Dudley E. Flood was born and reared in Winton, North Carolina. Since 1970, Dr. Flood has lived in Raleigh, North Carolina.

He began his career as a teacher of math, science and English at the eighth grade level. He later taught high school social studies and coached high school basketball and football. He served for three years as principal of a school covering grades 1 - 12 before joining the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction as a specialist in school desegregation and race relations.

During his 21 years of service with the Department of Public Instruction, he earned promotions first to Assistant and then Associate State Superintendent. After retiring from Public Instruction on December 31, 1990, he served for 5 years and 3 months as Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of School Administrators. Since April 1996, he has been a lecturer and consultant to groups throughout the country and abroad.

He has been a Visiting Professor at Meredith College and at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and has taught in the Principals Executive Program at the University of North Carolina.

He earned the bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Central University, the master’s degree in educational administration from East Carolina University and the doctorate degree in the same field from Duke University. He has studied further at Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Hampton University.

Dr. Flood has spoken in all 100 of North Carolina's counties. Also, he has spoken or conducted workshops in 48 of the 50 United States, in Bermuda, the District of Columbia, Canada, and Germany. His writings have been published in more than 25 journals and he has authored three books.

He has received more than 350 awards for civic service. He has been presented the Order of the Longleaf Pine Award (North Carolina's highest civic award), by three different Governors; Governor James G. Martin, Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., and Governor Mike Easley. He has received the Outstanding Alumni Award from both North Carolina Central University and East Carolina University, and has received the Doctorate of Humane Letters from both North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina in Asheville.

He served for twelve years on the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina. He currently serves on the N. C. Minority Cancer Awareness Action Team; the Public School Forum of North Carolina Board; the Wake Education Partnership Leadership Council; the UNC Press Advancement Council and on several other boards and committees. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He is also a member of Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh where he serves as Sunday School Teacher. For fifty-five years, he was married to the late Barbara Thomas Flood whose inspiration he credits with any success that he has experienced.

JERRY CRAFT is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act. New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature (2020); the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019), and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer (2020). Jerry was born in Harlem and grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City.

Recently retired Felton G. Clark Distinguished Professor of Education at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Lisa D. Delpit is currently the principal of the consulting firm, Delpit Learning. She is the former Executive Director/Eminent Scholar for the Center for Urban Education & Innovation at Florida International University, Miami, Florida. She is also the former holder of the Benjamin E. Mays Chair of Urban Educational Excellence at Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia. Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she is a nationally and internationally-known speaker and writer whose work has focused on the education of children of color and the perspectives, aspirations, and pedagogy of teachers of color. Delpit's work on school-community relations and cross-cultural communication was cited as a contributor to her receiving a MacArthur “Genius” Award in 1990. Dr. Delpit describes her strongest focus as "...finding ways and means to best educate marginalized students, particularly African-American, and other students of color." She has used her training in ethnographic research to spark dialogues between educators on issues that have impact on students typically least well-served by our educational system. Dr. Delpit is particularly interested in teaching and learning in multicultural societies, having spent time studying these issues in Alaska, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and in various urban and rural sites in the continental United States. She received a B.S. degree from Antioch College and an M.Ed. and Ed.D. from Harvard University. Her background is in elementary education with an emphasis on language and literacy development.

Dr. Delpit's recent work has spanned a range of projects and issues, including assisting urban school districts engaged in school and curriculum improvement efforts; developing innovative alternative teacher education programs in urban education and teacher leadership; founding the post-Katrina National Coalition for Quality Education in New Orleans; recruiting renowned mathematician and Civil Rights leader, Dr. Robert Moses to South Florida to establish the national Algebra Project; assisting in the creation of high-standards, innovative schools for low-income, urban children; and developing urban leadership programs for principals and school district central office staff. She has taught pre-service and in-service teachers and principals in many communities across the United States.

Her numerous awards include the Harvard University Graduate School of Education 1993 Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education; the 1994 American Educational Research Association Cattell Award for Outstanding Early Career Achievement; 1998 Sunny Days Award from Sesame Street Productions for her contributions to the lives of children; and the 2001 Kappa Delta Phi Laureate Award for her contribution to the education of teachers.

Dr. Delpit was also selected as a recipient of the Antioch College Horace Mann Humanity Award, which recognizes a contribution by alumni of Antioch College who have "won some victory for humanity." Winning candidates are those persons, or groups of persons, whose personal or professional activities have had a profound effect on the present or future human condition. She was also selected to deliver the prestigious DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Distinguished Lecturer Award at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The award recognizes the contributions of an educational researcher whose work leads to improved learning for low income, elementary or secondary students.

Her most recent book, published in 2019, is Teaching When the World Is On Fire, Her 2012 book, “Multiplication is For White People”: Raising Standards for Other People’s Children explores strategies to increase expectations and academic achievement for marginalized children. Library Journal named Multiplication… one of the 20 best-selling education books of 2013, and the American School Board Journal selected it as one of eight “notable books” for 2012. A previous book, Other People’s Children, has sold well over a quarter of a million copies and received the American Educational Studies Association’s “Book Critic Award,” Choice Magazine’s Eighth Annual Outstanding Academic Book Award, and has been named “A Great Book” by Teacher Magazine. Her other books include: The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children; and The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom.

Dr. Titus L. Hopper, is an award winning, highly qualified, experienced educator, school district administrator, community leader, and entrepreneur characterized by peers, superiors, and subordinates as a confident, capable and competent visionary who demonstrates strong organizational, motivational and leadership abilities. He was the 2018 Wells Fargo NC Southwest Region Principal of Year. He most recently and successfully defended his dissertation on "Motivational Factors Affecting Black Male Principals in Rural NC" and received his Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. At present he serves as the Career Readiness Coordinator for Cleveland County Schools and supports the district's middle and high schools in their effort to streamline MTSS systems and increase student retention and graduation rates. He is a husband, father, pastor, award winning educator and school leader who is passionate about helping individuals and organizations go from good to greatER one strategic step at a time. His personal mission statement is "to play a key role in making people's lives more significant and help them make a 180 degree turn-a-round from apathetic existence to purposeful living. He is the proud husband of Michelle R. Hopper and the blessed father of Josiah Benjamin and Lauryn Frances Elizabeth. His favorite quote is... "In every problem there is an opportunity so large that it literally dwarfs the problem." He is a certified intelligent action specialist and considers himself a tactical synergist and is always ready to add value to the people around him or the organizations that he is a part of.

