Our Episodes

Our Guest, Sharif El-Mekki, is founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development in Philadelphia, PA. Sharif explains the mission of the center to rebuild theBlack educator pipeline. He stresses the importance of attending to the social-political context of the profession. Three pillars undergird the center’s work steeped in community to build while leading. The pillars arepolicy and advocacy, professional learning, and pathways for entry into the profession. With much national atte...

Our Guest is ⁠Richard Blank⁠. He is a native of Philadelphia, PA and CEO of ⁠Costa Rica’s Call Center.⁠ Richard shares the ingredients for supporting and preparing call center representatives for high-impact engagement with clients. He addresses the role of AI in call center productivity and the role of empathy as an effective tool in human interaction. He shares how developing community and engagement lead to retention of employees. Richard gives back to the community by offering scholarships...

Our guest, Dr. Carlota Ocampo, is Provost of Trinity Washington University. She describes Trinity as a unicorn, the nation’s first Catholic liberal arts college for women that is a minority serving institution (MSI). She is a graduate of Howard University. She shares how faculty are prepared for actively engaged pedagogy in support of post-graduation outcomes for student success. Dr. Ocampo explains how students are supported for mental health on campus. She and the leadership team continually ...

Our guest, Emily Hellstrom, is Director of Strategy and External Affairs and co-founder for the Literacy Academy Collective (LAC). Emily shares her literacy story and the approach taken by LAC to support struggling readers. She explains how the organization also supports teachers to improve their skills and the learning trajectory for struggling readers in their classrooms. The Goal of the Literacy Academy Collective is to launch a network of schools across New York City to support struggling ...

Our guest, Naomi Peña, is Director of Community Engagement and co-founder for the Literacy AcademyCollective. Naomi shares her experiences as a parent and an advocate to assistant families with children struggling in reading. She explains the origins of the Literacy Academy Collective via a competitive proposal process. Working with families, describes how outreach and emotional support are vital resources for parent engagement. The Goal of the Literacy Academy Collective is to launch anetwor...

Our Guest, Dr. Chezare A. Warren, is Associate Professor of education policy with a secondary faculty appointment in the department of teaching and learning at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. He addresses the role of empath and the counterbalance of false empathy as jumping off point for greater equity in schools. In doing so, he elevates the importance of interpersonal relationships that humanize educational experiences. Dr. Warren shares how his latest book Centering Possibility in ...

Our guest, Dr. Sara Platt, is Assistant Dean, Director of Assessment and Accreditation and an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Mississippi’s School of Education. University. She explains that Ole Miss is home to the largest, public education preparation program in the state of Mississippi. Sara explains how CAEP standard number one for content and pedagogical knowledge has been instrumental in shaping program quality on campus. She describes the university’s unique ...

Our guests are Drs. LaVada Taylor and Nancy Grim are Dean and Professor, respectively, at Chicago State University (CSU). Both are with the School of Education. For this Inspirational Short recorded during the fall 2024 CAEPCon convening in Arlington, VA. Dean Taylor shares that Chicago State University is as a gem and is the only predominantly Black colleges across five states in the Midwest. It was the first teacher’s college in the state of Illinois. Our guests stress that CAEP accreditatio...

Our guest, Dr. Costonzo Bryant-Martin is Assistant Professor of Education and Director of the Call Me MiSTER Program at South Carolina State University (SCSU). For this Inspirational Short recorded during the fall 2024 CAEPCon convening in Arlington, VA, Costonzo describes the unique SCSU student experience, explaining that students are transformed through a family-oriented approach. He is also a third-generation graduate and employee of SCSU. As a first-time attendee of CAEPCon, Costonzo expl...

Our guest, Dr. Mark LaCelle-Peterson, is a founding team member and President of the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP). Mark addresses the founding of AAQEP, responding to a demand for greater flexibility and innovation in education accreditation and an examination of quality in context. A cornerstone of AAQEP’s focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is anchored in a standard requiring education preparation programs to work with P-12 schools most in nee...

Our guest, Dr. Christopher (Chris) A. Koch, is President of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). The council is comprised of more than 550 member institutions. This episode is part one in a two-part series on Leading Equity and Effectiveness in Education Preparation through Accreditation. Dr. Koch discusses how CAEP and its standards for accreditation are resources for educational equity, addressing the unique needs of individual Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs)...

Guest, Dr. Lynn M. Gangone, is President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). Dr. Gangone recounts her legacy at AACTE and the association’s leadership in and impact on educator preparation. She shares insights into her association leadership and the inner workings of principled, yet apolitical leadership. She discusses the significance of AACTE’s motto to #Educate, #Advocate, and #Innovate, reflecting on engagement with members, policy makers, and p...

