Creative Core Stewards
(while not active in this final phase of our work, they are deeply honored for all they have given.)
Mackenzie
Amara
Mackenzie is a dedicated visionary, constantly reassessing what the best possible future is and how that can be created into a reality. She currently attends NYU where she studies Rites of Passage and adolescent development--her vision is that one day, school and health systems will include elements of ceremony, wisdom, empowerment, and mentorship, much like the ancient archetype of a Rite of Passage does. She is a former Imagining Learning Listening Session participant.
To counteract the sometimes suffocating effect of living in one's head constantly, Mackenzie dances the 5Rhythms, a movement meditation aimed at grounding the emotional and psychological experiences of life in the body, as it is one of our most wise tools. This embodiment practice deeply informs her work in the world.
About Changing Education: Let's do it! This will be no small feat, with lots of mini-victories before we see a full-scale shift, but if we are to evolve as human beings, we must address our school systems. Education was never meant to mean dispassionate or rote, and now that it does, it certainly doesn't have to continue!
Stephanie
Rivera
Stephanie is a 20-year old aspiring teacher and driven advocate for issues in education. She is currently a Junior at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ where she studies Education and English. In addition, her thirst for knowledge has her engaged in learning opportunities that include social justice, public policy, and political science. She is currently a teacher assistant, and a high school mentor through the Rutgers Future Scholars Program, which provides opportunities for low-income students. She is also the author of teacherunderconstruction.com , a blog that aims to eliminate ignorance around education issues.
She hopes to bring positive change in the education system by elevating voices of students themselves. At the core of her passion lies her determination to provide students equal opportunity, and ultimately empower future generations of world changers.
Noel
Didla
Noel Didla is an Instructor of English at Jackson State University. Noel is from Guntur, India, is 39 and currently serves on the boards of Sundial Solar Systems, OCD Media Communications, Jackson 2000 and on the Advisory Council of Gallery 1. She is passionate about creating cultural and artistic possibilities for the global communities of Jackson.
Noel believes that critical and creative interdisciplinary approaches can be developed to build transformative communities through the worlds of fashion, film, food, music, dance and art engagement. Noel believes that cultural and language immersion empowers, enriches and engages communities in progressive programmatic action. Noel is an advocate for cultural justice, social and cultural entrepreneurship and empowerment, and democratic education.
Zak
Malamed
Zak is an advocate for student voice in education policy. He considers himself to be both a political and social activist who is passion driven. Recently, he founded the #studentvoice Twitter chat to promote the students' perspective in education. He also hosts a student voice chat sponsored by Dell.
Zak was president of his high school's Student Government and has held many other leadership roles as both a student advocate and a student leader. He looks forward to pursuing a career in public service and hopes to see that track begin, as we collaborate to re-imagine the way we learn.
Jabreel
Chisley
A young 18 year old edublogger and educational activist from East Cleveland, Ohio who actively advocates for the student voice.
About changing education: "We imagine a school in which students and teachers excitedly and joyfully stretch themselves to their limits in pursuit of projects built on their vision...not one that succeeds in making apathetic students satisfying minimal standards." - S. Papert
Tara Subramaniam
Tara hails from the Atlanta, GA area. She is interested in making school a fun place of learning for all. She loves traveling, speaking different languages, taking tons of pictures, writing, reading, eating and running. She also keeps her own personal blog at itsallaboutthejourney97.wordpress.com
In 2012, Tara led the effort to bring a Listening Session to her hometown and we celebrate her courage and vision.
Jaime R.
Wood
Jaime is the author of Living Voices: Multicultural Poetry in the Middle School Classroom (NCTE 2006). She started her teaching career working with middle school students in an alternative charter school in Fort Collins, Colorado. She has since taught university-level English at Colorado State University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Eastern Washington University. Currently, Jaime teaches writing at Clackamas Community College in Portland, Oregon. You can learn more about IncitED here: www.incited.org.
Jayeesha
Dutta
Jayeesha is a tri-coastal Bengali-American educator, "artivist," writer, researcher and travel adventurer. Born in the deep south (Mobile, AL), raised back East (New York, NY), and aged out West (Oakland, CA), she has come full circle to make roots in the Big Easy (New Orleans, LA). She serves as Research and Policy Coordinator at the Service Employees International Union Local21LA, currently conducting participatory action research and cultural organizing campaigns around bettering working conditions and facilities for school service workers and public employees in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metropolitan areas.
She is also co-founder of Mind Power Collective, a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to building creative community spaces and resources for educators and serves as an active member of Spirit in Action's Education Circle of Change. Jayeesha has worked with KidSmART, Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools, the Alameda County Office of Education’s Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership and the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools, now known as The National Equity Project. She received a Bachelor of Science in Labor Relations from Cornell University and conducted graduate studies in Equity and Social Justice in Education at San Francisco State University.
She hopes to bring positive change in the education system by elevating voices of students themselves. At the core of her passion lies her determination to provide students equal opportunity, and ultimately empower future generations of world changers.