Dr. Crystal Johnson is an educator, specializing in new teacher support. She has coached, trained, advised, onboarded, and collaborated with 430+ EC Pre-K-12 beginning and career teachers, 50+ principals, and 130+ teacher mentors in over 50 public schools. A Clinton High School graduate, she attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, earning a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Master of Education in Curriculum & Instruction, and a Post Master’s Certificate in School Administration. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum & Instruction (Urban Education) from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Johnson is the founder and CEO of Crystal Education Collaborative, an educational consulting firm that specializes in coaching, training, advising, and onboarding new teachers, new teacher coaches, mentors, and administrators. Her research interests include Urban Education for Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers and African American Student Success in K-20.

Susan “DZ” Darville-Zuk has spent almost three decades as an education practitioner and trainer in both North Carolina and Florida. As teacher-leader in a Title I urban middle school in our state, she has a decade of experience as an advocate for educational equity, connecting with and finding joy working our most fragile learners—first, as a remedial reading teacher whose students showed impressive growth on state end-of-grade exams; and four years ago, imagining and designing a successful one-of-kind model for an in-school suspension program, named BASE to highlight each of its areas of support: Behavioral, Academic, Social, and Emotional. Ms. DZ holds a B.B.A. from Adelphi University and both a M.Ed. in Urban Education and a Graduate Certificate in Anti-Racism from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNCC). She has been a National Board Certified Teacher since 2002 and continues to successfully mentor NB candidates. Her mission now is to encourage school and district leaders to reflect honestly on how they can build culturally-responsive pedagogy into their discipline practices to ensure consistent growth and educational equity for all students.

Parker West is an educator, administrator, and an organizer. He has has worked in the high school, middle school, and elementary school settings. Within NC, he has worked in both Vance County and Wake County. Additionally, he has partnered with various NC-based educational and anti-racist organizations including the Racial Equity Institute, Equity4Wake, SafeSchoolsNC, Principal Project, Raleigh Organizing Against Racism, and Wake White Anti-Racist Caucus. In 2020, he created the locally acclaimed podcast “The Way Out Is Back Through” which is dedicated to lifting up the voices of community elders, experts, and historians in an effort to tell the truth about racial inequity in American Public Schools in order to shift both narratives and outcomes that move us closer toward attaining the pluralistic, multiracial democracy to which we aspire.

Nicole Cush is the Principal of SILSA (School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville) and is in her third decade in education. Principal Cush has decades of experience leading Inclusivity and Equity Initiatives as a trainer and administrator (Rutgers University and Northeastern University), leading in Wake County at Green Hope High School and Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School and beginning her 17 year teaching career in New Jersey (Morris County, Newark and Jersey City). Principal Cush is a devotee to the Social Emotional well-being of her staff and students and she is passionate about Mental Health; she mentors a group of young women from SILSA and AHS called the Glitter Sisters, founded in 2018, upon her arrival. She has also created a weekly series on Productive Struggle and Growth Mindset to prompt meaningful discussion between scholars and their families. Principal Cush has an abundance of expertise as a Social-Emotional Leader, placing the needs of the faculty, students and the community she serves as paramount.

Copland Arnold Rudolph is the Executive Director of Asheville City Schools Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to collaborate with our community to do whatever it takes for all Asheville City Schools students to thrive. Under her leadership, ACSF has become a powerful conduit for student leadership and has undertaken significant racial equity work through programs like the Racial Equity Ambassador Program; In Real Life After-School; Black Educator Excellence Cohort, and the Listening Project Live equity initiative, work which has brought speakers such as Nikole Hannah-Jones, Jaki Shelton Green, and Hanif Abdurraqib to our district to inspire students, educators, and community members.

Racial Equity Ambassador Senior Leader from Asheville High School and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville

Racial Equity Ambassador Senior Leader from Asheville High School and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville

Racial Equity Ambassador Senior Leader from Asheville High School and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville

Racial Equity Ambassador Senior Leader from Asheville High School and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville

Racial Equity Ambassador Senior Leader from Asheville High School and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville

Dr. Fabiola Salas Villalobos is the research project director of DREAM—an inspiring collaboration between the UNC School of Education and Durham Public Schools, focused on diversifying the teacher workforce in Durham. With extensive experience as an educator, program leader, and evaluator, Fabiola is dedicated to creating positive change in education. Holding a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and Literacies from the University of North Carolina, she is knowledgeable in implementing activities and evaluating programs with an antiracist and gender-inclusive lens. As a long-standing member of the Triangle Latinx community for over two decades, Fabiola places great significance on family. She takes immense pride in being a devoted mother to two sons—Luigi, who will embark on his educational journey at Appalachian State University this year, and Samuel, who attends the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools and passionately plays hockey for the North Carolina Junior Hurricanes traveling team.

Dr. Diana Lys serves as Assistant Dean for Educator Preparation and Accreditation in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education. Dr. Lys is a teacher educator with 25 years of experience in education in North Carolina beginning as a middle school teacher in rural and Title 1 schools to higher education settings. Her experience leading educator preparation programs spans multiple institutional contexts in North Carolina and regional P-12 partnerships. She successfully led programs through award-winning national accreditation reviews while building critical colleagueship among faculty and partners. Dr. Lys is a principal investigator on a $4.8M grant to prepare and retain teachers of color in partnership with Durham Public Schools. Her research focuses on program assessment in educator preparation, linking pre-service and in-service teacher outcomes, and developing research-practice partnerships. In 2022, Dr. Lys became president of the North Carolina Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

Kristin Papoi, Ph.D. is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she focuses her research and teaching on elementary literacy, arts integration, teacher leadership, emergent bilingualism, and the sociocultural context of schools. She is the Principal Investigator of the DREAM program (Diverse and Resilient Educators Advised through Mentorship), a five-year teacher residency project funded by a $4.8 million grant from the US Department of Education. DREAM seeks to recruit, educate, and retain historically marginalized teachers, with a focus on Latinx teachers, to teach in high-needs schools in Durham Public Schools by providing them with a unique set of mentoring and other supports to help them thrive during their first years and then persist in the profession.

Emily Banks is a proud first year teacher in Durham Public Schools. She was raised in Creedmoor, NC to a Puerto Rican family, and wanted to pursue the field of education because she rarely saw her culture represented in schools growing up. She recently graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill’s MAT program, where she also served as a member of the first cohort of DREAM. She is passionate about incorporating culturally responsive teaching practices and uplifting the various identities in her 4th grade classroom.

