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This is your gateway to the June 15 -17 Institute.

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AYA Educational Institute has been offering web- conference-based educational and online solutions for over 16 years. Afiya and Wekesa Madzimoyo are Co-Directors of AYA Educational Institute.

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DR. AFIYA MBILISHAKA Owner , Ma'at Psychological Service Dr. Afiya Mbilishaka is a therapist, professor, research-scientist, and hairstylist. She is the owner of Ma'at Psychological Services, a private practice in Washington, DC focused on promoting balance and restoring order to the lives of her clients. She is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of the District of Columbia that focuses on understanding and using traditional African cultural rituals for contemporary wholistic mental health practices. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She studied the psychological significance of race within lives and earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Howard University at the age of 26. Dr. Mbilishaka innovated the practice and research of, "psychohairapy," where she uses hair as an entry point for mental health services in beauty salons and barbershops, as well as through social media. She is the principal investigator of the PsychoHairapy Research Lab and has been a research advisor to over 30 students. She has now gone international, leading cultural and mental health focused trips to Cuba and to various African countries. She is the former Association of Black Psychologist DC chapter president. Dr. Mbilishaka is a natural hairstylist at N Natural Hair Studio in Silver Spring, Maryland where she loves creating art with locs, twists, and afros. DR. CHRISTOPHER EMDIN Director of the Science Education program and Associate Director , Urban and Minority Education, Columbia University Dr. Christopher Emdin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University; where he also serves as Director of the Science Education program and Associate Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education. He is an alumni fellow at the Hutchins Center at Harvard University and served as STEAM Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State and Minorities in Energy Ambassador for the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Emdin is a social critic, public intellectual and science advocate whose commentary on issues of race, culture, inequality and education have appeared in dozens of influential periodicals including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Dr. Emdin holds a Ph.D in Urban Education with a concentration in Mathematics, Science, and Technology; Masters degrees in both Natural Sciences and Education Administration, and Bachelors degrees in Physical Anthropology, Biology, and Chemistry. He is the author of the award winning book, Urban Science Education for the Hip-hopGeneration and The New York Times bestseller For White Folks Who Teach In the Hood and the Rest of Ya’ll too. DR. EDWARD BUSH President , Cosumnes River College Dr. Edward Bush has over 20 years of experience in higher education with 17 of those years in the California Community College system. Dr. Bush currently serves as the President of Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, Ca. Dr. Bush has served as a tenured associate faculty member in student activities, Director of the Educational Talent Search federal TRIO grant, and Dean of Student Services. Dr. Bush is an innovative leader that has a history of developing programs and services that foster both student access and success; including the development of targeted programs for historically underserved populations as well as veterans. Dr. Edward Bush is scholar- practitioner, thus has co-authored 2 books, 2 book chapters, and 8 peer reviewed publications appearing in journals including: Black Issues in Higher Education, Community College Week, Diverse Educational Horizons, Journal of African American Males in Education, and the Community College Journal. Dr. Bush received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from University of California, Riverside, Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University, San Bernardino, and his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Claremont Graduate University in Urban Educational Leadership. DR. GLORIA LADSON-BILLINGS Author, Consultant Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings is the former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and faculty affiliate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was the 2005-2006 president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Dr. Ladson-Billings’ research examines the pedagogical practices of teachers who are successful with African American students. She also investigates Critical Race Theory applications to education. She is the author of the critically acclaimed books, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children and Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms, and numerous journal articles and book chapters. She is the former editor of the American Educational Research Journal and a member of several editorial boards. Her work has won numerous scholarly awards including the