Sean Aday joined the George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs in 2000, after completing his Ph.D. and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. His work focuses on the intersection of the press, politics, and public opinion, especially in relation to war and foreign policy, public diplomacy, and the role of digital media in democracy movements and countering violent extremism.

Dr. Aday has published widely on subjects ranging from the effects of watching local television news, to coverage of American politics and media coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been involved in global media and government capacity training projects, including work in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For seven years Dr. Aday directed GW’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication and its Global Communications M.A. program.

As part of a National Science Foundation grant, he, along with two colleagues, conducted a series of surveys about Americans' attitudes about government and media following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Recently he received a grant from the Hewlett Foundation to study media coverage of cyber security issues. Aday was also the principle investigator for DC Student Voices, a curriculum-based project in Washington DC high schools that aimed to get students more involved in politics. He has been a frequent commentator in the press on news coverage of elections, crime, and war.

A native of Miami, Florida and an alumna of Florida A & M University, Ms. Tokiwa T. Smith is a Chemical Engineer, Social Entrepreneur and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Educator. She has over 15 years’ experience in education, government and philanthropy having worked for organizations such as Atlanta Public Schools, California State University East Bay, Georgia State University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Spelman College. Ms. Smith the Founder and Executive Director of Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link Inc., also known as SEM Link, a nonprofit organization that exposes urban youth to STEM and STEM Careers by connecting to the STEM community. She is the CEO and Principal Consultant of Kemet Educational Services, a STEM educational consulting firm that focuses on ensuring that pre-college, community college and undergraduate students are prepared to pursue STEM careers.

Michael Green Jr is the Dean of Culture and Instruction for Uplift Education in Dallas, TX. In his role as Dean he impacts teacher practices and influences the way schools provide culturally sound educational experiences for all students. This upcoming Teacher Appreciation Week we wanted to shine a light on the WHY behind the gratitude so many students and their families will be showing next week. In Michael’s journey from college graduate, to 6th grade teacher, and now Dean, every step of the way there has been someone, even in his most recent school, that he appreciates for being a motivating influence. He now joins us to discuss how he is using all those motivating factors to merge his love for youth development and his dedication to fighting for the inclusion of underrepresented people. It’s the work organizations like Motivational Goals and Black Men For, that Michael has co-founded, and the care put into educators’ well-being and mental health that is at the root of Equity in Education. So, click play and tune in to this Teacher Appreciation Episode of Behind the Biography featuring Michael Green Jr.

Dr. Kelly Esch is currently a Chief of Staff at Banfield Pet Hospital, Leesburg Village. She is a graduate of Christopher Newport University where she then went onto a Virginia Tech’s Vet School, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Esch has known since she was a young child that she wanted to attend vet school and be a veterinarian. She has always had a passion for animals and even worked in a kennel to get more experience prior to vet school. She has been partnering with the Guide Dog Foundation to help raise puppies who then go on to be service dogs for the blind. Dr. Esch is an animal owner herself and talks about her Green-Cheeked Conure during her episode! So, click play and tune into this episode of Behind the Biography featuring Dr. Kelly Esch.

Ben Lafferty is an accomplished professor and author. Ben graduated with a BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford, and with an MA and PhD from the University of London. He has been the recipient of multiple awards for writing and scholarship, including the Fulbright Early Career Award, the Guardian Student Critic of the Year, the Kenneth Tynan Prize, the Wylie Prize and the Howell Daniels award. He has taught history and American Studies at colleges in the United Kingdom, and recently published his new book, American Intelligence, an examination of news culture in the early years of the American republic. We had the honor of working with Ben as he designed our new Simulation for the NYLF: National Security program.

Dr. Leroy Chiao, a retired NASA Astronaut, and former International Space Station Commander, is the Co-Founder and CEO of One Orbit. He and the One Orbit team leads corporate keynote and training workshops. However, it is their partnership with Envision’s Explore STEM and Aerospace & Aviation Academies that has led our students to scoring Dr. Chiao the programs’ highest rated speakers. During his time as a distinguished NASA astronaut he has spent over 229 days on missions and space walks while exploring space. Dr. Chiao is one of the most sought out experts in his field and he used this conversation to share his past and current experiences, to educate us on the future of space exploration, and how we can impact the next leaders who will boldly go where no man has gone before. So, click play, sit back, and enjoy deep exploration in this episode of Behind the Biography featuring Dr. Leroy Chiao.

This has been another amazing episode of Behind the Biography, Thank you so much for tuning in.

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Peipei Zhou leads the Career Connections program at Facebook. The focus of her work is to provide upward mobility for underrepresented students by connecting them to meaningful careers in their communities

Stephanie Espy founded MathSP Academic and Test Prep Coaching to empower the next generation of STEM leaders by imparting “STEM fluency” – the ability to problem solve, think critically and logically, apply theory and innovate.

Nick Heyne is triple Board-certified adult and pediatric, addiction, forensic, and sports psychiatrist.  From being an high school scholar of Envision’s Careers in the Medicine Program, to later leading as a Faculty Advisor during his collegiate years, and then as a guest keynote speaker during his fellowships at Envision’s events in North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, and Georgia, Dr. Heyne passionately shares his journey so as to inspire other scholars as to how to rise to the occasion during these tumultuous times.  Dr. Heyne continues to enjoy making connections with his scholars in hopes that they too will find their identity, including in the field of medicine through such programs as Envision’s Careers in the Medicine Program.  By clicking play, you have the opportunity to tune into this episode of Behind the Biography with Dr. Nick Heyne!

Alan Nemeth is currently a Professor at the American University Washington College of Law and is a graduate of American University Washington College of Law himself. Alan has been teaching Animal Law for about 14 years and what got him interested in this field was making the choice between going to Vet School or Law School, choosing Law School, but wanting to incorporate his passion for animals in some way. Alan became passionate for Animal Law starting in the 1980’s when he realized that this ties both of his two interests together. As a member of the Maryland BAR Association, he wondered if they would like to add Animal Law as a section. After proposing it, his idea was approved and soon came to find out it was the quickest growing section they’ve ever had. Alan shares his journey on how his outlook on animals and eating meat has changed over the years, from first cutting out meat, to seafood, to then becoming strictly vegan. He encourages listeners to think twice about all that goes into the milk they drink, meat they eat, and how it effects these animals. So, click play and tune into this episode of Behind the Biography featuring Alan Nemeth.

This week we celebrate Black History Month. Join some of our incredible employees as they discuss what it means to be black in America, what does being an ally mean, the events of summer 2020 and the BLM movement, and who are the black change makers that inspire them.