Jairo (Hi-rrow) McMican is the associate director of equity initiatives at Achieving the Dream. He has spent the last 17+ years working in higher education. Jairo currently serves on the NACADA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Education Advisory Board and AACRAO’s Strategic Enrollment Management editorial board. He was also appointed by the governor to serve as the vice chair on the North Carolina Education and Workforce Initiatives Commission. Jairo is currently working on his Ed.D. in Adult and Community College Education at North Carolina State University. He earned a Master’s Degree in Strategic Leadership and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.

Jay Korreck is the owner of Constructive Learning Design and the creator of the RootEd in NC project. Jay founded Constructive Learning Design in 2016 in order to provide custom learning design and coaching services to schools and districts. RootEd began in 2018 as a response to the disconnect between classrooms and communities. RootEd connects students and schools with communities to solve challenges. We work with schools, districts, universities, and community partners across North Carolina to provide coaching and support to educators, students, and community partners. A former teacher with a background in documentary filmmaking and media production, Jay sees a big overlap between the art of storytelling and the art of creating powerful learning experiences. With CLD and RootEd, Jay has found a home for his unique set of skills and passions, and a sustainable vehicle for creating lasting change in the lives of students, teachers, and communities.

Dr. REGINALD F. HILDEBRAND was a Professor of African American Studies and History at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After retiring from UNC, he taught for three years at Durham Technical Community College as an adjunct instructor of history. He is the author of The Times were Strange and Stirring: Methodist Preachers and the Crisis of Emancipation (Duke Univ. Press, 1995). Hildebrand is a member and former co-chair of the North Carolina Freedom Park Board of Directors, a former trustee of the North Carolina Humanities Council, and he served as a member of the Historic Civil Rights Commemorations Task Force of the Town of Chapel Hill.

Micere Keels is the Policy and Practice Leader for the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation, an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, and the Founding Director of the Trauma Responsive Educational Practices Project (TREP Project). Her research focuses on understanding how race, ethnicity, and poverty structure the supports and challenges that children and youth experience. She is particularly invested in systems-change interventions that can narrow intergenerational inequities. For over two decades, Dr. Keels has worked to integrate mental health promotion interventions into educational systems and structures, from early childhood centers to high schools. Through the TREP Project she has supported the professional development of numerous educators through school district partnerships in Delaware, Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island, and through work with many individual schools across the U.S. She is the author of four books: Trauma Responsive Educational Practices: Helping Students Cope and Learn; Campus Counterspaces: Search for Community at Historically White Institutions; Trauma Responsive De-Escalation; and Your Guide to Educator Self-Care.

Rachelle S. Savitz is an associate professor of reading/literacy at East Carolina University. She was previously a K-12 literacy coach/interventionist and high school reading teacher. She values working with graduate students and teachers and learning with and from them. She explores the intersections of critical inquiry, culturally sustaining pedagogy, trauma-sensitive practices, and teacher self-efficacy related to disciplinary literacy and equitable literacy materials and curricula. She received the 2019 Association of Literacy Educators and Researcher’s Jerry Johns Promising Researcher Award and the 2018 Early Career Literacy Scholar Award from the American Reading Forum. Dr. Savitz spotlights the necessity of teacher collaborators in her upcoming co- edited book, Teaching the "taboo": Diverse and inclusive literature is the way, with Routledge, where teachers highlight their classroom practices. She emphasizes teacher instruction with over 15 snapshots in her upcoming book with Teachers College Press, Trauma-sensitive literacy instruction: Building student resilience in English language arts classrooms. This is an extension of Teaching Hope and Resilience for Students Experiencing Trauma: Creating Safe and Nurturing Classrooms for Learning, coauthored with Drs. Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey.

Dr. Christy Howard has been an educator since 2002. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Literacy Studies, English Education, and History Education at East Carolina University where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. Her research interests focus on culturally responsive instruction, content area literacy, teacher preparation, diversity and identity. Her research has been published in several journals including the Journal of Literacy Research, Language Arts, and Literacy Research and Instruction.

Dr. Yolanda L. Blakeney has over 27 years of experience in North Carolina public education. She has served as a science teacher, teacher leader, assistant principal, and principal in 3 North Carolina districts - Union County, Cabarrus County, and Charlotte- Mecklenburg, where she is currently principal at David W. Butler High School. Dr. Blakeney has earned Teacher of the Year (2007), National Board Certification in Chemistry (2007), National Board recertification in chemistry (2017) and has participated in professional opportunities with NCCAT, NCDPI, and district level committees throughout her career. As a leader, Dr. Blakeney is passionate about equitable learning environments for ALL student. Her signature leadership quality is her ability to serve as a cultural influence in every school environment in which she has served. Dr. Blakeney earned a B.S. in chemistry from Wingate University, a M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University, an add-on to her Masters in School Leadership from Appalachian University. Most recently, Dr. Blakeney successfully defended her dissertation titled, “Black Male Teachers’ Perspectives and Experiences in North Carolina Secondary Public Schools” in May 2023 to earn her doctorate in Educational Leadership from UNC-Charlotte. Beyond the principal role, Dr. Blakeney is a passionate about her family’s legacy and founded her company B-Strong Legacy in 2023 to provide inspiration and resources to minority youth. Her driving motto in life is “Pursuing Excellence” which pushes her to strive for continual improvement in her life and in her influence on those around her.

Jovan Jones has over 20 years of experience in public education. As a Lateral Entry teacher, she taught Social Studies, Reading, English/Language Arts, Forensics, Yearbook, Journalism, and Dance. She was the 2004 Cumberland County School’s Teacher of the Year and the 2005 Sandhills Region Teacher of the Year Runner-Up. Upon joining Central Services, Jovan served as the Mentor Facilitator, Professional Development Facilitator, and Integrated Academic Behavior Support Facilitator. Presently, she is the Coordinator for Equity and Opportunity. For the past eight years, she has worked tirelessly as an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the district. She is presently a Dudley Flood Center for Equity Opportunity; the Innovation Project 2023-24 Jeanes Fellow. She has led CCS to win three Magna Equity Awards from the National School Board Association: the 2022 Silver Award for Equity-Based Multi-Tiered System of Support, the 2021 First Place Award for Equity-Focused Classroom Management, and the 2021 First Place Award for Mentored Next Steps in Equity. Prior to teaching in Cumberland County Schools, Jovan was a Humanities and Political Science instructor at Fayetteville Technical Community College and taught International Relations and Moral Reasoning at Harvard University. Jovan Denaut holds a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Peace, War, and Defense from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from Harvard University and is presently working on a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Capella University. Jovan Jones is the published author of a fictitious autobiographical series entitled Descent. The series, which is about the two years she lived in Kerala, India in a Hindu ashram with a famous guru, includes four books: Chasing the Avatar, Dancing with the Avatar, Bound by the Avatar, and Snatched from the Avatar.

