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Start
9:00 AM
End
6:30 PM
Join here! Breakfast & Registration
Room 2
Start
9:00 AM
End
9:30 AM
Color of Education Pre-Summit Activities

The objective of this Color of Education summit is to highlight the intentional and cyclical nature of racial injustice in education. If the past is prologue when it comes to disparate treatment and outcomes for students and educators of color, then attendees should leave this summit with a clear grasp on past events, an understanding of how those events connect to the present, and concrete actions that can help education stakeholders who desire justice today. 

During the pre-summit sessions, students, teachers, and other partners highlight the significance of history. We hope you are inspired. We will continue to expand upon each of these presentations when the event begins on October 22nd.

Registered attendees will use their ticket link to access the virtual lobby to see the pre-summit activities. There will be one activity highlighted on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, the week of October 10th.  
Start
9:05 AM
End
9:15 AM
Color of Education Pre-Summit Activities

The objective of this Color of Education summit is to highlight the intentional and cyclical nature of racial injustice in education. If the past is prologue when it comes to disparate treatment and outcomes for students and educators of color, then attendees should leave this summit with a clear grasp on past events, an understanding of how those events connect to the present, and concrete actions that can help education stakeholders who desire justice today. 

During the pre-summit sessions, students, teachers, and other partners highlight the significance of history. We hope you are inspired. We will continue to expand upon each of these presentations when the event begins on October 22nd.

Registered attendees will use their ticket link to access the virtual lobby to see the pre-summit activities. There will be one activity highlighted on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, the week of October 10th.  
Start
9:05 AM
End
9:15 AM
Color of Education Pre-Summit Activity

The objective of this Color of Education summit is to highlight the intentional and cyclical nature of racial injustice in education. If the past is prologue when it comes to disparate treatment and outcomes for students and educators of color, then attendees should leave this summit with a clear grasp on past events, an understanding of how those events connect to the present, and concrete actions that can help education stakeholders who desire justice today. 

During the pre-summit sessions, students, teachers, and other partners highlight the significance of history. We hope you are inspired. We will continue to expand upon each of these presentations when the event begins on October 22nd.

Registered attendees will use their ticket link to access the virtual lobby to see the pre-summit activities. There will be one activity highlighted on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, the week of October 10th.  
Start
9:05 AM
End
9:15 AM
Welcome & Dedication
Room 1
Start
9:35 AM
End
10:35 AM
Keynote Address
The Half-Life of Freedom Race and Justice in America Today
Journalist Hendrik Hertzberg once described the work of Jelani Cobb as combining the “rigor and depth of a professional historian with the alertness of a reporter, the liberal passion of an engaged public intellectual and the literary flair of a fine writer.” So it is with Cobb’s riveting, auspicious keynotes: up-to-the-moment meditations and breakdowns of the complex dynamics of race and racism in America. Whether speaking on Black Lives Matter and activism, the battle zones of Ferguson or Baltimore, the legacy of a black presidency, or the implications of the Trump era—or, more generally, on the history of civil rights, violence, and inequality in employment, housing, or incarceration in the US—Cobb speaks with the surety and articulate passion of only our best journalists. His keynotes inspire us to work, tirelessly, toward achieving an ongoing dream of equity—of genuine democracy. They show us that not only are the levers of justice in our hands, but we can move them in the direction we see fit. And they remind us that the only obstacle holding us back is the comforting illusion that we’ve already achieved our goals.
Room 1
Dr. Jelani Cobb
Joel Brown
Start
10:00 AM
End
11:35 AM
"DECIPHERING TRUTH: TEACHING ABOUT THE SYSTEMIC NATURE OF TRAUMA IN TRAUMA (RE)PRODUCING SPACES."
Room 3
Dr. Debi Khasnabis
Dr. Simona Goldin
Katie Robertson
Dr. Addison Duane
Start
11:25 AM
End
12:35 PM
NC Race Project - RACE 2.0 Exhibition
Room 9
Start
11:25 AM
End
12:35 PM
Saving the Siloam School

Nolan Dahm, Education Specialist at the Charlotte Museum of History, will introduce the Museum’s “Save Siloam” project and present on the legacy of Rosenwald Schools in the South. The Siloam School was constructed around 1920 by and for Charlotte’s Black community, based on plans from the renowned Rosenwald Fund, to educate Black students in what was a rural part of the city. Recently, the school has fallen into disrepair, but the Museum is leading a million-dollar fundraising effort to save the school and re-locate it to their campus in East Charlotte. Nolan will discuss the history of community-based Black education in North Carolina, the historical context of the Rosenwald Fund, and the Museum’s plan for programming and interpretation at the restored Siloam School.

Room 6
Nolan Dahm
Start
11:25 AM
End
12:35 PM
Speaking the Language! : How to use asset-based language and terms to advance your DEI efforts for Minoritized Folks
Language is fluid and constantly evolving. The language and terms we use to communicate needs consistent evaluation to ensure it is clear and concise. This action is especially critical to advance our equity efforts. This participatory session will focus on raising awareness to limit deficit-minded language and increasing asset-based language when propelling our DEI efforts. Participants are expected to come ready to contribute and coordinate with others through engaging activities that will help us be more cognizant of the terms and language we use.
Room 5
Jairo McMican
Start
11:25 AM
End
12:35 PM
Unintended Consequences: Brown V Board of Education

We will take a historical look at the education of Black People in America. We will discuss the Black educational capital built during segregation and how most of it was destroyed as an Unintended Consequence of the Brown vs Board of Education Case.

