“My academic research looks at how equity-focused leadership improves Black children and youth’s educational experiences and outcomes.”
I am an associate professor of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a founding member of Derute Consulting Cooperative. My life’s work focuses on questions of how to create and sustain organizations that ensure Black people’s self-determined well-being, development, and positive life outcomes. My academic research examines how equity-focused leadership improves Black children and youth’s educational experiences and outcomes. I am the author of several books, including:
• Stuck Improving: Racial Equity and School Leadership (2021) published by Harvard Education Press
• Magical Black Tears: A Protest Story (2021) published by Derute Consulting Cooperative
• Dignity-affirming Education: Cultivating the Somebodiness of Students and Educators (2022) with co-editors Charity Anderson and Charles Payne, published by Teachers College Press, and
• Black Participatory Research (2016) co-edited with Elizabeth Drame, published by Springer / Palgrage McMillan
I use design thinking and continuous improvement methods to help leaders and teams design and create organizations that affirm Black people. I volunteer in my neighborhood community garden, am the treasurer for my local park advisory council, and spend as much time as possible outdoors with my children and partner. Finally, I am the lead songwriter-guitarist and performer for the band Decoteau Black.
*This account will be accessed by the publicist.
