Hometown: Grew up in Cranston, RI… but now call Providence, RI home since I’ve lived in the city for over 20 years and raised my children here!

Current Program: Urban Education Policy

Undergraduate Institution: Rhode Island College

Undergraduate Degree: B.S. Elementary and Special Education 
 

What drew you to the UEP program at Brown? 
My undergraduate research centered around barriers to teacher certification, my interest in teacher diversity, educational equity, and teacher retention led me to the UEP program at Brown. As a certified special educator of color that attended a traditional educator preparation program, I faced several barriers as I worked to complete my undergraduate degree and obtain my certification. I wasn’t going to let anyone else write my story for me, so I advocated for myself to ensure that I could remain working to support my family, while successfully obtaining my certification and degree at the same time. As I looked across the classroom spaces I entered, I rarely saw an educator that looked like me. Although I didn’t have many mentor teachers that looked like me, I saw many professionals of color working in non-certified roles within education spaces also doing AMAZING work with students. I wondered why they weren’t lead educators, what prevented them from obtaining certification, and why opportunities hadn’t been shepherded to them? My research and continued curiosity in the work led me to apply to UEP so that I could figure out how I could continue contributing to change in advancing teacher diversity and educational equity. Learning critical skills to sharpen my understanding of how I can create change through a policy lens for long-term impact? Yes, please! I’m so excited to be able to apply my knowledge alongside my fellow UEP peers after graduation. Watch out world… The UEP ‘22 change agents are coming soon, to an education space near you! 

What has been your favorite UEP class and why?
Up to this point, I don’t know if I’ve had a “favorite UEP class”, they’ve all been great in different ways. I can say that I have favorite/memorable experiences that have been shared across all classes though. It has been an honor getting to know my fellow UEP cohort peers through deep course content discussions, projects, various study groups, late-night thought dumps, after-class discussions, group work, late-night zoom sessions, or the ‘all-time favorite’ of struggling through STATA code! Through all of the challenging moments someone was always there to offer words of encouragement (including Professors and Brown faculty!) or help think through ideas or confusion. Creating meaningful relationships and dialogue with so many amazing people that then cascaded through all of our classes has helped shape all of my learning, so I’m not sure a specific class can top that?!

Where is your internship placement and what are you working on?
My internship is at the Equity Institute (EI), which is an education nonprofit located in Providence, RI. I am lucky enough to be employed full-time at EI while enrolled full-time in UEP. It’s not an easy task to do both, but it has been an amazing experience to be immersed in the work while simultaneously learning new skills. In my full-time position at EI, I focus on advancing teacher diversity and retention through our alternative educator pathway program, Equity Unbound. For my internship work, I have had the pleasure to work closely with our EI research team on Root Cause Equity Analysis (RCEA) projects where we conduct a comprehensive, community-centered research process that assesses a school district's diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and practices. With my UEP lens, I have been able to approach the work in a new way, and it has been impactful for my personal and professional growth, as well as the work we are doing in the organization.

What are you hoping to do after graduation?
My biggest hope is to continue to conduct my own research, write, and publish work that can impact policy changes necessary to support educational equity. I look forward to continuing to work with the committed team at EI, and collaborating with fellow UEP peers in the future to keep pushing educational equity work forward!

I am most passionate about… 
I am most passionate about providing access, support, and equitable opportunities to learners of all ages. My curious mind and positive approach to lifelong learning help keep me centered on values-based work, which also helps me stay grounded and passionate about my career in education. #changeagent4life

What is one way you center yourself or work on your mental health while being a graduate student with many other responsibilities?
I laugh A LOT! It’s a great stress reliever and helps me to recenter myself and helps me remember not to take myself too seriously. Research shows that laughter is the “best medicine”! So I guess it helps that I love telling really good “bad” jokes! For example… Why don't koalas count as bears? They don't have the right koalafications. Or for the math crowd out there… What do you get when you pour root beer into a square cup? Beer. Hahahahahaaaa! Ooooh, how I love good dry humor! I’ve made it a point to try and share this same level of bad joking with my peers all semester long, so I hope they enjoy these gems. Lol!