 
Room 2
Rodney Robinson
Start
11:25 AM
End
12:35 PM
What James Baldwin’s Vision for Education Means Today
We are living through a time of intense debate about race, gender, and sexuality in public education, but these debates rarely prioritize the people impacted most by public education: students. Following the conference theme of the past informing the present, this session revisits James Baldwin’s 1963 speech “A Talk to Teachers,” and heeds his call to listen to the wisdom of our students. High School students Tia Hilber and Judith Rodriguez will reflect on their experiences in public education in North Carolina and outline the steps North Carolina must take to improve educational experiences for all students, specifically students of color. Xavier Adams, the NCCAT 2022 Prudential NC Beginning Teacher of the Year, and Adam Hollowell, author of You Mean It or You Don’t: James Baldwin’s Radical Challenge, will highlight the power of Baldwin’s words for today’s teachers and recall ways that people have built power to challenge inequalities in education. Join us for “A Talk with Students” about the ways we can work for better K-12 education in North Carolina.
Room 1
Judith Rodriguez
Adam Hollowell
Xavier Adams
Tia Hilber
Start
11:25 AM
End
12:35 PM
Lunch & Plenary I - Deep Rooted: The Struggle of Racial Equity - Here and Now
Room 2
James E. Ford
Letha Muhammad
Start
12:35 PM
End
1:35 PM
Changing the Narrative with National Geographic Resources

“How do you change the story, you change the storyteller.” No truer words could have been spoken by National Geographic Explorer Noel Kok. For more than 134 years, the National Geographic Society has had the privilege of telling the world’s stories but not always from diverse perspectives or the perspectives of local communities. We are committed to changing this narrative and elevating new perspectives that need to be heard. During this session, we will share the work of National Geographic Explorers that transforms the way in which we view history along with educational resources that support these efforts.

 
Room 7
Fay Gore
Shannon P. Bartlett
Start
1:45 PM
End
2:45 PM
How to Equitably Engage Latino Families in Their Child's Education

North Carolina's school districts are facing an increase of Latino Immigrant student population and lack the culturally responsive approach to equitably engage families into their child's education. In this workshop you will walk away with culturally responsive strategies to increase family engagement.  

Room 6
Dr. MariaRosa Rangel
Start
1:45 PM
End
2:45 PM
NC Race Project - RACE 2.0 Exhibition
Room 9
Start
1:45 PM
End
2:45 PM
Oral Histories as a Way of Contextualizing History: How & Why
Room 2
James E. Ford
Dr. Dudley Flood
Danita Mason-Hogans
Senator Valerie Foushee
Dianne Jackson
Chris Faison
Dr. Dionne V. McLaughlin
Julia Clark
Start
1:45 PM
End
2:45 PM
Resurrecting Voices: Pioneering Recruitment & Retention Efforts
Room 1
Eugenia Floyd
Ann McColl
Keisha Bentley-Edwards, PhD (She/Her)
Ashley Kazouh
Start
1:45 PM
End
2:45 PM
The Pathway Challenge for K-12 Teachers of Color: A Systemic Issue of Force Out, Screen Out, and Keep Out
In this session, Anthony Graham will explore the approach that lawmakers implemented to force out K-12 educators of color from the teaching profession during integration, and how they erected a system that perpetually screens out, forces out, and keeps out teachers of color in today’s public schools. Graham will unpack how this system negatively impacts the pathway for people of color to achieve teacher certification, and he will conclude by offering several concrete recommendations to dismantle the system.
Room 4
Dr. Anthony Graham
Start
1:45 PM
End
2:45 PM
The Power of History: Research Beyond the Page

Historians have shown that the historical vantage points and perspectives of African Americans in the history of education have often been silenced or erased from archives, museums, and public spaces. These silences have limited our understanding of Black people’s knowledge, perspectives, and contributions to the history of education in the United States. Thus, it has been important for scholars to address these silences by conducting research that examines and foregrounds African Americans’ voices and perspectives in the history of education. Dr. Kimberly Ransom is an interdisciplinary historian whose scholarship is concerned with the voices and perspectives of Black children in and around de jure segregated schools. Her current study uses oral histories, material objects, and archival data to examine the lived experiences of Black children who once attended Rosenwald Schools in Pickens County, Alabama (1940-1969). 

In this talk, Dr. Ransom will discuss her efforts to unsilence the voices and perspectives of African American childhood in the history of education by expanding her historical research beyond the page. Specifically, she will illustrate how she has worked alongside her participants to create a local museum in Pickens County, Alabama. The museum exhibitions and programing that center community members’ untold schooling histories in Pickens Rosenwald Schools. The space has become an arts and educational institution in the local community. 

Dr. Ransom’s talk will invite the audience to consider the potential role of scholars to address racial injustice through community-based historical inquiry (CBHI). CBHI privileges data collection rooted in community memory and personal collections along with archival data. She will discuss methodological approaches to CBHI and its potential to support community efforts to create educational spaces that center their previously untold histories.

Room 3
Dr. Kimberly C. Ransom
Start
1:45 PM
End
2:45 PM
Afternoon Break
Lobby
Start
2:50 PM
End
3:00 PM
Plenary II - Sankofa: How Segregation Narratives Inform the Present Experience of a Beginning Black Teacher

Sankofa is an African concept meaning we should retrieve things of value from our knowledge of the past. The Akan tribe of Ghanaian Africans is part of the larger Ashanti (or Asante) group of people from West Africa.