Sabrina Steigelman has 16 years of experience in public education. While working in Cumberland County Schools as a substitute teacher, teacher assistant, and bus driver she obtained her Bachelors of Science in History from Methodist University. She then obtained her Masters in Library Science from East Carolina University and worked as a School Library Media Specialist in elementary school for several years. Her experience in various roles in the school system encouraged her to continue seeking leadership. She continued her education and obtained a Masters in School Administration from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She now works as a district administrator serving as Cumberland County Schools Grants and Media Services Coordinator. Her passion for education, equity, and digital learning compelled her to continue her education. She is presently working on her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Liberty University.

Jasmine T. Getrouw is a professional equity leader, consultant, and academic scholar, pursuing a Ph.D. in the Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Jasmine’s professional background examines the implications of structural inequity on minoritized people. She holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and a bachelor of science in Public Health with a concentration in community health education. Jasmine leverages structural racism as an analytic method for interpreting systemic inequities within the social determinants of health model. The social determinants of health (SDOH) “are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work and play, worship and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes (CDC, 2021). Furthermore, Jasmine is the co-founder and Executive Director for RJ Squared, LLC- a reproductive justice technical assistance consulting firm that centers on the Reproductive Justice (RJ) Framework outlined by Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. RJ is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. There, she applies an aptly situated intersectional, root-cause analysis of structural inequities manifest in macro and micro-level institutions. Jasmine’s academic research focuses on two critical sites of shaping within the sociopolitical context: health and education. She is concerned with the long-term implications of structural oppression (inequities) on Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color life course (birth to death). Jasmine brings herself, her ancestors, and her community into her scholar-activism. As such, she employs a critical reflexivity practice, acting as both subject and object while sharpening her scholar-activist lens.

Driven by a commitment to disrupt race and poverty as predictors of success, Olivia Joliff entered education through a non-traditional pathway as a corps member with Teach For America to ensure excellent learning outcomes for all students. Her experiences as a middle grades math and science teacher and as an instructional coach fostered Joliff's desire to support adults so they can positively impact student outcomes. As a leader in PreK-12 public education, she focuses on district leadership efficacy, systems alignment, and data-driven implementation to promote postsecondary success. Olivia is pursuing my doctorate in Educational Leadership at Appalachian State University. Her research interests include leading equity-driven systems change, MTSS implementation, and feminist poststructural theory.

Bettina Umstead believes that every child is born with purpose and potential, yet the impacts of systemic racism create significant barriers for children of color to thrive. Her ten years of work at a community based non-profit, led to her interest in systemic change to have a greater impact on the lives of students and families. In 2016, she was appointed to the Durham Public Schools Board of Education, where she currently serves as Board Chair. She also works at The Equity Collaborative to support changing systems through working with the people within them.

Jessica Gammell is a facilitator, coach, and teacher who catalyzes adult learning by attending to both the technical and relational aspects of change. She is an Associate Certified Coach, with a credential from the International Coaching Federation. In her work as a high school math teacher and assistant principal in the San Francisco Bay Area, she experienced firsthand how adult professional communities, when committed to learning together and focused on disrupting systemic oppression, could significantly impact student achievement. Her journey to spread that experience to others led her to the National Equity Project and Partners in School Innovation, where she coached school and district leaders and facilitated networks focused on school transformation through equity-centered continuous improvement.

Dr. Dramaine Freeman, originally from Ahoskie, NC, was born and raised there. He completed his high school education at Bertie Senior High School in Windsor, North Carolina, in 1997. Shortly after, he enrolled at North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University in August of the same year to pursue a degree in Electronics and Computer Technology. In May 2001, he proudly received his Bachelor of Science in Electronics & Computer Technology from North Carolina A&T State University.

Continuing his educational journey, Freeman obtained a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Phoenix in 2008. He further expanded his expertise in the field by earning an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Administration from Appalachian State University in 2015. Displaying his commitment to academic excellence, Freeman recently achieved his doctorate in Educational Leadership from Appalachian State University in 2023.

With a profound passion for education, Dr. Freeman has accumulated a wealth of experience in the field. He served as a Research Fellow for the Dudley Flood Center, contributing valuable insights to the field of education. Additionally, he serves as a Doctoral Academic Student Advisor at Appalachian State University, where he dedicated himself to mentoring doctoral students and providing guidance on academic programs.

Freeman's dedication to education extends beyond academia. He has also held positions as a school administrator within a public K-12 school district and as an adjunct instructor at a community college. In the latter role, he taught developmental math and educational technology, sharing his knowledge and expertise with students.

Dr. Dani Parker Moore, is an assistant professor of Multicultural Education and director of the Schools, Education, and Society Minor at Wake Forest University where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on multicultural education, community engagement and educational psychology. Her research interests include social foundations in education, qualitative research methods, social justice education, and parent/caregiver engagement in schools and community engagement.

Parker Moore’s current scholarship examines the experiences of essential worker parent/caregivers in facilitating online learning during the pandemic. Dr. Parker Moore addresses educational inequities and opportunities for social action through qualitative research and analysis. She is experienced in studies that focus on students, parents, caregivers, and community-based mentors with data collection involving semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observations, surveys, and focus groups. She most recently co-edited Mentoring Students of Color: Naming the Politics of Race, Social Class, Gender, and Power (2019).

Parker Moore serves as the Executive Director of the Wake Forest University Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School, a free six-week, literacy-based summer program for rising third through eighth-grade students, with the mission of empowering youth to excel and believe in their ability to make a difference in themselves, their families, communities, country, and the world with hope, education, and action. Parker Moore is the 2020 recipient of the Faculty Service Excellence Award from Wake Forest’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement.

