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Hi, Everyone!
I am an Assistant Director at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at Temple University and began my career in Ed Development in January 2020--three months before we went fully remote for the pandemic. I am a recovering Political Scientist who was on the tenure track at a predominantly white institution, denied tenure there, commuted hours out of state to a visiting position, and then got another tenure track position only to have my program dissolved when the university merged with another university. So, I have experienced the ups and downs of being an academic--from adjunct to Program Chair (at R1s to small liberal arts colleges on the east and west coasts) and the challenges of transitioning into another career in my late 40s. I draw upon those experiences, including 15 years of teaching, in my role at Temple and continue to do the work I love and have been doing my whole time in academia--working to create learning experiences that center our students and doing our best for them by listening and including them in the learning process. I still teach gender politics for Temple's political science department so that keeps me in touch with faculty and student needs and informs my work as an ed developer.

Because I was a low-income First Gen and Pell grant recipient, I try to show up for others in academia who share this background and believe that we can bring about meaningful changes by working together and building partnerships and coalitions. Throughout my career, I have also created initiatives and spaces for mentoring and support for students, staff, and faculty of color so that we can share resources and navigate higher ed together because no one succeeds in academia without multiple networks and a community of folks looking out for each other.

At Temple, my focus is on inclusive teaching and I have worked with our Director and team to launch a Teaching for Equity Institute and many custom workshops for departments on inclusive pedagogy, preparing for difficult conversations, writing teaching and diversity statements, and supporting new instructors.

With my colleague, Derina Samuel, we are presenting on the experiences and challenges of Ed Developers of Color in the field at our roundtable. If you are interested or working on these issues, we would love to connect to learn more about you and your work, and see how we can support one another.

Thanks and hope to see you at the conference!