Dr. Pooya Almasi is an Assistant Professor of Quantitative Methodology in the Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership, and Policy at Morgan State University and the faculty research methodologist for the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED). He holds a PhD in Economics from Georgetown University.

As an empirical economist, Dr. Almasi’s research focuses on the economics of education, labor economics and public economics. He applies quantitative methods to analyze and evaluate educational programs and policies, with a strong focus on equity and impact. In his research on educator labor markets, Dr. Almasi explores the career mobility of teachers and principals by analyzing factors such as retention, attrition, salary, and job transitions to better understand workforce dynamics in education. His work on school finance advocates for the equitable allocation of resources by analyzing funding mechanisms and evaluating local and state education policies to ensure fair distribution across districts and schools. Additionally, Dr. Almasi explores student learning and outcomes in both K-12 and higher education, assessing how various instructional approaches and academic policies impact student success in both the short and long term.

Dr. Leslie A. Anderson is an Assistant Professor of Family & Consumer Sciences and a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 10 years of clinical experience, primarily serving Black youths and families. As research faculty for The National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED), she conducts research on the social and emotional learning and psychological well-being of both children and adults. Dr. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science, with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, from the University of Georgia.

As a scholar-practitioner, Dr. Anderson’s program of research focuses on the intersection of Black familial processes, race and racism, and psychological well-being. Specifically, she investigates how racial socialization and a positive racial identity act as protective factors against racial harm and injury.

Her research has been published in the Journal of Family Theory and Review, the Journal of Black
Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, the Journal of Research on Adolescence, the Journal of Social Issues and others. Dr. Anderson also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Family Theory and Review and Family Process, and she reviews for numerous other academic journals.

A cornerstone of Dr. Anderson’s scholarship is her commitment to amplifying the voices of underserved and historically excluded communities while centering their lived experiences. She is currently part of a multi-institutional research team conducting a longitudinal project funded by the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) that aims to identify risk and protective factors for suicidality among young Black children in early and middle childhood.

Dr. Bryant Best is an Assistant Professor of Urban Education and research faculty for The National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED). His interdisciplinary research explores the intersections of race, policy, and public education, with a particular focus on reparative justice, community engagement, and the cultural politics of schooling. Dr. Best earned his Ph.D. in Justice & Diversity in Education from Vanderbilt University, and he brings extensive experience as both an independent education consultant and former policy advisor focused on equity and racial justice in K–12 and higher education.

As a scholar-practitioner, Dr. Best’s research examines how race-conscious policies—and their absence—shape educational access, harm, and/or opportunity for Black students and communities. His work spans multiple domains, including the mechanisms and outcomes of school discipline disproportionality, cultural humility, and the role of cultural expression, such as those found within hip-hop, gaming, and sports culture, in public policy discourse and grassroots efforts in Black communities. He is especially interested in how public systems operationalize or undermine justice through formal policy and legal frameworks, as well as how community-centered social movements can counteract those measures.

Dr. Best’s work has been featured in venues such as Race & Ethnicity in Education, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, and Language Arts, among others. A cornerstone of Dr. Best’s scholarship is his commitment to amplifying the voices of historically excluded communities through participatory and culturally grounded methods. He is also developing a new research agenda on gaming and digital culture as vehicles for educational equity and STEM engagement.

Dr. Tajma Cameron is an Assistant Professor in Science Education and Research Faculty at the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED). She is also a National Science Foundation (NSF) CADRE alumna and a Jhumki Basu Scholar (NARST). Dr. Cameron’s scholarship centers on integrating culturally sustaining and creative instructional strategies into STEM education, with a particular focus on supporting Black girls’ sense of belonging, ownership, and empowerment in these fields. Her work further examines the experiences of Black girls, including those who are twice exceptional, in STEM learning environments.

Employing culturally sustaining qualitative methodologies, Dr. Cameron seeks to illuminate the nuanced intersections of race, gender, and ability in science education. Her research aims to advance more inclusive and affirming pedagogies that cultivate the success, agency, and belonging of historically marginalized learners in STEM.

Beyond her research, Dr. Cameron has contributed to international STEM identity development initiatives, including work with the STEMBees Infinity Girls in Space Project through a United States Embassy in Ghana grant. She has facilitated masterclass sessions such as “Cultivating Your Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Identities” and “Building Your STEM Identities.”

A certified biology teacher (Grades 7–12) in Maryland and Pennsylvania, Dr. Cameron was recognized by the Maryland State Department of Education as a Teacher of Promise during her tenure as a K–12 educator. Her research has been published in Journal of Black Studies, Teaching and Teacher Education, Science Education, and the Journal of Modern Nursing Practice and Research.

