Diversity & Equity

Charity Marcella Moran is a former high school project-based learning teacher, New Tech Network school development coach, and a middle school alternative programs instructional specialist. Charity’s focus areas include strategic program development, culturally responsive teaching, educating and empowering Black males, STEM, 21st century skills, project-based learning, literacy, language, and equity.

Margaret Lane Dunne, EdD, has over 20 years of teaching experience and is a faculty member at Great Neck South High School. She is also an author and a presenter who enthusiastically shares her insights about better ways to engage students.

Steve Van Bockern is a professor of education at Augustana University in South Dakota. Formerly a teacher and principal, his research interests include resiliency, alternative education, restorative justice, bullying, discipline, and creating well-being.

Dr. Kapono Ciotti has worked internationally in educational change organizations and has trained teachers in over 100 schools and districts across four continents, impacting hundreds of thousands of students.

Kimberly Cullen is an education professional who has held a variety of teaching and leadership positions in an international school based in Madrid, Spain. She has also served international and independent K–12 schools as a coach.

Students do not put up walls to avoid relationships, but to see who cares enough to break the walls down. Research shows that building relationships with students increases engagement, motivation, test scores, and grade point averages while decreasing absenteeism, dropout rates, and discipline issues.

Shawn W. McCusker has 25 years of experience as a teacher and leader and is currently the director of professional learning at Digital Promise, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the digital learning gap.

Kathy Vergara, EdD, is an experienced educator dedicated to serving and improving educational outcomes for multilingual learners and their families. She focuses on designing and implementing curriculum for bilingual, dual language, and ESL programs in grades preK–12.

Yetunde Reeves, EdD, is principal of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Baltimore. She is committed to social justice education, and her passion is working with students of color and supporting first-generation college students.

Jillayne Flanders the executive director of the Center for Educational Improvement, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting mindful and compassionate schools with heart-centered, trauma-informed practices. She has taught graduate classes at Westfield State University, supervised student teachers at Mount Holyoke College, and lectured at Boston University, Springfield College, Boston College, and Harvard Graduate School of Education.