Katie Rainey received her Bachelor of Arts in History from Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC in 2010. She spent from 2011-2022 teaching 8th grade social studies in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system. During her time as a teacher in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School system, she has served on social studies curriculum writing teams on the state and district level, the School Leadership Team, Mentor, Department Chair, and leader for her core teaching team. She was nominated for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's National Teacher of the Year in 2021 and 2022. After 12 years in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Katie took an educational leave of absence to pursue her Masters in Education at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. During this year, she served as an intern for the Social Studies Instructional Services Department in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. She completed an educational research project on dedicated social studies instruction in elementary schools. She will receive her Masters of Education degree in August 2023. Next year, Katie will return to the classroom to teach 8th grade social studies in Winston-Salem.Forsyth County Schools.

Danita Mason-Hogans is an oral historian, memory worker and native of Chapel Hill NC, from a family of seven generations of "movement people. She uses oral histories to advocate for policy change, and works at Duke University in partnership with veterans of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (or SNCC), and today’s activists to center equity when documenting national and local movement history. Her TED talk provides an explanation of the Critical Oral History methodology which she helped to adapt. Danita helped to establish the first Chapel Hill Civil Rights Task Force, a podcast series on Chapel Hill history , the Chapel Hill Nine Monument, James Cates Memorial, and four documentaries about women in the local movement. Her recent projects include a community-wide reparations book club discussion with Dr. Simona Goldin and authors Sandy Darity and Kirsten Mullen, work with the UNC School of Medicine, the James Cates Scholars young history collective, and a documentary with Al Roker and John Deere entitled “Gaining Ground, the Fight for Black Land.” Her current avocation is for a no-cost education program and cost-free college tuition for the descendants of the enslaved laborers at UNC.

Kaycee Hailey is a recent graduate of Duke University and served as a co-director for the James Cates Scholars program during the summer of 2023. Throughout her time with the Cates Scholars, she enjoyed assisting the students with their oral history projects and connecting them with like-minded scholars of color. She hopes to continue working in African American history and documentary filmmaking.

Nevaeh Hodge is a 17-year-old senior at Carrboro High School. She is interested in studying and learning more about local history. She plans to attend a four-year university where she will major in biology. She has been a part of the James Cates scholars for 2 years and served as an intern this past summer. She has enjoyed being a part of the James Cates scholars because she has had the opportunity to learn more about local history and gain experience with interviewing people. She is very active in her community and enjoys taking various higher-level classes at her high school. She is the current President of the NAACP Youth Council, Co-president of the Black and Brown Student Coalition, Student government equity lead, Superintendent equity ambassador, A member of the Carrboro Youth Council, and a part of both the National Honor Society and the National Mathematics Honor Society.

Derrick Davis, co-director for the James Cates Scholars, is originally from Washington state but calls North Carolina home. Derrick graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2022 with a degree in Hispanic Linguisitcs and African, African American, and Diaspora Studies. His passion for language, psychology, and a desire to help people attracted him to a career in Speech Language Pathology. He’s currently in his first semester at North Carolina Central University. Derrick also loves basketball, traveling, and all forms of art, with an emphasis in photography.

Akanke Mason-Hogans is an advocate for student success in North Carolina. Currently a teacher candidate in Duke's Masters of Arts in Teaching program, Akanke is interested in exploring themes of inequity and how they manifest in our educational system. Akanke hopes to use her career as an educator to inspire change for students in her community. This is Akanke’s second year with the Cates Scholars as a research and development coach.

Dulce Giuliana-Skye is the organizer and the Co-Founder and Executive Director for The Bay Society. She is passionate about opening up dialogue about intersectionality and the roles that different forms of oppression play in our everyday lives. Giuliana-Skye is interested in political science, educational policy, research, and civic innovation!

Kyla Keenan is an inquisitive, creative, and driven student who is passionate about grassroots organizing, civic education, and disability justice. She has extensive knowledge about access intimacy and prioritizing interdependence over independence with regards to reframing accessibility as a collective effort instead of an individual commitment.

Dominic Roberts is an aspiring anthropologist and journalist who loves to discuss social issues and their impact. His strengths are his innovative way of thinking, empathy and drive to help people. Roberts is most interested in psychological anthropology and sociology. He has done several projects examining how forms of oppression intersect to affect interpersonal relationships.

Emily Biggs is a native of eastern North Carolina. Ms. Biggs is the daughter of the late Milton Biggs and Glenda McEachern. She is a product of Martin County Schools. She graduated from Barton College with a degree in Special Education, Middle School Education, Secondary Education Social Studies, and Elementary Education. She is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, Pi Sigma Alpha, and Alpha Phi Omega. Ms. Biggs currently serves as an exceptional children's teacher and is the first woman to be elected County Commissioners in Martin County. Ms. Biggs spends her time talking with others about current events, the state of education, the intersectionality of various facets of life, and how that impacts progress. When not working she enjoys giving back to her community.

Michelle Harris Jefferson is a Henderson, NC native. She is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of NC State University and the author of What Doesn’t Kill You: A Memoir, which details her own life’s struggles with poverty, mental health and her journey to overcome trauma despite the odds. She is the owner of WhyWe LEAP Consulting, LLC an organization which focuses on helping individuals and organizations operate through a trauma-informed lens. She is a mother and wife who speaks at conferences and events and conducts professional development far and wide while currently serving as a Curriculum Facilitator for Guilford County Schools.

Ashlee Sherrod is a native of Charlotte, NC. She currently work as IB Coordinator for Guilford County Schools. Previously she worked as a Special Education teacher for nine years and a 7th-grade General Education teacher for one year. Ms. Sherrod attended NC A&T and obtained an undergraduate degree (Early Childhood Education) and a master’s degree (Rehabilitation Counseling) in addition to Gardner-Webb University for a second master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Sherrod is a passionate educator who believes in creating equitable opportunities for all students. By providing students with high-interest learning materials, multiple means of assessment and instruction, and the careful modeling and scaffolding of new skills, she strives to ensure that every student achieves excellence. In addition to believing that every student deserves and can achieve success. She is passionate about preparing students for the globalized world they will undoubtedly face as they grow to be adults.

Rashidah Lopez Morgan a Partner with Education First, an education policy and strategy consulting firm where she specializes in preparing adults to positively impact the lives of children. She focuses on supporting leaders and organizations that are serving the needs of children. She works with K-12 education leaders to create and implement organizational strategies and talent management solutions that help prepare students—and particularly students of color—for success in college, careers and life. She has worked with state and local education agencies across the country, as well as numerous national and regional philanthropic organizations. Prior to Education First, Rashidah worked for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and spent a decade in the private sector where she worked at Wells Fargo, Microsoft, American Express and Accenture. Rashidah actively participates in community and professional organizations focused on improving the lives of children addressing racial inequities. She obtained her BA in Psychology at Spelman College, her MBA in Marketing/Strategy at University of Michigan Ross School of Business and her M. Ed. from The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems. She enjoys salsa dancing, karaoke and fascinating stories.

