In 2016, I joined the faculty at Saint Mary's College of California, in the Department of Leadership. Born and raised in South Los Angeles, I graduated from UCLA in 2003 as a Psychology major, with minors in Education and Applied Developmental Psychology. I enrolled in UCLA's Teacher Education Program in 2003, where I earned my Masters in Education and teaching credential. For several years I had the privilege of teaching high school English at my alma mater. In 2008, I returned to UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and obtained a Ph.D. in Urban Schooling in 2014. After earning my doctorate, I worked for two years at Columbia University's Teachers College, as the Provost's Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
My research specializations include pre-service and in-service teacher development, Black feminist educational praxis, and educational justice for African-American female adolescents. A vast majority of my work aims to disrupt the persistent academic underachievement of young Black women in K-12 public schools through an investigation into transformative pedagogical interventions. I also examine the complex ways in which the identities of these youth are co-constructed and mediated within and outside of the schooling context. In 2016 I inaugurated And Still We Rise Conference on Black Girls and Women in Education at Teachers College. This daylong professional development drew K-12 educators, graduate students, educational researchers, and stakeholders from myriad disciplines to identify the barriers facing Black female students and highlighted policies and practices that have advanced tangible interventions for this population of learners.
As a scholar-activist, I have presented my research at numerous national education conferences and during invited talks, which has resulted in several emerging publications. An invited book chapter, titled “Black Girl Interrupted: A Reflection on the Challenges, Contradictions, and Possibilities in Transitioning from the Community to the Academy,” appears in Black feminism in education: Black women speak back, up, & out ( for purchase here). The chapter elucidates how Black feminist epistemology may be used to inform education research both in the local community and in the academy. Additionally, a recently published article in Equity and Excellence in Education explores the utility of a Black feminist pedagogical framework as a means of social resistance, identity work, and intellectual empowerment for African American young women.
My research specializations include pre-service and in-service teacher development, Black feminist educational praxis, and educational justice for African-American female adolescents. A vast majority of my work aims to disrupt the persistent academic underachievement of young Black women in K-12 public schools through an investigation into transformative pedagogical interventions. I also examine the complex ways in which the identities of these youth are co-constructed and mediated within and outside of the schooling context. In 2016 I inaugurated And Still We Rise Conference on Black Girls and Women in Education at Teachers College. This daylong professional development drew K-12 educators, graduate students, educational researchers, and stakeholders from myriad disciplines to identify the barriers facing Black female students and highlighted policies and practices that have advanced tangible interventions for this population of learners.
As a scholar-activist, I have presented my research at numerous national education conferences and during invited talks, which has resulted in several emerging publications. An invited book chapter, titled “Black Girl Interrupted: A Reflection on the Challenges, Contradictions, and Possibilities in Transitioning from the Community to the Academy,” appears in Black feminism in education: Black women speak back, up, & out ( for purchase here). The chapter elucidates how Black feminist epistemology may be used to inform education research both in the local community and in the academy. Additionally, a recently published article in Equity and Excellence in Education explores the utility of a Black feminist pedagogical framework as a means of social resistance, identity work, and intellectual empowerment for African American young women.
