Guests

Jamita Horton, Ed.D., is a Denver-based education leader and advocate committed to building an education system where every student — and every educator — can truly thrive. As Executive Director of Teach Plus Colorado, she leads Policy Fellowships and drives initiatives that center educator voices in the decisions shaping our schools. With over a decade of experience spanning the classroom, school leadership, and policy spaces, Dr. Horton holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Denver and is driven by a deep belief in equity, storytelling, and the power of Black educators to transform communities.

Experienced Race, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training, Strong PreK-12 experience in curriculum and instruction in, Human Resources Director with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Strong human resources professional skilled in Lesson Planning, Educational Technology, Educational Administration, Professional Learning Communities, and Tutoring.

Dr. Jessica Thomas is a Philadelphia-based educator, leadership consultant, and social entrepreneur who has proudly called the city home for over 20 years. A first-generation college graduate from Anchorage, Alaska, she relocated to Philadelphia after earning prestigious scholarships from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Horatio Alger Association, among many others. These opportunities supported her pursuit of multiple degrees and teaching certifications from Temple University, culminating in an Executive Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Grounded in equity, culturally responsive practice, and whole-child development, Dr. Thomas has dedicated her career to championing underserved communities through career-connected learning, workforce readiness, and community-centered scholarship. Her work bridges education and industry by designing learning experiences that honor cultural identity, connect students with diverse professionals, and align academic pathways with real-wo…

Educational leader specializing in social justice, teacher development, community engagement, and visionary approaches with over 25 years dedicated to advancing equitable education. Dr. Stitt champions voices across diverse platforms, fostering a culture of excellence. As Chair of the Maryland Commission for Women, esteemed Board Member, teacher development consultant, and coach to new and aspiring education entrepreneurs, she actively addresses issues impacting women, school systems, and communities of color.

Dr. Shawn Ginwright is the Jerome T. Murphy Professor of Practice at Harvard Graduate School of Education. His groundbreaking work on trauma, healing, and the empowerment of African American youth has earned him a reputation as an innovator, provocateur, and thought leader in the field of education. His research has been instrumental in reshaping the discourse surrounding youth development. Dr. Ginwright’s introduction of the concept of "healing-centered engagement" in 2018 has revolutionized the field, providing an asset- based approach to addressing youth trauma and fostering resilience. His work has been cited in the New York Times, and he is a highly sought-after speaker on topics ranging from civic engagement and youth activism to the transformative power of healing. Dr. Ginwright's contributions extend beyond his academic work. He is a seasoned non- profit leader, serving as the co-founder and chief executive officer of Flourish Agenda, Inc., a pioneer research lab and consul…

Dr. Siobhan D. Flowers is a Licensed Psychotherapist and Educator Wellness Strategist (and also a proud former lead high school counselor and 7th grade English teacher). In her coaching and consulting practice, Dr. Flowers specializes in Black educator wellness and takes pride in teaching self-regulation strategies and other mind-body wellness practices as a way of reducing stress and preventing burnout. She has been featured in both ESSENCE and Counseling Today magazine and continues to hold space and create outlets for Black educators to prioritize their mental wellness and emotional well-being. Dr. Flowers maintains a therapy private practice based out of Dallas serving clients throughout the state of Texas and a coaching practice serving educators and schools nationwide.

Dr. William Anderson is Director of Teacher Education and Clinical Professor at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver. He earned his Ed.D from the University of Colorado at Denver in Education Leadership for Educational Equity. Dr. Anderson was a secondary Social Studies teacher for thirteen years in Denver Public Schools. He also worked in special education at the beginning of his career. Dr. Anderson leads professional development on culturally sustaining pracitices and emancipatory pedagogies nationally. He is a former member of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Teachers Advisory Council from 2014-2016, and National Geographic Teacher Advisory Council 2018-2020, and is currently member of EdLoc’s (Education Leaders of Color) Leadership Committee. Dr. Anderson is the founder and operator of Love 1st Education Consultation and is a self-professed nerd, who loves to read, write, eat junk food, and laugh. A quote from Malcolm X best sums up Dr. Anderson’s e…