After starting her career as a Teach For America high school science teacher in Northampton County, NC, Vichi spent two years expanding Microsoft’s TEALS computer science education program into California. Vichi then participated in the Innovation Next accelerator, developing “Real Talk,” a mobile sex education app with over 10,000 downloads. Next, she created the strategy for Self-­Help’s branch expansion into Eastern North Carolina. In 2017, Vichi co-founded Rural Opportunity Institute (ROI). Now, Vichi builds strategic partnerships and sets vision for ROI. Vichi holds electrical engineering degrees from Princeton and Stanford Universities and an MBA from Yale School of Management.

Contact Vichi if you believe in ROI’s mission and want to be a part of it, as a partner, funder, or team member.

Alfred M. Mays serves as the Chief Diversity Officer and Strategist as well as Senior Program Officer for Diversity and Education at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and leads a portfolio of strategic and competitive grant programming. Prior to Alfred assuming this role, he served as an independent consultant with a service delivery that included strategic planning, project incubation, design, and implementation. Alfred has served as an enabler within a number of education programs and initiatives to include the Assistant Director of the Collaborative Project, a 21st Century Program supported by the North Carolina General Assembly, staff advisor to the Governor’s North Carolina’s eLearning Commission, Director of Information Resources Affairs and Director of Special Projects at the University of North Carolina - Office of the President, regional director for the North Carolina Model Teacher Education Consortium (UNC-General Administration) and State Program Director within the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction. Alfred’s interest and outreach also includes mentoring and facilitation of efforts that include implementation of youth leadership and empowerment strategies and the build out of student success strategies. An Air Force veteran, Alfred received a Bachelor of Science degree from Wilmington College and a Master of Science degree in Administration from Central Michigan University.

Cyndi Soter O’Neil discovered her dream job at IMC, where she helps lead ChildTrust Foundation and provides support for IMC’s communications strategy. She brings experience from more than two decades of work in public education in North Carolina, starting as a high school teacher and later in a range of communications, research and community engagement roles at local and statewide education organizations. Cyndi earned degrees in education (B.A.) and journalism (M.A.) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a postgraduate diploma from Cardiff University in Wales, where she studied as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. She’s also learning a lot from parenting two teenagers with much help from her husband, Patrick.

Dr. MariaRosa Rangel has over twenty-five years of educational experience. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Bilingual/ Bicultural and Elementary Education from the Northeastern University of Chicago, Illinois and her Master’s Degree in School Administration and Doctoral Degree in Education from North Carolina State University.  She has served as a third-grade Bilingual teacher, a GED instructor, Spanish / ESL Teacher, an Assistant Principal, a district wide LEP/ Dual Language Coordinator, and a Senior Administrator for Latino Outreach. 

Currently, Dr. Rangel serves as the Director for Family and Community Engagement in the Office of Equity Affairs for the Wake County Public School District (WCPSS). She is responsible for the planning, developing and coordinating family and community activities/events and programs to improve student's academic achievement; oversees the District Family Academy which offers FREE workshops and educational events for WCPSS families in various schools and community sites throughout Wake County. Dr. Rangel also provides Cultural Proficiency staff development to WCPSS faculty and staff.

Dr. Rangel is active and well respected within the Latino community. She serves as the Board Chair of Director for the North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professional, Chair for the NC. Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, Chair for the Wake PTA Council DIE Subcommittee, Board of Directors Member and Secretary for the NC Education Corp, Board of Directors Member for the Marble Museum, Board of Directors Member of the Kramden Institute, Member for the N.C. Adelante Education Coalition, Member for the Consulate General of Mexico Local IME Scholarship Committee, Member of ALPES (Alianza Latina Proeducación en Salud), and Member of the Capítulo Raleigh Red Global MX (Raleigh Mexican Global Chapter).

Dr. Rangel’s work within the Latino community is to be noted since in December 2017, she was recognized as the Latino Leader for the Week by WARL- HOLA NC – FOX 50. In October 2013, she was honor with the Latino Diamante Award in the education category. In addition to the Latino Diamante honor, she received the “Orgullo de Nuestra Comunidad” (the Pride of Our Community) award given by Univision 40 to recognize the outstanding Hispanic leaders in the community. Her biggest recognition was issued on September 7, 2018, where she was awarded the Ohtli Award by the Consul General of Mexico Remedios Gómez Arnu for her longstanding contribution to the NC Latino families. 

Jenice Ramirez is a proud Latina, with roots in Puerto Rico, who began as the Co-Executive Director of Education Justice Alliance in 2023. She has focused on Equity, bilingualism, multiculturalism, and leadership within the community throughout the last 10 years in the nonprofit sector.

Jenice has been in the education arena for over thirteen years and has made it her mission to be a part of changing the status quo for the Latino community in NC and pushes for equity and the decriminalization of our Black, Latinx, children with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students across our state. Her professional and personal work is guided by the desire to see more women and people of color lead in the field of education. In the last 10 years she has focused on pushing for educational equity in North Carolina and is passionate about seeing a true transformation in the quality of education our students receive across our state.

She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2010 with a degree in Special Education and a minor in Spanish. Jenice enjoys trips to the beach, spending time outside, relaxing with friends and family, and having dance parties with her little girl, Iva.

Letha Muhammad is the Co-Executive Director of the Education Justice Alliance (EJA), based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Letha is working to advance the organization’s mission to dismantle the School to Prison and School to Deportation Pipeline in her local school district, Wake County Public Schools, as well as in other districts across North Carolina. She believes that working with parents, students and families who are directly impacted by this issue is one of the most effective ways for her to contribute. Working with other community stakeholders and organizations to bring awareness to the issue of school pushout and the criminalization of Black and Brown students is another one of her key roles as co-executive director. She is also the co-chair on the Coordinating Committee of the Every Child NC coalition. She is a wife and the mother of one school aged son and two young adult daughters.

Hetali Lodaya is a staff attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow with the Right to Education Project at Legal Aid of North Carolina. She went to UNC-CH for undergrad and the University of Michigan for a JD/MA in education policy. Prior to Legal Aid, she clerked for two years for a district court judge in Detroit. She is always excited to chat about community-based and movement lawyering, bagel recipes, or the best hikes and trails in NC!