Room 1
Dr. Cherrel Miller Dyce
Dr. Cynthia Brooks Wooten
Felicia Robinson
Portia Wade
Yvella Singletary Bradshaw
Start
3:05 PM
End
4:05 PM
History Counts Award

PROGRAM: History Counts Award

PURPOSE: The purpose of this award is create and establish a process to acknowledge, encourage, and support those who promote history, democracy, civic engagement and community to build a path to support youth in PK – 20 settings to develop and implement social justice projects.

Room 1
Dr. Dudley Flood
Sandra Conway
Start
4:10 PM
End
4:30 PM
Closing Message & Action Planning
Room 1
Dr. Vanessa Siddle Walker
Dr. Dudley Flood
Start
4:35 PM
End
5:25 PM
Networking Reception
Room 2
Dr. Tamara Thomas
Raymond Godfrey
Start
5:30 PM
End
6:30 PM
Speakers
KEYNOTE

Dr. Jelani Cobb

Dr. Jelani Cobb

Jelani Cobb is a staff writer at The New Yorker, writing on race, history, justice, politics, and democracy, as well as Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism and next Dean of Columbia Journalism School. He recently co-edited The Matter of Black Lives, a collection of The New Yorker’s most ground-breaking writing on Black history and culture in America, featuring the work of legendary writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. Publishers Weekly writes, “Beyond the stellar prose, what unites these pieces, which range widely in length, tone, and point of view, is James Baldwin’s insight, paraphrased by Jelani Cobb, that ‘the American future is precisely as bright or as dark as our capacity to grapple with [the legacy of racism].’” Cobb also edited and wrote a new introduction for The Kerner Commission—a historic study of American racism and police violence originally published in 1967—helping to contextualize it for a new generation. The condensed version of the report, called The Essential Kerner Commision Report, is described as an “essential resource for understanding what Cobb calls the ‘chronic national predicament’ of racial unrest” (Publishers Weekly).

 

During a historic election in the midst of a global pandemic, Cobb investigated allegations of voter fraud and disenfranchisement as a PSB Frontline correspondent in the documentary Whose Vote Counts, revealing how these unfounded claims entered the political mainstream. He clearly presents how racial inequities, COVID-19, and voter suppression became interlinked crises, contributing to a long legacy of inequality. For tackling one of the key issues at the heart of modern U.S. politics and carefully elucidating what the fight for voting rights looks like in the 21st century, Whose Vote Counts received a Peabody Award. Cobb was also the correspondent for the Frontline documentary Policing the Police, where he examined whether police reform is a viable solution in the wake of mounting protests calling for racial justice, and explored how we can hold police departments accountable. Previously, Cobb was prominently featured in Ava Duvernay’s 13th, her Oscar-nominated documentary about the current mass incarceration of Black Americans, which traces the subject to its historical origins in the Thirteenth Amendment.

 

Cobb is the recipient of the  Hillman Prize for opinion and analysis journalism, as well as the Walter Bernstein Award from the Writer’s Guild of America for his investigative work on Policing the Police. He is the author of Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress, and To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic. He was appointed the Dean of Columbia Journalism School in 2022.

Keynote Speaker Moderator

Joel Brown

Joel Brown
Joel Brown anchors the 4 p.m. evening edition of Eyewitness News. You'll also see his live reports from around the Triangle at 11 p.m.

Before joining The Eyewitness News Team, Joel was the Washington-based correspondent for CBS NewsPath, the network's affiliate service.

He spent nearly 4 years covering politics from The White House and Capitol Hill. He also traveled the country following national news stories, including weeks on the road covering the historic 2008 presidential election. And Joel was there live at Kennedy Space Center reporting on the final launch of NASA's space shuttle program.

Joel spent 3 years in South Florida, as a reporter and fill-in anchor for WSVN, Miami's innovative Fox affiliate. His "break-out" story came in 2005, covering the minute-by-minute details of the Terri Schiavo "right to die" case. He also got the chance to cover his share of tropical weather, including the '05 Hurricane season, which was the busiest on record.

Before Miami, Joel began his career in television news at KETK, the NBC affiliate in Tyler, TX. When he left east Texas, he was the station's 5:00 anchor and education beat reporter.

Joel was born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, where his mom and dad still live. But he also has roots here in North Carolina. Joel's father was born and raised in Fayetteville. And he has a whole host of aunts, uncles, and cousins in the area.

Hashtag - #abc11
Special Remarks & Appearance

Dr. Vanessa Siddle Walker

Dr. Vanessa Siddle Walker

Vanessa Siddle Walker is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Educational Studies at Emory University. For 33 years, she has explored the segregated schooling of African American children, considering sequentially the climate that permeated the schools, the network of professional collaborations that explains the schools’ similarities, and the hidden systems of advocacy that sought equality and justice.

Walker’s book publications include Their Highest Potential: An African American School Community in the Segregated South (University of North Carolina Press), Facing Racism in Education (Harvard Educational Review Reprint Series), Racing Moral Formation (Teachers College Press), Hello Professor: A Black Principal and Professional Leadership in the Segregated South (University of North Carolina Press), Living the Legacy: Universities and Schools in Collaborative for African American Children (Rowan and Little), and The Lost Education of Horace Tate: Uncovering the Hidden Heroes who Fought for Justice in Schools (The New Press). Among the journals publishing her research are Review of Education Research, American Educational Research Journal, Journal of Educational Research, Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Negro Education, and Teachers College Record.

For her body of work, Walker has received the Grawmeyer Award for Education, the Lillian Smith Book Award, and five awards from the American Educational Research Association (AERA): the AERA Early Career Award, the Best New Female Scholar Award (Research Focus on Black Education), the Best New Book (History Division of AERA), the 2019 Presidential Citation Award for Groundbreaking Research on Black Education, and the Outstanding Book Award (Moral Development Special Interest Group). She is also a recipient of awards from the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools and the American Education Studies Association.

