Co-Organizer & Podcast Co-Host
Dr. Shemariah J. Arki identifies as an educator, an activist and an organizer. Currently serving as an assistant professor in the department of Africana Studies, the director of the Center for Pan African Culture, both at Kent State University, and the Founder and Program Director of the Ellipsis Institute for Womxn of Color in the Academy, she is an intersectional feminist scholar with expert knowledge and skills to develop, implement, facilitate and evaluate curricula that promote institutional equity, communication, and access for traditionally marginalized students and families. Her latest publication, Teaching Beautiful Brilliant Black Girls, is an ethnographic anthology that amplifies the voices of Black girls in the classroom through the process of counternarratives, constraining teachers and school administrators to speak back to the culture of silence inherent in today’s diverse classrooms.
Co-Founder/Organizer & Podcast Co-Host
Casey Boyd-Swan, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Kent State University. Dr. Boyd-Swan has a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Public Policy.
Her research focuses on public policy issues related to parental employment, early education labor markets, and child and family well-being.
Co-Founder/Organizer & Podcast Co-Host
Ashley Nickels, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the School of Peace and Conflict Studies at Kent State University. Dr. Nickels has a Ph.D. in Public Affairs with a specialization in Community Development.
Dr. Nickels’ research centers on issues of power, social equity, and democratic participation, working at the intersections of urban politics, nonprofit and voluntary studies, and public policy and administration. Her area of specialization is community development, broadly defined. Dr. Nickels is the Chair of the Public Administration Theory Network.
Podcast Sound Engineer: Gheramy Demery, Golden Ox Studio