Morgan Winston is a sophomore at East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, where she is active in many extracurricular activities. She is a member of the Student Congress (also known as student council), where she serves on the Diversity Committee. She is also a member of the girls basketball and tennis teams.

Morgan is extremely passionate about social justice issues, and learning and educating others about African-American history.

She believes we must understand and learn from our past so we do not repeat it. In middle school, she and a classmate had the idea to have 28 days of Black Excellence during Black History Month. They created lesson plans for each day, covering different topics related to Black history, taught many of the lessons in their home-base class, and created weekly Instagram posts for the school account. On the last day of the month, they organized a Black History Month panel discussion featuring leaders in the community.

In August 2022, Morgan and her family spent seven days on the road as part of their self-organized Civil Rights tour that took them to dozens of historical sites in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Their journey over the past year also took them to sites in Charleston, SC, Greensboro, NC, and Washington, DC.

Morgan is also a senior-level Girl Scout in Hornets Nest Troop 599. For her Bronze Award in 2019, she and fellow Girl Scout Maya McClain organized a community-wide bench dedication ceremony to honor Civil Rights pioneer Dorothy Counts-Scoggins, who helped integrate Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 1957. In March 2022, Morgan was the only youth to participate on a Women’s History Month panel discussion at her former middle school.

After high school, Morgan plans to attend Howard University in 2026 and major in political science. Her goal is to attend law school, become a campaign manager and eventually become a U.S. senator.

Additionally, Morgan plays the piano and loves to go thrifting. She is currently taking new members’ classes at her church, and plans to be baptized soon.

Morgan is extremely excited to be a part of the 2023 Color of Education Summit hosted by the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity.

Dr. Jerry J. Wilson is an educator, researcher, and advocate committed to making learning environments productive and welcoming for all students. After teaching social studies in Chicago Public Schools, Jerry returned to North Carolina to complete a doctorate in education policy at UNC Chapel Hill. His work centers on teacher diversity and representation, the politics of education, civic learning, and the educational experiences of marginalized students.

Kamille Bostic is a former museum educator, high school English teacher, and newspaper reporter who served as Director of the Writing Center at Livingstone College in Salisbury, NC. The Vice President of Education and Programs at Levine Museum of the New South from 2015-2017, she specializes in curriculum and program design, audience and community engagement, and is trained in dialogue facilitation. Her work centers on access, education, and empowerment.

Gina Chirichigno specializes in school integration policy and organizing at the national, state, and local levels. She directs the National Coalition on School Diversity, housed at the Poverty and Race Research Action Council. Gina earned degrees from Hampshire College (2001) and Howard University School of Law (2006). She served on Massachusetts’ Racial Imbalance Advisory Council (2009-2014) and was a founding member of Teacher Activist Group Boston.

Dr. Michelle Ellis is 21- year classroom teaching career spans elementary, middle, and high school. She has numerous awards for excellence in science teaching as well as service to science education..Her main awards include 2021 National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Shell Urban Science Award, 2020 North Carolina Science Leadership Association (NCSLA) Gatling Award, 2008 North Carolina Science Teaching Association Teaching Award, 2017 Kenan Fellowship, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Science and Math Teachers, and 2017 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST) Finalist. She has had numerous leadership roles in science education. Her roles included NSTA District VI Director and NCSLA. She is most proud of her racial equity work in STEM education. She has collaborated on the national level with Teacher2Teacher and Flipboard podcasts about teaching Black History year around. Michelle is the Creator and Lead Facilitator for the STEM Educators for Equity and Diversity (SEED) Fellowship program in North Carolina.

Katy Gash is an 8th-grade math teacher at Hendersonville Middle School. Born and raised in the Caribbean island of Barbados, she emigrated to the United States in August of 2008, and while awaiting the regularization of her immigration status, began volunteering at her daughter's elementary school. It was here that her interest in teaching began. Katy holds a BA in finance and International Business from Florida International University and a Master's degree in International Business from the same institution. Katy has served in the Caribbean as a Cultural Officer for Literary Arts with the National Cultural Foundation of Barbados and also worked as a Financial Administrator for Castle's Caribbean. In 2012, Katy lateral-entry into the teaching profession and was named Teacher of the Year for her school in 2017. She currently serves on the School Improvement Team, is a Board Advisory member for the NC Council of Economic Education for District 8, and spearheads several schools and district-wide Equity initiatives.

Kim Case serves as a Regional Impact Manager for myFutureNC, focusing on counties in NC’s Northwest Prosperity Zone. Kim’s extensive career in public education began at the classroom level where she taught for 19 years. As a teacher, she gained practical experience in engaging students – particularly young adolescents – in learning, life, and leadership. Kim’s desire to improve student outcomes has been the driving force in her career pathway.

Within the larger educational system, Kim has worked with students and educators ranging from age 3 through the postsecondary level. Her roles have included school principal; assistant principal; instructional facilitator; curriculum and professional development coordinator; teacher mentor; academically-intellectually gifted, and reading specialist. In 2019, she was named Coordinator of Innovation and Online Education for Caldwell County Schools. In this capacity, Kim focused on outreach to business, higher education, and home school partners to identify and design creative, collaborative solutions to increase student engagement, improve workforce preparedness, and encourage learning for life.

Kim and her husband, Phil, reside in Lenoir, NC. They enjoy spending time with their family – oldest son and his wife, Kyle and Lindsey, and their youngest son, Tyler, on Rippetoe Farm.

Amber B. Sansbury, M.Ed., is a Ph.D. Candidate in Education, focused on Early Care & Education (ECE) Policy at George Mason University. Amber is a proud native of Columbus, Georgia. After completing her undergraduate education in 2009, she thrived in a labor organizing and policy career throughout the East Coast and DMV area. She is deeply committed to shared policymaking and action to challenge anti-Black structures in schools. Her dissertation examines the cultural values and race-related beliefs that motivate African American parents’ and African American ECE teachers’ shared racial socialization and identity development processes. Amber believes that family engagement can be a powerful means to build responsive and goal-oriented relationships in ECE settings.

Her impact includes publications in leading early childhood journals and leadership roles for the Society for Research in Child Development Black Caucus and Student & Early Career Council, National African American Child & Family Research Center, PhD in Education Student Organization at George Mason University, and various professional committees. Upon graduation in May 2024, Amber looks forward to collaboration with Head Start, families, providers, policymakers, and human service agencies through research partnerships.