Dr. Smith is the Chief Executive Administrator for Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (JEDI) in the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Department of Psychiatry, in the School of Medicine. He is also a Full Professor & former Department Chair with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education, community-based, private, and professional industries. The developer of the biopsychosocial framework of Racial Battle Fatigue. He is skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Sociology of Education, Critical Race Theory, Program Evaluation, and Academic Advising. Strong professional with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) focused in Educational Policy, Social Psychology of Education, and Educational Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Elia Martin, a Denver, Colorado native, boasts an impressive professional trajectory rooted in her early years in Denver’s Parkhill neighborhood. An alumna of East High School within the Denver Public School system, she graduated in 2009. Elia's academic pursuits led her to the University of Northern Colorado, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services in 2013. Upon graduation, Elia embarked on a career within the Denver Public School system, initially serving as an AmeriCorps member before ascending to the role of School-Based Regional Coordinator in the Department of Family and Community Engagement. In this capacity, she contributed significantly across various schools in the district. Culminating her six-year tenure in public education, Elia last served as a Regional Coordinator for Career Exploration and Mentorship in the Department of Career Connect. Here, she managed a pivotal program focusing on mentoring and career exploration for students at Manual High School a…

Enola Garland is the Program and Operations Manager at the Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance and is also the part-time Executive Director for the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children. She transitioned to the systems-building side of early childhood education after almost nine years as an early childhood teacher working with children ages 3-5. In 2013, she stumbled into a position as a teacher’s aide in California where she discovered her passion for promoting healthy social-emotional development. Since then, she has worked in a variety of program models, including Head Start and the Colorado Preschool Program, and is certified in the Family Child Care Environmental Rating Scale and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System for Pre-K to 3rd Grade. She considers herself to be a proud and passionate advocate for early childhood and envisions a world where ECE educators are respected, supported, and fairly compensated for the important work that they do.

Jailyn Jenkins has built her career on a foundation of belonging, equity, joy, and the daily adventures of learning, striving to instill a passion for science, especially among students of color. Inspired by curiosity, nature, and exploration, her dedication focuses on cultivating joyful learning experiences and authentic visibility in the STEM field. Growing up, she navigated diverse spaces and actively carved out room for advocacy and representation in areas where they were scarce and undervalued. Facing Arizona's early teacher shortage, Jailyn started her teaching career before officially earning her STEM Education degree from Arizona State University. After a few years of teaching in Phoenix, she returned to her hometown of Denver, to teach and complete her Masters in Education Administration at Grand Canyon University. She then ventured into spaces that allowed her to influence and enhance equity-centered communities. Becoming a lab host provided her with another platform for …

Jalisa’s experiences in the classroom, both Charlotte North Carolina and Los Angeles as a middle school science teacher, deepened her passion for fighting injustice. During her first year teaching, she began to grow frustrated with the barriers she navigated to ensure her students had the resources to be successful not just at school but in life. Her organizing experience began as a regional strategy team member for ONE Charlotte, a community based organization where she organized to secure a $33.2 million capital needs bond on the 2017 ballot in North Carolina for schools. When Jalisa moved to Los Angeles in 2017, she continued her career as a 7th grade science teacher. Shortly realizing the academic outcomes for Black students in Los Angeles, and their parents' journey to ensure they were receiving a quality education, Jalisa transitioned out of the classroom to a full time community organizer. In 2019, Jalisa and a team of Black families and community members received a commitme…

