Equity in Education | Center for Equity, Leadership, and Social Justice in Education

Camika Royal is the author of Not Paved For Us: Black Educators and Public School Reform in Philadelphia (Harvard Education Press, 2022). Her work focuses on the intersections of politics,
history, and urban school reform. She worked in the public schools of Baltimore City
and Washington, D.C., teaching, coaching teachers, and helping to lead a charter high
school. Dr. Royal has also worked with various colleges and universities in the Philadelphia
and Baltimore regions to teach, coach, and support urban school leaders and teacher
educators. Currently, Dr. Royal is an associate professor of Urban Education at Loyola
University Maryland. She earned her bachelor of arts degree in English Literature
at North Carolina Central University, her master of arts in teaching degree at Johns
Hopkins University, and her doctor of philosophy in urban education at Temple University.

Panelists

Gloria Ladson-Billings is Professor Emerita and former Kellner Family Distinguished
Professor of Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the former
President of both the National Academy of Education (2017-2021) and the American Education
Research Association (2006). She is author of the critically acclaimed book, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children, two additional books and editor of 12 other books, as well as more than 100 book
chapters and journal articles. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of
the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a Fellow of the American Education Research
Association, and a Hagler Fellow of Texas A&M University. She has won numerous scholarly
awards and 9 honorary doctorates from national and international universities.

Dr. Sabriya K. Jubilee is the Chief of Equity, in the Office of Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion for the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). In this role, she provides
leadership and guidance, setting the overarching vision and organizational structure
to advance equity in SDP. Prior to this role, Dr. Jubilee held a number of positions
over her 13-year tenure with the District; including, School-based Data Specialist,
Research Assistant, Regional School Improvement and Data Specialist, Director of Special
Projects, Executive Director of School Improvement, and Deputy Chief of Equity. Throughout
each position Dr. Jubilee has been a transformational change-agent and leader committed
to systemic change through an anti-oppressive lens.

Seeing equity and social justice work as recompense for her existence in this world,
as a Black woman raised in the city of Philadelphia, Dr. Jubilee is all too familiar
with what it means to be “other.” As such, she believes it is her obligation to continue
this work, started long before her, of dismantling systems of oppression within our
education system.

A native of Philadelphia and graduate of the District, Dr. Jubilee holds a B.S. in
Animal and Poultry Sciences from Virginia Tech with a minor in Black Studies, a M.A.
in African American and African Studies with a concentration in Education from The
Ohio State University, a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Gwynedd Mercy, and a
Ph.D. in Urban Education from Temple University.

In addition to her role at SDP, Dr. Jubilee is an ordained minister, serving as the
Pastor of Administration for the Heart of Worship Restoration Center and is an adjunct
professor of Urban Education and Sociology.

Vanessa Dodo Seriki is an Associate Professor of Science Education and the Program
Director for the Graduate Programs in Mathematics and Science Education at Morgan
State University. As a graduate of an urban school and former high school science
teacher in Portsmouth, VA, and Baltimore, MD, Dr. Dodo Seriki understands the realities
that face urban students, families, teachers, and schools. As such, she has dedicated
her work to empowering urban teachers, students, and families through engagement in
science learning. Dr. Dodo Seriki’s research focuses on the use of Culturally Relevant
Pedagogy and Cultural Modeling in science education; the intersectionality of race,
class, and gender in Education (including P-12, Higher Education, teacher education,
and science education) as seen through the lens of Critical Race Theory; and the accessibility
of STEM educational opportunities by Black children. Currently, she is a co-principal
investigator on two National Science Foundation awards. One of these awards involves
research community-based STEM programs, and the other is a methodological training
institute for STEM teacher leaders and faculty members interested in researching urban
STEM education.

Tanefa Wallace is a veteran teacher with experience teaching English from grades 7-12
in both Philadelphia and Baltimore as well as in School Counseling, grades K-12. Wallace
is also a teacher leader having led teacher teams and coached teachers at almost every
juncture of her career. Beginning her career with Teach for America, Wallace did not
expect to teach long-term but fell in love with the craft of teaching English as a
trained copywriter with a degree in Business Management and Communications from Notre
Dame of Maryland University. She enjoys working with inner city youth tremendously
and currently works with over-aged, under-credited students at Excel Academy @ Francis
M. Wood leading the Attendance and Student Support Teams as an Educational Associate.