Walker is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, a Fellow of AERA, and in 2019-20 was the 104th president of AERA. She has lectured widely nationally and internationally, including delivering the 2012 Annual AERA Brown v. Board of Education lecture in Washington, DC. Her work has appeared in the PBS Special, SCHOOL, and on a variety of educational podcasts. She has also consulted with journalists, community groups, and advocacy organizations for the last ten years on issues concerning Brown v. Board and its implementation.

Walker completed her undergraduate training in education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; taught for four years at the desegregated Cummings High School in Burlington, North Carolina; and finished her masters and doctorate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her work on segregated schools begin when she was completing a postdoctoral/visiting professor appointment at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Dudley Flood

Dr. Dudley Flood

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.

Sandra Conway

Sandra Conway
Plenary Session Speakers

James E. Ford

James E. Ford
James E. Ford is an award-winning educator and consultant on issues of equity in education. He is the Principal at Filling the Gap Educational Consultants, LLC. and was appointed by Gov. Cooper to serve as a North Carolina State Board of Education member, representing the Southwest Region. He is the former Program Director at the Public School Forum of North Carolina, an education think-tank and policy advocacy organization.

Letha Muhammad

Letha Muhammad

Letha Muhammad is the Executive Director of Education Justice Alliance (EJA), based in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Letha is working to advance the organizations mission to dismantle the School to Prison and School to Deportation Pipeline in her local school district, Wake County Public Schools and to advance equity in public education across the North Carolina. She believes that working with parents, students and families that are directly impacted by these issues is one of the most effective ways for her to contribute. As such, her work includes engagement and leadership training with parents, students, and community members to ensure they know their rights and how to advocate for themselves and students. 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 executive director. She serves as co-chair on the coordinating committee for Every Child NC, a statewide coalition working to ensure equitable funding for North Carolina public schools. Letha is a member of Muslim’s for Social Justice (MSJ) and on the steering committee for the Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia (MERI). She is a wife and the mother of one school age child and two young adults.

Dr. Cherrel Miller Dyce

Dr. Cherrel Miller Dyce
Cherrel Miller Dyce is an Associate Professor and Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the School of Education at Elon University. With twenty years of experience in social justice work, she is a fierce social justice advocate, K-20 researcher, mentor, and social theorist. Dr. Dyce believes in uplifting marginalized communities through education. She emphasizes racial equity, social justice, and critical self-reflection in all research projects. Dr. Dyce is a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant who provides professional development in the area of racial equity for public and charter schools, higher education institutions, and private organizations. She has published many journal articles and two books. Her recent co-authored book is Black Males Matter: A Blueprint for Creating School and Classroom Environments to Support Their Academic and Social Development. Dr. Dyce’s faith is central to how she navigates her personal, professional, and academic endeavors. Her mission statement is, “I want my work to resonate in the souls of humanity, cast down inferiorities, mute institutions of power, capsulate privilege and discrimination, and eradicate racism.” 

Dr. Cynthia Brooks Wooten

Dr. Cynthia Brooks Wooten
Cynthia Brooks Wooten is an Associate Professor of Elementary Education, in the College of Education at Winston Salem State University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Her research interests relate to the preparation of preservice teachers, Science of Reading, literacy instruction for Black males, and culturally relevant education. Dr. Wooten’s service has its reach in school communities where she works with in-service teachers to provide professional development in the Science of Reading. It is Dr. Wooten's mission that the knowledge gained in her professional development sessions is relevant and utilized by P-12 teachers to ultimately impact black and brown learners within their classrooms. Dissemination of research and professional development is accomplished via presentations at state, national, and international level conferences.

Felicia Robinson

Felicia Robinson

Felicia Robinson is a Philadelphia native and a proud member of Elon University’s class of 2021. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a minor in African and African American Studies. She is currently in her 2nd year of teaching 1st grade. When she is not with her 1st grade babies, she spends her summers in Philadelphia, preparing high school students for the college process.

Portia Wade

Portia Wade

Portia Wade, a current resident of Burlington, North Carolina is a native of Washington, D.C., where she completed her public-school and undergraduate education. Portia is a professional educator who received her undergraduate training at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in Elementary Education and minored in Sociology. She completed her graduate studies in Elementary Education at Elon College, now known as Elon University, where she currently serves as a full-time faculty member in the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education. Post graduate studies include the completion of an Educational Specialist degree with a concentration in Adult Education from Regent University in the summer of 2020. And Portia is currently a doctoral student at Regent University working towards the completion of her Ph. D. degree in Advanced Educational Leadership with certification in Higher Education.

Portia’s professional endeavors have included classroom teaching on the early childhood, elementary, and college level, administrative services, educational consulting, and clinical supervision of teacher-practitioner candidates. Portia has also been a member of Elon’s Early Childhood Advisory Board since the program’s inception and serves in this capacity at Alamance Community College as well. She has recently been named as director of the Alamance Scholars Program; a local partnership initiative developed to combat the increasing teacher shortage in the Alamance – Burlington School System. While serving on a variety of university and department committees, Portia also holds Board of Directors’ memberships with other educational institutions in the North Carolina area.