Jamilah Pitts is an educator, entrepreneur and the author of Toward Liberation: Educational Practices Rooted in Activism, Healing and Love, Jamilah's work centers the liberation, healing and holistic development of communities of the Global majority. Jamilah has worked and served in various roles and spaces to promote racial justice and healing. Jamilah has served as a teacher, coach, dean, and as an Assistant principal. She has worked in domestic and international educational spaces, including Massachusetts, New York, the Dominican Republic, China and in India. As the Founder and CEO of Jamilah Pitts Consulting, Jamilah partners with schools, communities, universities and organizations to advance the work of racial, social and intersectional justice through training, coaching, strategic planning and curriculum design. Jamilah is also the Founder of She, Imprints, an organization serving at the intersection of wellness and justice for women and girls of the Global Majority. Ja…

Janet Stickmon is a professor, author, educator trainer, and wellness consultant who has been teaching for 25 years. Stickmon is a professor of Humanities and Ethnic Studies and the founding program coordinator of the Cultural Center at Napa Valley College. Stickmon is the author of Crushing Soft Rubies—A Memoir, Midnight Peaches, Two O’clock Patience—A Collection of Essays, Poems, and Short Stories on Womanhood and the Spirit, and To Black Parents Visiting Earth: Raising Black Children in the 21st Century. Stickmon’s articles are featured in The Huffington Post, Mutha Magazine, Read to Write Stories, Positively Filipino, and Red and Yellow, Black and Brown: Decentering Whiteness in Mixed Race Studies. Her essay “Blackapina” has been featured in a number of publications. Stickmon has 25 years experience practicing meditation and integrating meditative practices throughout all her courses. Janet Stickmon is the founder of CenterJoyPWR®: Strategies for Healing Racial Battle Fatigue—an o…

Jason B. Allen has worked in education for over twenty (20) years as a teacher and educational leader serving students, families and communities. He is a longtime advocate for male engagement and building the work of increasing the number of male educators or color in classrooms and boardrooms. His podcast, Speak Black Man, focuses on ways to recruit, retain and empower Black men, families and communities. Jason created educational entities, an educational consulting company to provide resources, training and support for those seeking improved educational systems. He is a member of the Association of American Educators (AAE) Georgia, Profound Gentlemen and is the National Director of Partnerships for the National Parents Union.

Jason Shankle is a Father, Healer, Therapist, Author, Poet, Self-Proclaim Black Consciousness historian, content creator and Philosopher. My professional identity as a Therapist and CEO of my private practice Inner Self and Wisdom, LLC has been a significant part of my healer’s aura. To walk in my purpose of helping individuals, couples, families, and the Black Community mental health is one of the greatest honors. I am the Executive Director of The Black Mental Health and Wellness Coalition which is a non-profit aimed to destigmatize therapy in the Black communities and combat Racial Battle Fatigue. Lastly, I’m an author and owner of Book King Publishing, Inc. My publication as an author is: Soul Searching Poetry, Crowns and Shattered Dreams and Suffer Less: Meditations for Transforming Trauma into Healing.

Dr. Jeanine L. Williams is a former educator and scholar who served in universities for over two decades before answering an ancestral call to healing. Today, as an Ancestral Medicine Woman and founder of Ancestors Bosom, she helps others restore balance to spirit, mind, and body through spiritual herbalism, intuitive guidance, and ancestral remembrance. Jeanine’s transition from academia to ancestral medicine reflects her ongoing commitment to the wellness and liberation of Black communities—work that continues to honor the teachers, healers, and truth-tellers who came before her.

Jenna Greenwood is from Denver, Colorado and is a proud graduate of Denver East High School. They earned a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Colorado Boulder and went on to complete an M.S. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy with an emphasis in Student Affairs from Portland State University. With over a decade of experience in higher education, Jenna has dedicated their career to guiding students through the complexities of the higher education system, specifically focusing on financial aid and college affordability. Their professional journey began with a term of service through AmeriCorps at a college access and retention nonprofit in Minnesota. It was there that Jenna developed a passion for supporting students. They later served as a Financial Aid Counselor at the University of Oregon, where they gained an in-depth understanding of the financial aid system. In this role, Jenna advised and managed financial aid awards for hundreds of students and launched a su…

