Richard Rothstein is an American academic and author affiliated with the Economic Policy Institute, and a senior fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. His current research focuses on the history of segregation in the United States with regards to education and housing. He has written various books including; The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Reform to Close the Black–White Achievement Gap and Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right. In this episode he discusses the history of housing and education segregation. You can find out more about him on: https://www.epi.org/people/richard-rothstein/

Juliana Cohen, PhD works in the Department of Health Sciences at Merrimack College as an associate professor and as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Cohen has her PhD in nutrition and her research focuses on pediatric nutrition, including school-based interventions, child/adolescent health and development, health disparities, and nutrition policies.

Parris Washington is a PhD candidate at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is the class of 2024 and is working towards her PhD in Human Genetics. Currently, her research focuses on hypothalamic development and mechanisms of sleep at the Seth Blackshaw Lab at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to her research interest, she advocates for science communication and policy in underserved communities. She is also a mentor at the Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP). In this episode, we discuss her research interests and how she intends to influence science communication and policy. She’s proud of her graduation from an HBCU- Spelman College.

Dr. Seanna Leath is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. Dr. Leath’s PhD is in Education and Psychology. Her research focuses on healthy outcomes for black girls and women. In this episode she discusses her research work on targeted outcomes for black girls and women. She also currently runs the F.H.I.RE (Fostering Healthy Identities and REsilience) Lab at the University of Virginia.

Randall Kennedy, JD is a Harvard Professor of law. He teaches courses on Contracts, Civil Rights, Racial Relations and the Law, and Constitutional Law. Professor Kennedy has written several books and scholarly publications. Including the forthcoming, “Say it Loud On Race, Law, History and Culture.” He has studied at University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and received his J.D. from Yale Law School. He also was an editor for the Yale Law Journal. After law school, he served as a law clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall and served on the NAACP Legal Defensive Fund. You can learn more about Professor Kennedy from his interviews on C-SPAN, “Common Law” podcast on UVA Law, The American Prospect and CNN.

Joseph B. Ryan, PhD (special education) is the Distinguished Professor of Special Education at the University of Clemson, College of Education. In addition to being a professor, he has been a K-12 teacher. He is the founder of Clemson LIFE(Learning Is For Everyone); where he helps teach adults with developmental disabilities life skills. Dr. Ryan is also a retired Captain of the US Navy Reserve. He has written over 90 publications, and is the Editor of the journal Beyond Behavior.

Iheoma U. Iruka, Ph.D., is a Research Professor of Public Policy at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, Dr. Iruka is Director of the Early Childhood Health and Racial Equity Program at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Her Ph.D. is in Applied Developmental Psychology. Her research and public policy area(s) of work include: Child Health and Development, Early Care and Education, Pre-K Education, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Teacher Sarah McGhee recaps some of 2020’s most noted Education issues. Ms. McGhee is in her 6th year of teaching in Northern VA. She has a bachelors in History from VCU, a masters degree in secondary education from Marymount University and is currently taking class at George Washington University in Educational Leadership. She has taught in special education (autism) classrooms at the elementary level, as well as general education at the middle and high school level. Currently, she is a high school History teacher.

Grace Ibitamuno is a scholar and a MD/PhD candidate at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Grace is a health policy researcher, with specialized knowledge about culturally competent care that addresses the complex needs of children with autism, and related disabilities. She also has an appointment as an adjunct. Additionally, she has been a LEND (Leadership & Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) Fellow, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Fellow, and NJ Department of Health Fellow. She has also published a novel, “Not Yet Beautiful”about human trafficking. You can check out her Tedx talk on resiliency and her education journey on YouTube. Ms. Ibitamuno is a recipient of the highly coveted Executive Women of New Jersey (EWNJ) Graduate Student Award.

Dean Danielle Conway is the law Dean at Penn State Dickinson Law. In this episode, she discusses leadership and how the study of law can be the vehicle to leading. Dean Conway is also 1/5 of the “Sister Deans,” who are the driving force behind the momentous systemic changes occurring at the Association of American Law Schools. She is also a veteran and has written several publications.