August 16, 2021

LE 204: The Blossom Model: A Mentoring Framework for Black Women Educators with Dr. LeTanya Lawrence

30 minutes

About LeTanya Lawerence, Ed.D.

Dr. Le`Tanya T. E. Lawrence has built her career as an urban educator, researcher, and advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion. As product of urban education, Le`Tanya is committed beyond the call of duty to lift the voices of BIPOC student and family voices. She began her journey in equity leadership twenty years ago as a student in the Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers program (TSTT). In the TSTT program she fostered a love for mentoring, and nurturing students’ critical consciousness. Le`Tanya graduated Manhattan College with a B.S and M.S. Ed in childhood and special education, Sacred Heart University with a CAS in Education Leadership and the University of Bridgeport with a Doctorate in International Education and Educational leadership. After graduating Manhattan College she joined the courageous educators in New York City, DOE. During her induction with NYCDOE she was as a self-contained teacher, inclusion co-teacher and a curriculum designer. Le`Tanya transitioned from her home in New York City to Connecticut after she got married and started a small family. Le`Tanya is a mom to three beautiful Black unicorns: 11, 8 and 1 years of age. Her eldest son thrives with epilepsy and autism. Le`Tanya prides herself that being a mother and wife made her a better teacher and advocate. Le`Tanya is a passionate advocate for Intersectionality issues of race, gender and ability as well as she serves on the Board of Directors for the Epilepsy foundation of Connecticut.

For the past couple of years Le`Tanya has supported school partners across the Tri-state area on various topics including racial equity, special education transition, student discipline, co-teaching, culturally responsive family engagement, student attendance, special education leadership, culturally intelligence as well as she served on the advisory for the Black and Latino Studies curriculum as a contributor to the Black curriculum designer. This year she joined the leadership team of the Consolidated School District of New Britain to support the evaluation and development of a small program for students with social, emotional and behavioral challenges.

Dr. Lawrence was honored by Dr. Bettye H. Perkins, CEO of the Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teacher with the Trailblazer award for her lifetime commitment to equity, excellence and education and most recently through her dissertation research study. Dr. Lawrence completed her dissertation study Mosaic of Thought: A Qualitative Case Study on the Individual Induction Experiences of Black Women Educators (BWEs) in Connecticut Urban Public Schools." Driven by her own intellectual curiosities and professional reflections she wanted to know what have been the experiences of BWEs Her dissertation study focused on the intersection of race and gender to illuminate the teacher induction experiences of Black women in Connecticut. Some of the major themes in her study included Black Girl Magicians at Work and The Placeholder Effect (Lawrence, 2021). Dr. Lawrence developed the Blossom model, a three-dimensional research informed framework to support the mentoring of Black women educators and leaders.

Dr. Lawrence is the founder of Elle’s H.E.A.R.T LLC. Her organization focuses on helping the community through a lens of equity for education, advocacy, research and teacher mentoring. Elle’s H.E.A.R.T provides support around: program evaluation; increasing inclusion options for students with disabilities; making space for BIPOC families’ voices; coaching instructional teams to develop culturally intelligent curriculum; and executive coaching for educational leaders on how to address access barriers for staff and students of color. Throughout her work Dr. Lawrence persists in the face of adversity as she noted, “Because our kids need to see us… because our kids need to hear us,” she presses on.

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