Jennifer Bacon represents House District 7 in Denver’s far northeast. She serves as Assistant Majority Leader for the House of Representatives and sits on the Judiciary and Education Committees. As an educator, school administrator, lawyer, and community organizer, Jennifer has committed her career to advancing opportunities through education. From a young age, Jennifer’s family instilled in her the belief that education is freedom, and set her on a path to earn a JD from the College of William & Mary, a Master’s in Education from Florida International University, and Bachelor’s in Business Management from Tulane University. Jennifer is a proud homeowner in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood. In the community, Jennifer commits her professional career and her personal time to advancing education and lives out her belief that the best decisions are those made by those most impacted. As an African American woman, Jennifer recognized from an early age her duty to fight for the succe…

Hi! My name is Josephine(she/her), but most call me Josie! I am a wife, mom, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, group practice owner, therapist, social worker, marriage & family therapist candidate, addictions counseling candidate, and so much more! My work is twofold! As a therapist,I specialize in working with individuals, couples, and families who continue to be minoritized due to the intersections of their identities based on the traumatic experiences they face and the relationships that impact them. What does this mean? This means that the clients I see tend to be placed on the margins of society and because of this, It impacts their view of themselves and their relationships. In our therapy, we seek to work through the impacts of identity and heal the traumas caused by It and caused by relationships. As a speaker and trainer, I focus on supporting organizations that strive to create equitable and inclusive spaces with a focus on equity, inclusion, belonging, and clinical develo…

Julia Berry is dreamer, word-nerd, lover, and spirit-relative in pursuit of joy and expansion. She is a weaving of many things and attributes who she is to the other beings before, around, and arriving after her. Julia is rooted in heart intelligence and chooses to let her heart guide her and for her emotions and experiences to be her teachers. She has walked a winding path that explores the fluidity of “truths” and is drawn to respect the complexities of relationships, communication and love (thank you Dr. Joy DeGruy for clearly connecting these three concepts). Julia loves to learn and grow and to examine what it is to be human and to remain curiously engaged in life. Julia is a Black woman, mother, sister, friend, teacher-student and community member. She learned early on about the function of narratives, such as socially constructed narratives, internalized narratives, and limiting or liberating narratives. This revealed the desire for her to understand and expand her consciousn…

I am an educator and leader who has dedicated my life to supporting children, families, and the adults who love them, because I believe transformation in education begins with relationships rooted in love. My journey started outside of the classroom, working with families living in long-term shelters across New York City. That work taught me early on that schools cannot do this work alone — families are not the problem, they are the power. In 2004, I became a special education teacher with the NYC Department of Education at P.S. 41 in the Bronx. Like so many educators, I wore many hats over the years, learning alongside my students and their families. In 2012, I stepped into the role of Dean, where I helped build school-wide systems of care, supported teachers, and often served as the first line of response during moments of crisis. It was in that role that I first facilitated ParentCorps with families — and it changed how I understood leadership, healing, and what’s possible when sc…

Kamye Hugley is a nonprofit education leader and former classroom educator who began her career with Teach For America (D.C. Region 2009). She brings extensive expertise in literacy, coaching, and professional learning, designing dynamic experiences that help teams perform better, retain what they’ve learned, and build lasting capacity. Passionate about literacy, Kamye believes books can cultivate students' curiosity and positive identity development.

Keisha Rembert is a lifelong learner and a multiple award-winning educator. She is an author, Assistant Professor and Coordinator for Foundational Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging for undergraduate educator preparation at National Louis University. Prior to entering teacher education, she spent more than 18 years teaching middle school English and U.S. History in the Chicagoland area. Her passion for equity and social justice coalesce in her membership and work with several local and national organizations. 2021 appointment by Governor Pritzker to serve on the Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center Educator Advisory Board 2024 Co-chair of the National Council for Teachers of English’s (NCTE) Committee Against Racism and Bias 2024 Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Chair Gilder Lehrman Institute (GLI) for American History Advisory Board In 2019, Kei…