H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship, the NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the Palmer O. Johnson outstanding research award. During the 2003- 2004 academic year, she was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. In fall of 2004, she received the George and Louise Spindler Award from the Council on Anthropology and Education for significant and ongoing contributions to the field of educational anthropology. She holds honorary degrees from Umeå University (Umeå Sweden), University of Massachusetts-Lowell, the University of Alicante (Alicante, Spain), the Erickson Institute (Chicago), and Morgan State University (Baltimore). She is a 2018 recipient of the AERA Distinguished Research Award, and she was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2018. DR. IVA CARRUTHERS Professor Emeritus , Department at Northeastern Illinois University Dr. Iva Carruthers is the renowned Professor Emeritus and former chairperson of the Sociology Department at Northeastern Illinois University. Her personal and professional life is an active ministry centering on issues of justice and social policy. Before becoming founding CEO and a board member of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC), she also served as executive director of the Black Theology Project and president of Urban Outreach Foundation. Dr. Carruthers holds a PhD from Northwestern University in sociology and did post doctoral studies at the University of Chicago and University of Illinois. She received a Masters in Theological Studies from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. She was founding president of Nexus Unlimited, an information technology firm and served on the Presidential Task Force on the Internet and instructional technology. She has authored and edited numerous publications. She is also a lifetime trustee of the Chicago Theological Seminary, and serves as a Vision & Organizational Consultant to A Black Education Network (ABEN).​ DR. JOY LAWSON DAVIS Author, Consultant Joy Lawson Davis, Ed.D. is a career educator with over 40 years of experience as a practitioner, scholar, author and consultant. In addition to local district and university experiences, Davis served for five years as the Virginia State Specialist for K-12 Gifted services. A graduate of the College of William & Mary, Dr. Davis holds both master’s and doctorate degrees in Gifted Education. Davis has conducted workshops, been a long-term program consultant, and served as a keynote speaker and distinguished guest lecturer across the nation, in South Africa, the Caribbean, Dubai UAE & Turkey. Diversity Education and Gifted Education are her areas of special expertise. Dr. Davis served for five years on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). She has published numerous articles, technical reports and book chapters, and is the author of the award-winning book: Bright,Talented & Black: a Guide for Families of African American Gifted Learners and Gifted Children of Color Around the World: Diverse Needs, Exemplary Practices and Directions for the Future, co- edited with Dr. James L. Moore III. Davis is the Special Populations columnist for the NAGC publication: Teaching for High Potential and serves on the Gifted Child Today advisory board. Dr. Davis was recently awarded the 2019 Dr. Alexinia Baldwin Gifted & Special Populations Award from NAGC, in addition to having the distinguished honor of being awarded the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Supporting DR. JOYCE E. KING Professor | Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair for Urban Teaching Learning, Leadership , College of Education & Human Development, Georgia State University Dr. Joyce E. King (Ph.D., Sociology of Education, BA Sociology, Stanford University) holds the Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair for Urban Teaching, Learning and Leadership at Georgia State University (GSU) in the Department of Educational Policy Studies. She holds affiliated faculty status in the Department of African American Studies, the Women’s and Gender Studies Institute, the Partnership for Urban Health Research and the Urban Studies Institute. Her publications in the Harvard Educational Review, the Journal of Negro Education, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and the Journal of African American History focus on a transformative role for culture in curriculum and urban teacher effectiveness, morally engaged, community-mediated inquiry and Black education research and policy. Her most recent book is Heritage Knowledge in the Curriculum: Retrieving an African Episteme (with E. Swartz). Dr. King is past president of the American Educational Research Association, President of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Food and Development Policy (FoodFirst.org), a member of the National African American Reparations Commission and a recipient of the Stanford University School of Education Alumni Excellence Award (2018). A recent essay, “To Create a More Perfect Union, We the People Need Reparations to Heal Our Wounded Souls,” is published on on the American Civil Liberties Union website. DR. LINDA DARLING HAMMOND Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus , Stanford University Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University where