From a family/ community/ministry outreach standpoint, Portia is passionately committed to women’s services and community outreach efforts for young children and their families. She and her husband, Gene, are the proud parents of (4) adult children: Kimberlie, Gene II, Kara, and Jordan who presently reside in various locations across the country. Therefore, family time and travel are ongoing pursuits for the Wade family. With a commitment to spiritual growth and development, Portia and her husband Gene are members of World Victory International Christian Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they serve on the Elder Board Council and ministry Leadership Team.

Yvella Singletary Bradshaw

Yvella Singletary Bradshaw

Yvella Singletary Bradshaw is a professional educator with thirty years of experience in the telephone industry, twenty years of experience in childcare management, and thirty years of experience in Biblical teaching.  She specializes in child care management and youth instruction.  She organized and currently heads a program entitled Bridging The Gap designed to teach young people about the total plan of God for mankind. Yvella Bradshaw is an ordained Elder in the Pentecostal church, holding an Associate, Bachelor, and Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies.  She is a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother with  a passion and love for Christian Education.  

Breakout Session Speakers

Judith Rodriguez

Judith Rodriguez

Judith Rodriguez is a Senior at Orange High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina. To some, she is known as Judith and to other people she is known as Judy. In addition to being a student at Orange High School, Judith is enrolled at Durham Tech, where she is taking an English and Art Appreciation course. She is a member of the National Spanish Honors Society, and she started a True Crime club with her friends last year. In her free time, Judith is a part of a book club. Her plan for the future is to get her Associates Degree in Arts-Teacher preparation degree at Durham tech and then transfer to a four-year university.

Adam Hollowell

Adam Hollowell

Adam Hollowell is an author, facilitator, and ethicist whose work addresses social inequality and promotes collective efforts for a more just world. He is the co-author, with Jamie McGhee, of You Mean It or You Don’t: James Baldwin’s Radical Challenge (Broadleaf Books, 2022). An award-winning educator, he teaches ethics and inequality studies across multiple departments at Duke University, including the Kenan Institute for Ethics, the Program in Education, and the Sanford School of Public Policy. He serves as director of the Global Inequality Research Initiative at the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and faculty director of the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship at Duke University. He lives in Durham, North Carolina. 

Xavier Adams

Xavier Adams

Xavier Adams is the NCCAT 2022 Prudential NC Beginning Teacher of the Year. Known to his students as Mr. Xavier, Xavier teaches at Orange High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he teaches World History, Honors African American Studies, and Honors Latin American Studies. Xavier holds two master's degrees from Duke University: a Master's in Theological Studies and a Master of Arts in Teaching. Before becoming a teacher, Xavier worked with young people in both religious and non-profit settings in Texas and North Carolina. He ultimately decided to become a teacher because of the impact that he saw that teachers could have on a student’s life by daily showing up with care and high expectations. At the center of Xavier’s pedagogical approach to history is the question: how did the victories and failures of the past create the world that we live in today.

*Photo Credit - Terri Clark Photography

Tia Hilber

Tia Hilber

Tia Hilber is a junior at Orange High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina. She has a variety of interests including visual arts, social studies, and music. Tia participates in marching, concert, and jazz band, where she plays the bass guitar and flute. She also holds the position of Public Relations Officer and Flute Section Leader within the marching band. Tia frequently draws and paints in her free time, and she has had her works featured in multiple art shows. Tia is an active member of Girl Scouts, and she recently received her 10-year service pin. She plans to attend college to pursue a career in the social sciences, with her main goal of helping others and making the world a better place.

Rodney Robinson

Rodney Robinson

Rodney is a 22-year education veteran working with marginalized black and brown communities in Richmond, Virginia. He has received numerous awards for his accomplishments in and out of the classroom, most notably the 2019 National Teacher of the Year.  He has worked with Pulitzer winning author James Foreman to develop curriculum units on race, class, and punishment as a part of the Yale Teachers Institute. His current role is as a senior policy advisor with Richmond Public Schools in charge of Teacher Pathways with a specific focus on the RVA Men Teach Program to recruit and retain minority male teachers in Richmond Public Schools. 

Youtube Videos

      CBS This Morning NTOY Announcement

      Message to the Nation

      Ted Talk - What is equity and Why do our children Deserve it?

      Ted Talk - Youth Powerfully Unfiltered

Dr. Debi Khasnabis

Dr. Debi Khasnabis
Dr. Debi Khasnabis is a clinical professor of education at the University of Michigan School of Education. She teaches courses in multicultural and multilingual education in elementary teacher education and is the chair of Elementary Teacher Education at the University of Michigan School of Education. She conducts research on pedagogies of teacher education that support the development of culturally responsive teaching. Dr. Khasnabis has designed professional development opportunities for practicing teachers across southeast Michigan on the topics of homelessness and schools, anti-bias education, trauma-informed practice, culturally responsive teaching, family outreach, and multilingual learners.

Dr. Simona Goldin

Dr. Simona Goldin

Dr. Simona Goldinis a Research Associate Professor of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina. She had a Ph.D. in Educational Studies and a master’s degree in management and urban policy analysis. Her research and scholarship consider efforts to transform the preparation of beginning teachers to teach in more racially just and equitable ways. Her most recent work has looked carefully at the ways that innovations are weaponized against the very communities they are meant to support. Goldin serves as co-chair of the Equity in Schools Project Team on the UNC Commission on History, Race, and a Way Forward.

Katie Robertson

Katie Robertson

Dr. Addison Duane

Dr. Addison Duane
Dr. Addison Duane is an Innovations for Youth post-doctoral research fellow at UC Berkeley dedicated to centering and amplifying the brilliance of children in middle childhood. As a former elementary school teacher, her research highlights the strengths and assets of elementary children of color and their communities as they traverse traumatic experiences. Additionally, she partners with youth to join the ongoing investigation of education as liberation. Duane earned her M.A. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Colorado and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Wayne State University.

