black community, they are calling for allies in their quest to re-imagine and redefine what a high-quality education means for this community. She recently graduated from the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies program where she studied the sociology of educational inequity and social justice in underserved communities. She also recently started working as a special education teacher in the South Bronx through Teach for America.  

Jamaal Thomas is a serial entrepreneur who has long had a passion for transforming our education system.  A budding futurist who is dedicated to being a part of radical systemic and institutional change in order to create a more fair and sustainable future for all.  He is the proud father to Black on Black  Education’s CEO, Evalaurene Jean-Charles, and looking forward to helping her create an organization that develops and curates the tools that will help offer our communities education outcomes equal to those in communities with significantly more resources.

In this episode, we're going INTERNATIONAL with special guest Dr. Roy Pope. In our conversation, he shares about his personal journey in education, life as an international educator in Dubai, the inspiration behind the founding of EdGuru, and so much more!  To learn more about EdGuru, you can visit the company website at edguru.co or you can follow the company on Facebook & Instagram (@edguruedge).  If you're an international teacher who's currently abroad or an educator who has aspirations of teaching abroad, you don't want to miss this episode!  

BIO:  Dr. Roy Pope has served as a teacher, coach, college professor, and school administrator in the United States and the United Arab Emirates for more than two decades. Dr. Pope is the author of "9 Ways to Increase Student Achievement and School Success."  He is also the founder and CEO of EdGuru, a multilingual one-stop shop for parents, educators, and other professionals.  As a leader in education, Dr. Roy has been honored as Principal of the Year, the City Councils’ Outstanding Citizen, and the City’s Star Principal. He has also received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award and hosted former FLOTUS Michelle Obama as the guest speaker during her Let’s Move Initiative.  When Dr. Roy is not working on EdGuru, he enjoys traveling with his wife,  reading, and watching documentaries. Dr. Pope is a fervent educator and a lifelong learner with a zeal for motivating others to succeed and achieve their goals!

In this episode, I'm honored to have Dr. Courtney Rose on the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, the state of black women in academia, the actions that institutions of higher learning can take to decolonize their teacher education programs, and much more!  To learn more about Dr. Rose's work, you can visit her website at ivyroseconsulting.com or you can follow her on Instagram & Twitter with the handle @drcourtneyrose.   

BIO: Dr. Courtney Rose is the Founder of Ivy Rose Consulting. Dr. Rose earned a doctorate in Curriculum & Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University, a master's in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Bachelors in Elementary Education from the University of Florida. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Dr. Rose taught Math & Science for three years in the Duval County Public School system in Jacksonville, FL (two years of which were completed during her commitment as a Teach for America corps member). During her years in Jacksonville, she also spent two summers working as a Corps Member Advisor, helping to develop incoming Teach for America Corps members working with a team to prepare and facilitate various professional development experiences.   Currently, her research and work interests include the development and implementation of innovative approaches to social justice-oriented critical and culturally relevant instructional practices and curricular designs, including recent developments in the area of Hip-Hop Education. Her student-centered approach to teacher education and development aims to provide teachers with new tools and understandings on how to incorporate youth culture into curriculum and instruction to better engage students in academic content and facilitate discussions rooted in issues of diversity and social justice.

In this episode, I welcome Rachel Deleveaux to the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, her doctoral research on the impact that predominantly white schools have on Black identity development and how after school programs can serve as a tool to build self-efficacy in Black children who are in those environments.  If you would like to learn more about Rachel's work, you can visit her website at veauxinitiatives.club or follow her on Instagram at @iamracheldeleveaux.   

BIO: Rachel Deleveaux, a Cambridge native, became passionate about developing clearer and more equitable pathways to college while attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The personal experience of systemic challenges became the catalyst for grassroots organizing, advocacy, and later student government involvement.   Following her tenure at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Ms. Deleveaux obtained her master's degree in Higher Education Administration from Suffolk University.  Currently, she is pursuing a doctorate in Education with a concentration in Curriculum, Teaching Learning and Leadership at Northeastern University.  

Professionally, Rachel has spent over a decade leading high-level operations, strategic planning, and developing sustainable systems that foster successful student outcomes.  Rachel is committed to eliminating systemic barriers that perpetuate gaps in achievement for marginalized students. Ms. Deleveaux has made a significant impact as a leader, consultant, volunteer, and advocate for many organizations and institutions across the United States, leveraging numerous relationships with both academic, and corporate organizations to achieve aggressive growth and development.  Ms. Deleveaux's specialties Include Strategic planning, business expansion, talent management, leadership development, team building, recruiting, training, project management, cultural competency development, grant writing, and public speaking.

In this episode, I had the honor of interviewing the one and only Dr. Nadia Lopez and we discussed everything from her career in education, her personal self-care journey, and everything in between!  THIS episode is one that you definitely want to bring your notebook for!  So many gems dropped throughout this conversation!  To learn more about Dr. Lopez, you can visit her website at thelopezeffect.com or follow her on Instagram & Twitter with the handle @thelopezeffect.   

BIO: Dr. Nadia Lopez is an award-winning, globally recognized thought-leader in education, who opened a school to close a prison. At an early age, she was taught the importance of utilizing education as a tool to solve social issues impacting our society. This served as one of the reasons why, in 2010, she opened Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) focused school, located in Brownsville.  The media often depicts this New York City neighborhood as poor and violent, but rarely do they focus on who and what has caused the inequities directly responsible for the school-to-prison pipeline that exists in this community. Despite its major challenges, Dr. Lopez had the vision to change the narrative by proving that the children of Brownsville are brilliant and have value in this world. 