Sharron Hunter-Rainey, PhD is the managing director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at the University of North Carolina’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. The Coalition conducts actionable research at the intersection with public policy seeking to influence enactment of policies and practices providing access to the resources Black children need to survive and thrive. She earned her doctorate in business administration from Duke University using social capital and social networks to explain differential incomes for various racial groups. She leads qualitative and quantitative research efforts at the Coalition using skills developed in her prior academic and corporate experiences. She is a 2023-24 Public Voices Fellow on Racial Justice in Early Childhood in partnership with the Op-Ed Project and the National Black Child Development Institute.

Robert C. Carr, PhD, is a research scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute. His research broadly considers how early childhood education programs influence children’s development of academic and social-behavioral skills; focusing on state-funded pre-kindergarten and Head Start preschool programs. A novel aspect examines the conditions under which ECE effects are more or less likely to persist into subsequent grades; focusing on dimensions of K-12 education quality that may differentiate these long-term effects.

Dr. Carr completed his PhD in Education with an emphasis in Applied Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a doctoral student, he participated in pre-doctoral training programs with the Center for Developmental Science (Carolina Consortium on Human Development) and the Society for Research in Child Development (State Policy Scholars Program in Early Learning). His dissertation research was supported by a Head Start Graduate Student Research Grant from the U.S. Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. Carr completed his postdoctoral research training at the Center for Child & Family Policy in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

Devonya Govan-Hunt, PhD, is a committed community advocate and education leader. After moving to Charlotte from Ohio over ten years about, she served as a site coordinator for the Dell Curry Foundation, a high school challenge tutor for Communities In Schools, and assistant director for Wesley Child Development Center. She then became a child development specialist with one of Charlotte's lead resource and referral agencies. That is where she fostered her passion for improving early care and education.

Dr. Govan-Hunt earned her Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education at Walden University in 2011. She’s presented her research at numerous educational forums, including the National Smart Start Conference, the National Afterschool Association, The National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the National Alliance of Black School Educators. Her research focuses on cultural competency, addressing the preschool-to-prison pipeline, mass incarceration, and race matters.

Dr. Govan-Hunt holds numerous leadership positions, including the President of Charlotte Bilingual Preschool’s Board of Directors, and serves as President & CEO of the Charlotte Affiliate of the National Black Child Development Institute. She serves as an early care and education “expert on the Leading on Opportunity Council.” Govan- Hunt serves on the ThinkBabies NC leadership team, the statewide Public Policy Team for Eliminating Exclusionary Practices in Preschool, and several other statewide and county initiatives. Govan-Hunt was the Co-chair of READ Charlotte’s ‘Ready for School’ committee and the Family and Community Engagement Committee Chairperson for The Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education’s Community Equity Committee. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, and music. She is the proud mother of two young daughters, McKenzie and Madison.

Guy Hill is an English teacher at Triton High School in Harnett County, where he has taught for 24 of the 27 years of his teaching career. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors and President of the North Carolina English Teachers Association (NCETA). Mr. Hill was a member of the North Carolina 10th Grade Writing Test Committee and he has worked in test development in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) in several capacities (item writer, item reviewer, rangefinding, standard-setting committees). He was awarded the Marvin Pittman Champion of Education Award, in 2018, sponsored by the NCDPI, and was also a recipient of the Educational Leadership Award by the North Carolina African-American Heritage Commission, in 2020. He has served for Governor Beverly Perdue’sGovernor’s Teacher Advisory Committee and currently serves on the Executive Board of Governor Roy Cooper’s DRIVE (Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision for Education) Task Force. He is a graduate of both the University of North Carolina with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Wake Forest University with a Master’s degree in Education.

Dr. Angela Hill is a principal at Dixon Road Elementary School, in Johnston County. She has been involved in education for 20 years and has been a teacher, assistant principal, instructional facilitator, and principal. She was a NC Teaching Fellow, and graduated from East Carolina University’s School of Education with a Bachelor’s Degree. She later became a Principal Fellow and earned her Master’s Degree in Administration from NC State University. Later, she graduated from Fayetteville State University with an Educational Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership. She was awarded the 30 under 30 Award by Think Smart in Harnett County, the 40 Under 40 Award by the Fayetteville News and Observer, and the 40 Under 40 Award by East Carolina University. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the Past President and current Vice President of the Harnett County Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, and currently serves on the Alumni Board of Directors for East Carolina University.

Lucretia Carter Berry, PhD is the founder of Brownicity, an agency committed to making important, scholarly-informed, antiracism education accessible, and the director of it’s online membership platform, which currently hosts over twelve thousand enrollments. With the tagline Many Hues, One Humanity, Brownicity’s mission is to foster education designed to inspire a culture of justice and true belonging for all. A former college professor, Lucretia authored Hues of You - An Activity Book for Learning About the Skin You Are In (2022) and designed Brownicity’s flagship course and study guide, What LIES Between Us - Fostering First Steps Toward Racial Healing (2016). Lucretia is a Curriculum Specialist for Community School of Davidson (NC), a contributor for (In)courage.me, and a TEDx and Q Ideas speaker. She is married to Nathan; they have three daughters and two aussiedoodles. Lucretia earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and MA in English from Iowa State University, and her BA from South Carolina State University.

Tehia Starker Glass, Ph.D. (pronounced Tee-uh; pronouns: she/her/hers) is the Cato College of Education Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, and award-winning Professor of Elementary Education and Educational Psychology in the Department of Reading and Elementary Education and Executive Fellow for Faculty Development in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A former elementary school teacher and expert on educational equity, she was a Student Experience Research Network Fellow and consults nationally with teachers, schools, districts, and organizations to revise their instruction and curriculum/training to be more anti-racism oriented. Her expertise centers on preparing preservice and in-service teachers’ culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy, anti-racism curriculum development, and exploring how caregivers and teachers discuss race with children. Dr. Glass is a TEDx speaker; an Educational Advisor and Certified Trainer with Brownicity: Many Hues, One Humanity, a curriculum-based educational consultancy focused on anti-racism; and co-founder and Director of the Anti-Racism Graduate Certificate Program at UNC Charlotte. She is a proud graduate of Bethune-Cookman University (B.S. in Elementary Education), University of Northern Iowa (M.A. in Educational Technology), and University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Ph.D. in Educational Psychology).