Dr. Kimberly C. Ransom

Dr. Kimberly C. Ransom

Kimberly C. Ransom, Ph.D. is an interdisciplinary historian who studies the History of African American Education and the History of Childhood. Her research examines the oral histories and material objects of Black children who once attended segregated schools in the Deep South during the Jim Crow Era (1940-1969). As a public scholar and artist, Kimberly also uses her historical research to create public exhibits related to African American childhood in and around schools. In her most recent project, she has worked in partnership with her dissertation respondents to create a local museum in the sole remaining Rosenwald Schoolhouse in Pickens County, Alabama.

 Kimberly has received a number of fellowships and awards for her research and leadership including the 2019 NAEd Spencer Fellowship, the 2018 Rackham Public Scholarship Fellowship, the 2017 Rackham Public Scholarship Grant, the 2015 Jackson Scholar Award, the 2011 Chicago Community Trust Fellowship, the 2013 University of Chicago President’s Diversity Leadership Award, and the 2010 New York University Women of Color Policy Fellowship. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Studies from the University of Michigan, M.A. from DePaul University, and a B.S. from Bradley University.

Danita Mason-Hogans

Danita Mason-Hogans

Danita Mason-Hogans is a native of Chapel Hill NC for seven generations of “movement people” on both sides of her family. She is a Public Memory Specialist, local historian and curriculum specialist who has been an education activist for over thirty years.  She collaborates with today's activists and SNCC veterans at Duke for the Critical Oral Histories Component which she helped to adapt. Danita is a 2022/23 NEH fellow with the Oral History Association. She works with school systems, universities, activists and historians to document local and national history from the “inside out” and from the “bottom up”. Her current advocation is for a no cost education program and cost-free college tuition for the descendants of the enslaved laborers at UNC. 

Local stories connect us to national struggle. Chapel Hill History from the inside out and bottom up. 

Senator Valerie Foushee

Senator Valerie Foushee

Valerie Foushee was born and raised in Orange County, North Carolina. Valerie was the oldest of six children, born to two teenage parents. She watched her parents work multiple jobs to make ends meet, and was in segregated schooling until sixth grade. Still, Valerie’s parents taught her about the importance of hard work, community, service to your neighbors and education, and those values still shape her today.

For Valerie, a commitment to service is where it all started. As a parent to young children in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, she would leave work at the Chapel Hill Police Department at 7:00 a.m. and work in her children’s classroom until 9:00 a.m. It was through that volunteer service that she knew kids, especially black and brown kids, needed a champion on the School Board, who was always looking out for them and their success. So she ran, and she won.

Over the next twenty-four years, Valerie went from serving on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, to being the first African American female elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners, to serving in the North Carolina state House and then state Senate. In each of those elected positions, Valerie was focused on the issues that matter most; a good education, creating good-paying jobs, and being a champion for underrepresented communities.

In the General Assembly, Valerie has worked across the aisle to increase access to health care and end the practice of child marriage. And she has stood up to radical Republicans when they have attacked a woman’s right to choose, targeted our immigrant communities, and attempted to strip North Carolinians of their voting rights.

In Congress, Valerie will be a champion for working families, a leader to reform our criminal justice system and tackle systemic racism, and a fighter to protect our environment and address climate change.

Valerie is married to her high school sweetheart, Stan. Stan is a retired Fire Marshall for the City of Carrboro. They have two sons, Stanley II and Terrence, and one grandson, Stanley III.


Dianne Jackson

Dianne Jackson
Diane Jackson is an educational justice advocate. As a member of the NAACP Education Committee, she helped start the Learning Bridge program, offering virtual tutoring as well as on-site tutoring for students in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. She is a founding board member of Bridging the Gap with DMH, a reparative education program in Orange County, NC. Dianne has worked as an Elementary School Librarian for thirty years in the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools. She has a small family, a dog, and loves travel and community service. She volunteers at UNC Hospital as a Pediatric Cuddler and is mentoring her second match through the Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate Program.  Dianne is President of the American Federation of Teachers of North Carolina and received the Jan Allen Award from the Chapel Hill chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 2021 for her work helping women and young girls in Chapel Hill. 

Chris Faison

Chris Faison

Chris began his professional career as a Secondary Social Studies Teacher at Chapel Hill High School. He then went on to become an Assistant Principal at Riverside High School in Durham, North Carolina. Next, Mr. Faison served as an Assistant Director for Federal Loans in the Scholarships and Student Aid Office at UNC Chapel Hill. While at Student Aid, he was chosen for two statewide leadership fellowships. Additionally, Chris participated in two national education fellowships in Washington, D.C. He then built a suite of Men of Color Initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill.

Most recently, Mr. Faison completed a national fellowship with the American Express Leadership Academy at the Campaign for Black Male Achievement. His cohort received training at the Beloved Community Center and the Center for Creative Leadership, both headquartered in Greensboro, NC. Chris was just selected as a Global Summit delegate among the American Express Leadership Academies Alumni Network. He was also invited to pilot an exclusive non-profit leaders’ tool through the Center for Creative Leadership.

Chris seeks to broaden the horizons of young and more seasoned Black male career aspirations by illuminating other avenues beyond the School to Prison Pipeline and paths towards professional sports. His current projects include facilitating reparative processes and racial healing using local racial history, with an emphasis on support for Black men and boys.