she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and served as the faculty sponsor of the Stanford Teacher Education Program, which she helped to redesign. Darling- Hammond is past president of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of its awards for Distinguished Contributions to Research, Lifetime Achievement, and Research-to-Policy. She is also a member of the American Association of Arts and Sciences and of the National Academy of Education. From 1994–2001, she was executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, whose 1996 report What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future was named one of the most influential reports affecting U.S. education in that decade. In 2006, Darling- Hammond was named one of the nation’s ten most influential people affecting educational policy. In 2008, she served as the leader of President Barack Obama’s education policy transition team. Darling-Hammond began her career as a public school teacher and co- founded both a preschool and a public high school. She served as Director of the RAND Corporation’s education program and as an endowed professor at Columbia University, Teachers College. She has consulted widely with federal, state and local officials and educators on strategies for improving education policies and practices. Among her more than 500 publications are a number of award-winning books, including The Right to Learn, Teaching as the Learning Profession, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World and The Flat World and Education. She received an Ed.D. from Temple University (with highest distinction) and a B.A. from Yale University (magna cum laude). DR. TERESA ALDREDGE President of the Board of Directors , Umoja Community Education Foundation Dr. Teresa Aldredge has been a counselor/instructor at Cosumnes River College since 1992. She also serves as the Program Coordinator/Counselor for the Diop Scholars Program on the campus and also teaches in the Human Services department. Dr. Aldredge brings statewide organizational leadership to the board from her experience as President of both the California Counseling Association (CCA) and president of the California Community College Counselors Association (4CA). In addition, she has served as interim Treasurer for the Faculty Association for California Community Colleges (FACCC) for two terms and currently serves on the FACCC Board as Governor at Large. She has served as Academic Senate President and the Counseling Department Chair at Cosumnes River College. Dr. Aldredge is a founding member of the Umoja Community of California Community Colleges and holds the position of President of the Board of Directors of the Umoja Community Education Foundation. She served as Acting Executive Director during the search for a permanent Executive Director.Dr. Aldredge received her A.A. in Liberal Arts from Palomar College, a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego, her M.A. in Education: Counselor Education from San Diego State University, and her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of California, Davis and California State University, Fresno joint doctoral program. TERRENCE WINSTON Founder and Lead Consultant , Paradigm Time LLC Terrence Winston is an Entrepreneurial Activist, Youth Development Specialist, Community Advocate and Restorative Circle Keeper. He is the founder and lead consultant of Paradigm Time LLC; a grassroots group committed to transforming organizations in the public and private sectors using a restorative framework. In addition to serving as the Co-Board Chair of RJI, he serves as the coordinator for the Coalition for Community Schools Excellence, an advocacy and accountability group comprised of 60 nonprofit organizations supporting the NYC Community Schools Initiative in slightly over 250 schools serving over 200,000 students across the five boroughs. Terrence is a Certified Restorative Justice Practitioner and trained Peer Mediator who for the past 10 years has worked with NYC public schools, nonprofit organizations, city agencies, homeless shelters and school suspension sites.​ M. VON NKOSI, M. von Nkosi, is the principal of Liquid Studios, a collective of like-minded professionals operating from a "shared vision” helping communities optimize their potential (www.liquidstudios360.com). Architect/designer, he has optimized Smart Growth Strategies for municipalities through expertise in housing, land use policy, public/private development, and strategic planning. In 2007 post-Katrina New Orleans von directed $30-million of Disaster CDBG funds. In June of 2012 he founded and is president of the NOLA based Institute for Local Innovations (www.ili360.org). In 2016 designed and brought the Mi Rialiti [my reality] Smartphone App to market www.mirialiti.com. In 2017 he inked a five year agreement with NASA GSFC to help push NASA Technology into the Marketplace engaging HBCU students as next generation entrepreneurs. In 2019 he inked a NASA patent license agreement for technology to process tera- and petabytes of data with an initial focus on existing and future climate data (NASA Spark magazine page 7 -https://tinyurl.com/ycljym3z). ​

Presenters

Resources

ABEN Social Media

FaceBook

Presenters

Resources

ABEN Social Media

FaceBook

Presenters

Resources

ABEN Social Media

FaceBook