Walter Fields is the founder of the Black Parents Workshop, Inc., a not-for-profit parents advocacy organization based in South Orange-Maplewood, NJ that championed a landmark federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Black students in the local school district. Walter previously served as Director of Public Affairs for the New York Trial Lawyers Association, and Vice President for Government Relations for the Community Service Society in New York City. Upon his relocation to Maryland, he has assumed the role of Co-Chairperson of the Advisory Council Strong Schools Maryland, a statewide education equity advocacy organization. In addition, he serves on the Board of Child First Authority, an organization that sponsors in-school and out-of-school programming at twelve Baltimore City community schools. In the past, Walter was a Member of the Prince George’s County (MD) Board of Education, appointed by County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, and served as the Chair of the Policy and Governance Committee.  He served for many years on the Board of the New Jersey State Conference of the N.A.A.C.P. and was the organization’s political director.

His background also includes work as an award-winning journalist and experience in every medium of journalism – daily press, magazines, radio, television, and Internet news. He was hired by NBC News as an original political contributor on the MSNBC Cable News Channel and for MSNBC.com, contributor to National Public Radio (NPR), news anchor on WRKS “KISS-FM” in New York City, Contributing Editor to New Jersey Reporter Magazine, and Publisher of City Limits Magazine in New York City. Walter Fields has also been a strong advocate for diversity in media and accountability in reporting. Walter has also been an adjunct professor in political science at Montclair State University and a Visiting Lecturer in public policy at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan.  Walter has consulted on projects in Japan, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland.

As the publisher of City Limits Magazine in New York City, Walter commissioned a special edition on the status of Black men in the city that won a New York City Deadline Club award for reporting on minority issues. His work in New York City also focused on the formerly incarcerated and reentry. It resulted in his establishing the New York City Reentry Roundtable and designing the New York Prison Telephone Campaign, both efforts to restore families with a focus on Black men.

Dr. Afiya Fredericks is an Associate Professor in the Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership, and Policy and research faculty for the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED).  As a developmental psychologist and proud double HBCU alumnae (University of the Virgin Islands, BA; Howard University, MS, PhD), her work centers on advancing equity in education, particularly within Minority Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Her research examines how beliefs about intelligence and ability shape faculty behavior, student motivation, and persistence in STEM, with a special focus on HBCU contexts.  She is the recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER Award ($1.6 million) and has secured nearly $3 million in research funding to support work that amplifies the voices and experiences of HBCU students, faculty, and institutions.

Prior to academia, Dr. Fredericks served as Director of Professional Learning, Implementation & Research at Mindset Works, a company co-founded by Dr. Carol Dweck, where she led mindset-based program implementations nationwide.  She continues to translate research into practice through partnerships that drive sustainable change.

She has held competitive fellowships, including appointments as a CASBS Institute on Diversity at Stanford University (2023 & 2025), a Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin (2023–2024), a Quantitative Research Methods for STEM Education (QRM) Fellow at the University of Maryland, College Park (2021-2022) and as a Research Fellow with the Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership (CASL, 2020–2025).

Dr. Fredericks brings her whole self to this work: scholar, teacher, mentor, learner. She is a proud US Virgin Islander who finds joy in returning to her home island of St. Croix, and in mentoring the next generation of equity-driven scholars.

Dr. Simone Gibson currently serves as the Assistant Director for Literacy at the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED) and holds the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Morgan State University. Before transitioning to teacher education, Dr. Gibson gained extensive experience as a classroom educator in Howard County, Baltimore City, and Prince George’s County Public Schools. In her present role as a literacy specialist, she focuses her research and professional development efforts on equipping both pre-service and in-service teachers with the skills to integrate culturally humble and evidence-based practices into literacy instruction. Dr. Gibson has contributed to the academic field through the publication of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Sungmin Moon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Professional Development within the School of Education and Urban Studies, as well as the Assessment and Evaluation Specialist at the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED). He previously served as a Senior Research Fellow and Program Evaluator for the NIH-funded BUILD PODER program at California State University, Northridge, which aims to diversify the biomedical and STEM workforce. Additionally, he led an NSF grant-funded research project at the University of Washington, Seattle, focusing on advancing the implementation of evidence-based active learning practices in STEM courses.

Dr. Moon received his B.S. degree from Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. He earned an M.A. in Instructional Leadership, along with Professional Clear Single Subject Teaching Credentials (Mathematics and Science–Physics), from Pepperdine University. He obtained his Ph.D. in STEM Education with a concentration in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2018.

His research centers on social justice and eliminating disparities within communities. In his current role, he oversees the collection of course-level data for annual accreditation reports, monitors data gathering processes to support accreditation and program improvement, and assists faculty with assessment data collection.