Dr. Dionne V. McLaughlin

Dr. Dionne V. McLaughlin

Dr. Dionne V. McLaughlin is the Executive Director of Critical Reflections on Race and Equity Initiative (CRREI) and an Associate Professor at North Carolina Central University. She is a British-born Black Jamaican American educator who is an experienced bilingual high school and elementary school principal. Recent publications include: Emerald Book: Personalized Principal Leadership Practices: Eight Strategies for Leading Equitable, High Achieving Schools, Corwin Book Insights: How Expert Principals Make Difficult Decisions, Book Chapter: New South Realities: Demographics, Diversity and Cultural Capital in The Sage Guide to Educational Leadership and Management (Fenwick English), and a Book Chapter: Exemplary Leadership in Diverse Cultural Contexts in The Springer Handbook on Promoting Social Justice in Education (Rosemary Papa).   

Dr. McLaughlin has led workshops on culturally responsive teaching, leading equitable schools and making effective leadership decisions for teachers, principals and assistant principals.

Recent Presentations: Indiana Assistant Principals Conference (Keynote), Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP) Fall Professionals Conference, ASCD Empower19, NASSP, ASCD Conference on Educational Leadership, ASCD Conference on Teaching Excellence, the International Conference on Urban Education, Illinois Principals Association Conference, Charter School Leadership Institute (Keynote), and NAESP.  

Dr. McLaughlin has also taught Anti-racism and Effective School Practices for All Students for K-12 administrators and teachers, Critical Reflections on Racial Issues in America – A Contemporary and Historical Study for high school students, and at NCCU she developed an Equity Certificate and new Graduate course- Leading High Achieving, Equitable Schools for African American and Latino Students.

Julia Clark

Julia Clark

Julia Clark is a grassroots activist advocating for racial equity and justice. Currently, Julia is a prominent advocate at UNC Chapel Hill as the 55th President of the Black Student Movement and Black Lives Matter organizer. Fighting for a better future for the Black community in all public spheres and the eradication of institutional racism. Previously featured in publications and news outlets including but not limited to, The Washington Post, USA Today, Run Washington, and NPR.

Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Julia is a proud Afro-Latina who is fluent in Brazilian Portuguese and holds dual citizenship. The intersection of Julia's race, ethnicity, and nationalities provide a unique and groundbreaking perspective on countless issues surrounding inequity.

Dr. Anthony Graham

Dr. Anthony Graham

Dr. Anthony Graham is the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Winston-Salem State University. Prior to his current position, Provost Graham was a tenured Full Professor and dean of the College of Education at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. A graduate of Kinston High School, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned the bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in mathematics in 1997.  He obtained the master’s degree in Secondary English Education in 1999 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Curriculum and Teaching with a cognate in Multicultural Education in 2003 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Prior to his work in higher education, Dr. Graham was a high school English teacher.

Dr. Graham’s commitment to the uplift of his community and to the improvement of K-20 education in North Carolina is demonstrated in his service to civic and professional organizations.  He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity among others.  He serves on a number of boards and commissions, including those for Deans For Impact, Senior Services Incorporated, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, the North Carolina Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC), and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Dr. Graham also chairs Governor Roy Cooper’s DRIVE (Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision for Education) Task Force and co-chairs the University of North Carolina System Educator Preparation Advisory Group.

Several organizations have recognized Dr. Graham for his contributions. In 2014, the Piedmont Triad’s Business Journal magazine recognized him as one of its 40 Leaders Under the Age of 40, and he received the Sarah Herbin Award from the Black Child Development Institute-Greensboro, also in 2014. The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Incorporated recognized him as one of its “Young Leaders on the Move, and the Empire Corporation named him one of the Top Young Executives and Professionals in the United States. Dr. Graham also received the North Carolina A&T State University Academic Advising Excellence Award.

A much sought-after motivational speaker, Provost Graham shares his message of optimism, collective efficacy, critical consciousness, servant leadership and social activism. He has delivered keynote addresses at international and national conferences; university Founder’s Day Convocations; and university, community college, and high school commencements.

Eugenia Floyd

Eugenia Floyd

Eugenia Floyd is the 2021 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year. Prior to this position, she was a fourth grade Teacher at Mary Scroggs Elementary School. Eugenia is a product of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, the district in which she teaches. After Eugenia received a degree in History from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2009, she became a teacher assistant. She then received her teaching credentials from North Carolina Central University in 2013. Eugenia also holds a Master in Gifted Education from Elon University, which she obtained in 2020. Eugenia is excited to advocate and support both the students and teachers of North Carolina. 

 

Ann McColl

Ann McColl
Ann McColl is a lawyer, historian, and writer.  Her positions have included co-founder and president of The Innovation Project, legislative director for the State Board of Education, general counsel for the North Carolina Association of Educators, general counsel for the North Carolina Association of School Administrators and the North Carolina School Superintendents Association, and legal counsel and director of policy for the North Carolina School Boards Association. She also has served as associate professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte College of Education, visiting faculty at the School of Government, and adjunct faculty for the UNC School of Education and UNC School of Law. She has numerous publications in academic press and popular media.  Her primary areas of interest are governance, innovative approaches to public education, and uplifting and making relevant the history of the intersection of race, equity, and rights in education.