In 2015, one of her scholars, Vidal Chastenet was asked by Brandon Stanton, the founder of Humans of New York, who was his greatest influence, and he said, “My Principal, Ms. Lopez…” The post went viral, generating $1.4 million in donations to provide scholarships for college, summer enrichment programs, and the opportunity to visit universities that include an annual trip to Harvard University. This led to a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, an interview by Ellen Degeneres, and features within the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Essence, Ebony, Black Enterprise, EduWeek, and Glamour Magazine to name a few.   This transformative work has led to Dr. Lopez’s selection as the 2019 LinkedIn Top 10 Voices in Education; 2016 Global Teacher Prize Top 50 Finalists; best selling author of The Bridge to Brilliance and Teaching in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 

She is an international speaker who has presented keynotes at conferences such as ISTE, ILA, ASCD, and NCEA, in addition to delivering TED Talk on the Education Revolution with over 1 million views. Her most notable awards include the Barnard College Medal of Distinction, Black Girls Rock Change Agent Award received alongside former First Lady Michelle Obama, Ebony Top 100 Award, Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award, and TV One’s 2019 Education Maverick Award.    Transitioning from the role of a school administrator after recovering from stress-induced illnesses, Dr. Lopez continues to speak internationally, consults with companies to develop strategic partnerships, as well as supporting leaders through 1:1 and group coaching. Through her non-profit organization, The Bridge to Brilliance, she is building bridges between education institutions and private sectors to address issues of inequities that impact Black and Brown children within marginalized communities.   

Her company ElevatED BLK offers online courses, conferences, and activations that support participants to prioritize wellness and develop sustainability practices for their personal development.

In this episode, I'm honored to end the year with high school history teacher and motivational speaker Rakim Amalu Jenkins.  In our conversation, he shares his personal journey into education, how he evolved into "The Insightful Teacher", the impact and future of the"Teachers for Good Trouble" movement, and much more!  To learn more about Rakim's work, you can visit his website at https://linktr.ee/theinsightfulteacher or follow him on Instagram (@theinsightfulteacher).  

BIO: Rakim Amalu Jenkins is a high school history teacher, motivational speaker, and life coach based in Brooklyn, NY. He is a 2013 alumnus of The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York and a 2014 alumni corps member of Teach For America-New York City. He is also a recent graduate of Relay Graduate School of Education (MAT).  Popularly known as "The Insightful Teacher", he uses insights from his life, history, and classroom to speak truth to power, and he believes that we can collectively create a better education system and world for our youth.

In this episode, we're honored to have Bronx, NY based educator Maria Tan on the podcast to talk about her personal journey in education, the emergence of The Thriving Teacher Project, and the urgent need for schools to integrate trauma-informed and mindfulness practices in their day-to-day operations.  To learn more about Maria's work, you can visit the Thriving Teacher Project page on Facebook or follow the organization on Instagram (@thethrivingteacherproject).  

BIO: Maria Tan is a high school science teacher turned mindful educator, facilitator, and coach. She promotes equity in education through mindfulness and contemplative practices. During her five year tenure in the Bronx, she chaired her school’s first Equity Team where she delivered staff-level professional development around culturally sustaining pedagogy, facilitated racial affinity groups, and redesigned the advisory curriculum to include restorative circles as a school-wide practice.   Her professional training includes trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness with the Holistic Life Foundation, restorative circle facilitation with Morningside Center, and facilitating the Contemplating 400 Years of Inequality Experience with Dr. Angel Acosta. She is a New York City Teaching Fellow, Relay Graduate School of Education alumni, and a Stanford Hollyhock fellow. Maria is the founder of The Thriving Teacher Project which creates healing spaces for educators to thrive.    She empowers wholeness by incorporating practices of self-care, self-compassion, and reflection as tools to allow teachers to show up fully for their lives and their students. Outside of work, Maria is a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and she collaborates with DJs and visual artists to create guided meditation immersive experiences.

In this episode, we're honored to have Tyshia Seldon, the founder & CEO of Black University, come on the show to talk about her personal journey in education, the importance of teacher self-care during COVID-19, her passion for creating safe, affirming spaces for educators of color, and so much more!  To learn more about Tyshia’s work, you can visit her website at blackuniversity.org or connect with her on Instagram (@themillenialeducator, @blackeducatorsconnect and @blackeducatorsapparel).   

BIO:  Tyshia Lene’a Seldon, popularly known as “The Millennial Educator”, is a proud native of Baltimore, MD.  She completed her undergraduate studies at Bethune Cookman University and then obtained my Master’s in Education from Relay Graduate School of Education in August 2019. She’s an educator by trade and entrepreneur by nature. Growing up in Baltimore taught Tyshia to be a problem solver and to “hustle” naturally. Relocating to Denver from Florida has been and still is a culture shock. Being 1 of 2 black educators within her school building and feeling like she was just a seat filler prompted the start of her company “Black Educators Apparel, an apparel line dedicated to educators of color who are putting in the win and out of the classroom. She also founded Black Educators Connect, a safe space created for educators of color to connect, feel nurtured and supported. When Tyshia’s not developing her businesses, you can find her motivating others and just living life. Her motto is to simply be light and spread light.

In this episode, we're excited to have poet laureate Ryan T. Parker come on the show to talk about his personal journey in education, the "Happyvism" Project, the evolutio