Dr. Elizabeth Holliday Morgan, is a passionate educator, researcher, and advocate for disability rights and inclusion, is committed to empowering BIPOC mothers and ensuring equitable access to services for their children. Her dedication began during her tenure as a K-12 teacher and administrator.

As an Associate Professor in Morgan State University’s Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership, and Policy and research faculty for the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED), Dr. Morgan strives to amplify marginalized voices through impactful community-based applied research projects and to prepare the next generation of educational leaders and disability rights advocates.

Dr. Barrett Rosser is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education and Professional Development at Morgan State University and a research faculty for the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED). A proud HBCU alumna, Dr. Rosser earned her degree in English Education from North Carolina A&T State University and her Master’s in Educational Leadership, Management, and Policy from Seton Hall University. She later earned her Ed.D. in Reading, Writing, and Literacy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rosser’s research sits at the intersection of Black Feminist Practitioner Research, practitioner inquiry, and literacy, with a focus on love as a foundation for educational transformation. She examines how teachers adopt inquiry-based approaches to engage critically with their practice, particularly through writing and justice-oriented reflection, and how Black girls use literacy as a means of self-love, identity development, and critical consciousness. Across these contexts, she investigates writing as a relational and liberatory practice that nurtures growth, challenges dominant narratives, and reimagines education as a space of collective possibility.

Dr. Rosser is a recipient of the AERA Out-of-School Time Emerging Scholar Award, the Ralph C. Preston Award for Social Justice, and the Philadelphia Writing Project Award for Outstanding Commitment to Practitioner Inquiry. Her work has been published in English Journal and Excellence and Equity in Education, and her research has been supported by grants from the Spencer Foundation, the McDonnell Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Her scholarship is deeply rooted in a commitment to amplifying the voices and creative contributions of historically marginalized communities, particularly Black girls and women. She emphasizes lived experience as a crucial site of knowledge production. She is currently involved in a collaborative research-practice partnership examining how teachers utilize archival inquiry to co-design curricula that recover and elevate Black Philadelphia histories.

Dr. Sharde Theodore is an Assistant Professor at Morgan State University and research faculty for the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED). She brings nearly a decade of experience across the educational spectrum, from classroom instruction to federal education policy, driven by a deep commitment to equity and inclusion in special education. A proud alumna of a HBCU, Dr. Theodore earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, with a concentration in Special Education, from North Carolina A&T State University. She went on to teach kindergarten through third grade in Miami, Florida, while simultaneously earning a Master’s degree in Special Education from Florida International University. Her commitment to driving change in education led her to deepen her research expertise by earning an Education Specialist degree in Teaching and Learning, followed by a Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning with a concentration in Special Education, both from Florida International University. Prior to her current role, Dr. Theodore served as an Education Program Specialist at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. In this position, she applied her expertise as an educator, scholar, and researcher to support national initiatives aimed at improving outcomes for students with disabilities.

Dr. Theodore’s research agenda centers on eliminating educational disparities for marginalized students with disabilities and strengthening the recruitment, preparation, and retention of diverse special education personnel. She is especially committed to bridging research, policy, and practice to cultivate inclusive, culturally affirming learning environments for marginalized students with disabilities.

Dr. Darryl L. Williams has more than 30 years of educational leadership and coaching in education, with experience in Washington, DC, and Maryland. He served in urban and suburban school systems and served as a mentor and coach to many. During his career, he has served as mathematics teacher, principal of a middle school, and two high schools with a student population that was over 2200 students. In his role as a central office administrator and superintendent, he served and led in the largest and third largest school systems in Maryland. His focus was on student achievement, teacher and principal pipeline, community partnerships and family engagement, school and system budgets. He served as the secretary for one year for PSSAM – Public School Superintendent Association of Maryland, and a member of AASA – The School Superintendent Association and Large Countywide and Suburban District Consortium. He finished his four year contract as superintendent in 2023.

In August 2023, Morgan State University in Maryland appointed him as a Professor of Practice and Program Director of the Admin 1 & MS Program in Educational Administration and Supervision. In addition, he was hired as the assistant director of the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED) focusing on urban teacher and leader recruitment and retention. He also has an interest in leadership positions for women and Black males. Dr. Williams holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Hampton University (VA), a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from American University (DC), and a Doctor of Education in Education Policy and Leadership from University of Maryland College Park (MD).

He has experience in school improvement, middle school reform, and coaching. He is an avid musician and served as Minister of Music. He loves watching sports and action movies, and spending time with his family. He hails from Washington, DC and was the first graduating class of Benjamin Banneker Academic HS.