Keisha Bentley-Edwards, PhD (She/Her)

Keisha Bentley-Edwards, PhD (She/Her)

Dr. Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards is a developmental psychologist who uses a cultural lens to understand education and health outcomes. She is an Associate Professor at Duke University’s School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, and the Associate Director of Research for the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity. An underlying thread in her interdisciplinary research is the use of cultural strengths to promote resiliency in students and families in the face of racial stressors and challenging social contexts. Dr. Bentley-Edwards has published and lectured extensively on the use of racial socialization and racial cohesion strategies to facilitate positive outcomes in high school and college students. She has been sought out by school districts, universities, nonprofits, and a wide range of practitioners to nurture complex conversations around race and racism in ways that not only identify disparities, but prompt meaningful strategies for remedying these disparities. She earned her undergraduate degree from Howard University, a masters in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University and her doctorate in Applied Psychology and Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Overall, her work is meant to provide practical evidence that can guide parents, policymakers, and practitioners to support the academic success and healthy functioning of African American students and their families.

Ashley Kazouh

Ashley Kazouh
Ashley is the Associate Director for the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity at the Public School Forum of North Carolina. In this position, Ashley guides policy and research priorities related to racial equity, manages the Flood Center Fellowship program, and oversees the programmatic efforts of the Flood Center. Her current research has centered around strengthening the teacher pipeline, focusing on understanding the barriers within licensure policies and requirements that prevent candidates, especially those from diverse backgrounds, from entering the teaching workforce within North Carolina. Ashley is also a member of the Governor’s DRIVE Task Force, charged with creating a plan of action to increase racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity within North Carolina’s educator workforce.

Jairo McMican

Jairo McMican

Jairo (Hi-rrow) we/he/him/his is the Associate Director of Equity Initiatives at Achieving the Dream. He has spent the last 16+ years working in higher education split between academic and student services at a PWI, HBCU, an urban, as well as a rural community college. Mr. McMican previously served in a split role serving as a Dean of College Access Services and The Director of Equity and Pathways for the North Carolina Student Success Center.

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. Mr. McMican currently serves on the editorial board for AACRAO Strategic Enrollment Management. In addition, Jairo facilitates Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning modules for ACUE as well as Agile Administrator modules for the American Council of Education (ACE). Jairo has facilitated numerous regional and national presentations on higher education, equity, and leadership.

Dr. MariaRosa Rangel

Dr. MariaRosa Rangel

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. 

Nolan Dahm

Nolan Dahm

Nolan Dahm is the Adult Education Specialist at the Charlotte Museum of History. He is a trained educator and historian with graduate degrees from Wake Forest University (M.Ed.) and Colorado State University (M.A., History). His work focuses on the history of slavery, environmental history, and educational policy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has previous experience working as a park ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park and as a press intern at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. Nolan is originally from Des Moines, Iowa, and he recently moved to North Carolina to work with Museum staff to re-establish the Charlotte Museum of History as a landmark local history institution.

Fay Gore

Fay Gore
Fay Gore serves as the Senior Director for Strategic Partnerships and Grants at National Geographic Society where she oversees the Education team’s goals for cultivating strategic partnerships that extend the reach and impact of Explorer-led programs; overseas education-focused grants and funding opportunities, supports educator leadership opportunities, and identifies opportunities to pilot and scale the Society's education tools, resources, and experiences. Prior to joining the Society in 2018, Fay served as the Education Section Chief for K-12 Social Studies at the NC Department of Public Instruction, worked as an independent consultant to international schools developing high quality curriculum frameworks and was a former high school social studies teacher.

Shannon P. Bartlett

Shannon P. Bartlett
SHANNON P. BARTLETT (she/her/hers) serves as the inaugural chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at the National Geographic Society, where she oversees the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and helps cultivate an environment where people of every race, identity, experience, and ability have a role in its mission-driven work. Bartlett joined the Society from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law where she served as associate dean of inclusion & engagement and was an instructor. Prior to entering academic administration, Bartlett practiced complex civil litigation at Jenner & Block and Valorem Law Group, and served as a legal fellow at the ACLU.
Networking Reception Presenter

Dr. Tamara Thomas

Dr. Tamara Thomas

As a  violinist and composer, Tamara has captivated audiences all over the country with her musicality and poise. She has appeared at the esteemed Carnegie Hall in New York City, traveled and studied abroad in Paris, France, participated in legendary music celebrations such as nationally recognized Harlem Week and The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival. ​

While watching Tamara minister live, audience members commented, “It’s thrilling not only to hear Tamara, but to see her,” as her dynamic and energy-filled presentations enthrall her audience.

Tamara is not only a gifted musician, but she has earned a Doctor of Ministry degree, a Master of Arts degree in Music Therapy Allied Health from New York University, and a Master of Science degree with distinction in Education Administration and Supervision. Dr. Thomas remains committed to K-12 education as a district education administrator and concurrently serves as a doctoral-level Seminary Professor of Leadership.  Realizing that the vehicle of music transforms lives, she has made a commitment to use her gift to bring hope to the darkest of places and to the people who so desperately need change.

Whilst Tamara was born and trained classically in the United States and abroad, her strong Caribbean roots, and their influence frames her music. This influence, coupled with her classical training, is found throughout her music, and provides a diverse sound that is beautiful and exceptional.

Dr. Thomas is a wife, a mother of three adult children, a licensed minister/ordained elder, and an education administrator in North Carolina.

 

Raymond Godfrey

Raymond Godfrey

Raymond Godfrey is a 7th grader at Southwest Guilford Middle School in High Point NC. He started singing at the age of 2. Raymond is part of the Vocal Ensemble at his school and he recently auditioned at Showtime Apollo in New York scheduled to take place in June 2023. Raymond’s desire is to become a gospel recording artist, attend college, and pursue a degree in Music. In Raymond’s free time he likes to learn how to cook and spend time with family. 

 
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