The Perkins Platform

Founder of The American Dream School and Head of School, Melissa Melkonian, joins us to talk about her work in education and incredible success story. Melissa has been a New York City educator for nearly 20 years. She began her career as a bilingual special education teacher in Inwood with the New York City Department of Education and later taught in the Bronx where she became the middle school's assistant principal. The idea for The American Dream School came from her personal experience coupled with research pertaining to student performance in the South Bronx, where many students from immigrant families are underserved in all educational settings. Melissa earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Public Policy from Trinity College, Master's in Bilingual and Special Education from Mercy College and Ed.M. in Educational Leadership at Columbia University's Teachers College. She completed the rigorous training of the Summer Principals Academy, which provided her with the tools she needed to make her vision a reality. Tune in to his broadcast on Tuesday, December 7 @ 6pm EST!

Join us on Wednesday, December 1 @ 6pm EST for a discussion on the sociology of race with Daniel Hirschman, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brown University. He studies the political power of experts and their tools, and the relationship between organizational practices, knowledge production and racial inequality. His book project, Unequal Knowledge: The Stylized Facts of Inequality, traces the history and politics of the gender wage gap, the racial wealth gap, and top income inequality. He has also published on the politics and practice of affirmative action in undergraduate admissions, and the relationship between financial innovation and financial regulation.

Join us on Wednesday, November 17 @ 6pm EST for a discussion on the importance of empathy in today's leader with Tara Van Bommel, PhD.  She is an expert in stereotyping and prejudice, with a focus on the role of nonconscious bias and nonverbal behaviors in intergroup interactions. As Director and Statistician in the research department of Catalyst, Tara provides statistical expertise across all areas of research. In addition, Tara leads the research initiatives for Women and the Future of Work. Prior to joining Catalyst Tara worked across a variety of research disciplines, including developmental neuroscience, forensic neuropsychology, and market research. Tara earned her PhD in social psychology from Tulane University. She earned an MS in psychology from Tulane and a BA in psychology from the University of Denver.

Join us on Wednesday, November 3 @ 6pm EST for an informative conversation with educator, Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, discussing the teaching of democracy in schools and about rethinking schools. Ursula has taught high school social studies since 2000 in a public school in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. On the editorial board of Rethinking Schools magazine, she has written articles and lessons on voting rights, redlining, deportations, COINTELPRO, climate justice, Red Summer, the Cold War, and more. The era of U.S. history she finds most inspiring, humbling, and relevant is always the one she is currently unlearning, relearning, and building curriculum around. See Ursula’s articles and lessons at this site.

Join us on Wednesday, October 27 @ 6pm EST for a conversation with Dr. Calvin Mackie, award winning mentor, inventor, author, former engineering professor, internationally renowned speaker and successful entrepreneur. Dr. Mackie is the founder of STEM NOLA, a non-profit organization founded to expose, inspire and engage communities about the opportunities in STEM. In 7 years, STEM NOLA has engaged over 70,000 mostly low-income low-resourced K-12 students in hands-on project based STEM activities in New Orleans communities.  Mackie graduated from Morehouse College earning a BS in Mathematics in 1990 and was simultaneously awarded a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, where he subsequently earned his Master’s and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1996. He served on the engineering faculty at Tulane University for 12 years. Mackie has won numerous awards including the 2003 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in a White House ceremony and currently serves on the Louisiana STEM (LA-STEM) advisory council.

Lisa Feldman Barrett is University Distinguished Professor of psychology at Northeastern University with appointments at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. Discussing how our world goes beyond our five senses, Dr. Barrett joins us for an exciting conversation on Wednesday, October 20 @ 6pm EST.  She is among the top 1% most-cited scientists for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience.  She is the recipient of a NIH Director’s Pioneer Award for transformative research, the Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Association for Psychological Science (APS), and the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (APA). She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Canada, and a number of other honorific societies. She is also a former president of the APS. She has testified before the US Congress, is the Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at MGH, and actively engages in informal science education for the public via popular books, articles and public lectures. She has authored two popular science books for the public: How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, and more recently, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain.

Award-winning journalist at CNN, John Blake, joins us for an informative conversation discussing his recent article, “White Supremacy, With A Tan.” John has been honored by the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Academy of Religion, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Religion Communicators Council and with the GLAAD Media Award. He was most recently the winner of the 2019 Sigma Delta Chi awards for Excellence in Journalism for his online columns on race and politics. His 2020 essay, “There’s One Epidemic We May Never Find a Cure For: Fear of Black Men in Public Spaces,” was recently selected by Bustle Digital Group as one of the 11 best essays on racism and police violence. The other authors on that list included Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ibram X. Kendi, and Roxane Gay. Blake’s book, “Children of the Movement,” was a finalist for the 2005 NAACP Image Awards in the Outstanding Literary Work Non-Fiction category and a finalist for the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Awards. He has spoken at high schools, colleges, symposiums and in documentaries about topics such as race, religion and politics.  Blake is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and a graduate of Howard University. Tune in on Wednesday, October 13th @ 7pm EST!

Associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, Meredith Broussard, joins us for an exciting conversation on Artificial Intelligence and her recent book, Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence in investigative reporting, with a particular interest in using data analysis for social good. She is an affiliate faculty member at the Moore Sloan Data Science Environment at the NYU Center for Data Science, a 2019 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow, and her work has been supported by the Institute of Museum & Library Services as well as the Tow Center at Columbia Journalism School. A former features editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, she has also worked as a software developer at AT&T Bell Labs and the MIT Media Lab. Her features and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Slate, Vox, and other outlets. Tune in on Wednesday, October 6th @ 6pm EST!

Join us on Wednesday, September 29nd @ 6pm EST for an inspiring conversation with Dr. Jamel Adkins-Sharif, discussing his article “Beginning Again with Marginalized Parents” and the work he is doing nationally to highlight issues that have been frequently put on a back burner.  Dr. Sharif is the Director of Eskolta Boston, a high school research and redesign nonprofit committed to culturally sustaining school transformation. Jamel holds an EdD in Urban Education, Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. His research explores race, social justice, leadership, and equity in schools. Jamel has had a successful career as a special education teacher of history and mathematics in New York, and was founding principal of both an elementary charter and a district middle school in Massachusetts. An alum of Rutgers Law School, Dr. Adkins-Sharif is also Assistant Professor of Practice at Rutgers University Graduate School of  Education.

Join us on Wednesday, September 22nd @ 6pm EST for an informative conversation with Ahtza Dawn Chavez, member of the Diné Nation and born in Kewa Pueblo, to discuss her work as Executive Director of the NAVA Education Project and New Mexico Native Vote.  In her role, she oversees partner organizations tasked with educating and creating an indigenous voting bloc in New Mexico working with key organizations and governance within the state. She is also the small business owner of IndigeLens Media, which focuses on showcasing indigenous voices, enhancing tribal community, promoting social entrepreneurship and increasing visibility of authentic representations of indigenous culture and language. She has worked on various GOTV campaigns in Indian Country (Navajo, Apache and Pueblo) and with Urban populations, heavily invested in the fight for tribal broadband access. Her vision includes focusing on increasing civic engagement within Native American communities, continuing to collaborate and unify voter blocs while strengthening Indigenous sovereignty and control over our sacred lands.