Leading Equity

About Khadeejah Smith

Khadeejah Smith holds a bachelor of science in Finance from Northeastern University. A Masters of Arts in Teaching Mathematics from the University of the District of Columbia and a Masters of Science in Education Leadership from Columbia University, Teachers College. Khadeejah Smith has been an educator for over ten years in the metropolitan District of Columbia area. She began her teaching career in Boston Public Schools as a high school math teacher. Khadeejah's experience expands from high school math, home-school early childhood, middle school math teacher, instructional coach, and principal. She brings a diverse view to education from public, charter and private school sector.

Khadeejah is also known as 'EdGapCloser' because she is committed to closing the 'achievement gap' that exist between African-American, Latinos, White, and Asian students due to the lack of equitable resources and opportunities presented to the two groups. Through her commitment to STEM education Khadeejah has spent the last 11 years focused on project-based learning. She understood early in her career the importance of students making real-world connections to make math relevant. She created the real-world project to provide students with a financial assimilation experience to expose students to investment terms and philosophies. This eight week intense project allows students research a salaries, taxes, and daily expenses in order to create budget to survive in their "real-world". As a stay-at-home mom she was able to see first-hand how children take in the world and make meaning. This ability has allowed her to develop creative instructional techniques with teachers that address the whole-child. Being a mom, teacher and instructional leader she has learned how to recognize, develop and act to equip students with tools that will enable them as global citizens ready to solve 21st Century challenges in their community and the world.

Khadeejah began G.R.I.T. Parent vlog this past summer to encourage parent engagement that would extend beyond the school walls. Each video is designed to assist parents in preparing generation ‘Z’ children in navigating life with grit, real-world experiences, independence and critically thinking skills.

Khadeejah Smith is a five time recipient of  the Sontag Prize in Urban Education where outstanding teachers in Math and English Language Arts are recognized for their instructional efforts. For one week she returns to Massachusetts in the city of Lawrence to teach their "Math Acceleration Academy" to support struggling learners.

Currently, Khadeejah uses EdGapClosers L.L.C. as a vehicle for public speaking, educator training and community outreach as pathways to create equity in education for African-American and Latino children.

Show Highlights

• What school and home life looks like today
• Transferable skills
• Have we been coddling our students too much?
• The Healthy Struggle
• Teaching independence

Connect with Khadeejah

EdGapClosers

Instagram: @khadeejahsmith

About Tiwana Merritt

Tiwana Merritt is an international educator currently working in South Africa. She has taught most recently in southern China for 3 years and began her teaching career in Australia. Tiwana has specialized in outdoor and experiential education throughout most of her teaching career. She graduated from Southern Oregon University with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science then completed a Graduate Diploma of Education at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia and has a Masters in Educational Leadership through Monash University. As a member of the Teaching and Learning coaching team and the Service Learning Coordinator, Tiwana is responsible for the development and implementation of AISJ’s service learning standards. Recently, equity, social justice and power have become a focus in delivering service learning throughout the school. 

She can be reached at:

Show Highlights

• Service Learning
• Teaching students about privilege with Service Learning
• Communicating with the local community
• Lessons learned as a cultural outsider
• Nelson Mandela

Connect with Tiwana

Email: [email protected]

AISJ

Facebook: Tiwanam

Instagram: Tiwanamerritt

Follow me on Instagram

Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools Workshop

About Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Ph.D.

Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz is an award-winning associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on racial literacy in teacher education, Black girl literacies, and Black and Latinx male high school students. A sought-after speaker on issues of race, culturally responsive pedagogy, and diversity, Sealey-Ruiz works with K-12 and higher education school communities to increase their racial literacy knowledge and move toward more equitable school experiences for their Black and Latinx students. Sealey-Ruiz appeared in Spike Lee’s “2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright”, a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement and the campus protests at Mizzou. Yolanda is also the editor of three books on education, and numerous scholarly articles and essays.

Show Highlights

• Black Lives Matter Seminar
• Advancing racial literacy
• Digital Activism
• The armchair activist
• The fear of losing my job because of my social media posts

Connect with Yolanda

Yolandasealeyruiz.com

IG: yolie_sealeyruiz

Twitter: RuizSealey

Books

Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces

Love From the Vortex and Other Poems

Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools Workshop

Follow me on Instagram

Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools Workshop

About Lauren Shallish, Ph.D.

Dr. Lauren Shallish teaches courses on critical disability studies, DisCrit, and inclusive K-16 education at The College of New Jersey (Trenton State).  She previously worked as Chief of Staff at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in the Office of Special Education at DC Public Schools, and as a qualitative research assistant for the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia University.  She and her husband Justin are foster parents in Mercer County and actively engaged in the local Division for Child Protection and Permanency. 

Show Highlights

• Students who have had experience in foster care
• Recentering the child first
• Resource parents
• Supporting students with online learning
• Racial demographics of students with experience in foster care
• Reunification of families and kinship
• Cultural responsiveness in resource homes
• Relationship building in resource homes
• Funding available for schools

Connect with Lauren

[email protected]

Supporting students in Foster Care

Resources for Parents with Children in Foster Care 

Supports for Foster Families

Books about Foster Care

Children's books about Foster Care

Annihilating Racial Injustice in Schools Workshop

Follow me on Instagram

About Anne Burns Thomas, Ph.D.

Dr. Anne Burns Thomas is a professor in the Foundations and Social Advocacy Department at SUNY Cortland and is the Coordinator of Cortland’s Urban Recruitment of Educators (C.U.R.E.) Scholarship and Program. Since 2006, she has secured more than $1,000,000 in support of the C.U.R.E. Program at SUNY Cortland. Her research interests are teacher diversity in policy and practice in teacher education and district contexts.

Show Highlights

• Scholarship to recruit more teachers of color
• Interest in recruiting teachers of color
• Challenging the “Good Enough” in teacher diversity efforts
• Strict application processes that limit opportunities for a diverse applicant pool
• Do principals really get it?
• Excuses, “we can’t find qualified teachers of color.”
• Suggestions to recruit beyond “Good Enough” efforts

Connect with Anne

Twitter: @aburnsthomas 

Web: www.cortland.edu/cure

“Please Hire More Teachers of Color”: Challenging the “Good Enough” in Teacher Diversity Efforts 

Follow me on Instagram

Grab The Art of Advocacy All-Access Pass

About Kirk Kirkwood, Ph.D.

With over 20 years of educational experience, Dr. Kirkwood has a broad range of expertise in fund development, program design, and implementation.  He is a graduate of UC Riverside and received his Master of Arts in Education from Claremont Graduate School of Education, a Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Seminary, and completed his Doctoral studies in P – 12 Educational Leadership from California State University, Fullerton.  Dr. Kirkwood is the Southern California Regional Director of CalStateTEACH--the California State University System's statewide credential program. 

Show Highlights

• Kirkwood’s story of understanding the value of learning math
• Challenges with math literacy
• A Nation at Risk
• What we can do to foster math literacy

Connect with Kirk

[email protected]

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

REGISTER FOR THE LEADING EQUITY VIRTUAL SUMMIT: THE ART OF ADVOCACY

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

REGISTER FOR THE LEADING EQUITY VIRTUAL SUMMIT: THE ART OF ADVOCACY

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins

REGISTER FOR THE LEADING EQUITY VIRTUAL SUMMIT: THE ART OF ADVOCACY

Connect with me on Instagram: @sheldoneakins