Our guests Drs. Kimberly A. White-Smith and Sean Green are Professor and Dean and Assistant Dean for Innovation and Community Engagement, respectively for the University of San Diego’s (USD) School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES). This on-location episode takes place on campus where Dr. White-Smith shares a brief history of the university’s founding and recognizes its 75th Anniversary. Drs. White-Smith and Green share their personal equity experiences, those occurring at the USD an...

Dr. Margaret Terry Orr is Professor at Fordham University and EdD program director and Chair of the Division of Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy within the Graduate School of Education. She explains that improvement science applies an inquiry approach focusing on both the problem and the solution. A key component requires the engagement and perspectives of stakeholders involved in the problem and its solutions. Dr. Orr outlines how the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework is used to s...

Our Guest, Eden Strachan (Straw-n), is Executive Director of Black Girls Will Get Love, Inc. and Founder of Black Girls Don’t Get Love, LLC. She is also an award-winning journalist and filmmaker and author of the book Black Girls Don’t Get Love. Eden’s work focuses on advancing girls’, girls of color, and Black girls in particular, learning and self-image through the use media. Her work centers the genre of the coming of age story. Her organization offers a film training program, a slumber par...

Our guest, Dr. Tyrone Howard, is the Pritzker Family Endowed Chair in the School of Education and Information Studies at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also the immediate past-president of the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Howard, profiles the significance of parent and caregiver engagement in educational equity and belonging, as outlined in his new book Equity Now: Justice, Repair, and Belonging in Schools. He stresses the significance of mindsets when add...

Our Guests are Drs. Miriam Feldblum, Co-founder and Executive Director, and Felecia Russell, Director of the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, both of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. Their episode is scheduled in recognition of Immigrant Heritage Month. They clarify the different designations and pathways among immigrant populations and share that immigrants account for nearly 32% of US higher education enrollment, excluding international students. Undocumented studen...

Our guest, Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig, is Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Western Michigan University (WMU). He is an internationally known scholar and a nationally recognized advocate for educational effectiveness and equity. Provost Vasquez Heilig explains the “Western Way” of WMU as undergirded by innovation. Innovation has been proven necessary to meet the strategic goals so that “all may learn.” Outcomes include improved retention and closing equity gaps such as graduation...

Our guest, Rodney Toulson, returns to the Xcelerated Excellence podcast. He is the founder of Restorative Consulting Service LLC. And in this episode, he outlines how restorative practice is operationalized through his consultancies and how the practice can aid in school renewal and excellence. Rodney explains how his study and engagement with the International Institute for Restorative Practices, of which he is a graduate, set the stage for a career in restorative practice. He articulates the ...

Our Guest, ⁠Dr. Ramon Goings⁠, is the founder of ⁠Done Dissertation⁠, a consulting firm aimed at helping more than 1000 students successfully complete their dissertations in one year or less. Dr. Goings shares how his experiences as a doctoral student and the disruption of the COVID pandemic influenced the development and direction of the resources provided by Done Dissertation. Working with doctoral students and universities across discipline areas, Done Dissertation offers collaborative and ...

Our guest, Dr. Lisa Vollendorf, is the 6th President of SUNY Empire State University. Did you know that Empire State is New York’s only public, online institution of higher education? Dr. Vollendorf shares the origin of Empire State University, for which equity and access were key drivers. The university offers two-year, four-year, and limited graduate programs. Graduates of the 2024 class range from age 17 to 77. Empire is designated as an Autism Support College, recognized by the Anderson Ce...

Our guest ⁠⁠Andrés Acebo⁠⁠, Interim President of ⁠⁠New Jersey City University⁠⁠ shares how he and the NJCU community have forged a new mission and vision for what he calls a “Student Ready” college. President Acebo stresses the importance of shared governance, while insisting on ways to meet the needs of students and communities served. NJCU is federally recognized as a minority serving institution (MSI). Andy explains how his professional and personal missions are reflected back in the experie...

Our guest Steven Simmons, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Nilent, NIL Enterprise Solutions, shares experiences supporting college athletes for financial literacy, wellbeing, and social media branding. Partnering with colleges and corporate bands, Steve shares how the Nilent service model reflects a mix of alturism and mercenary capitalism. The model is driving solutions in the wake of the recent federal ruling allowing college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL)...

Dr. Kevin Kumashiro, Interim Dean for the School of Education, Hofstra University, addresses the non-neutral role of schools in social equity. He explains that teaching should be seen as a collective effort, imagined differently. Unlearning and new learning about what effective teaching is and can be is central to the liberatory function of education. Dr. Kumashiro is a scholar and advocate of anti-oppressive education and share frameworks to guide educator preparation and educational equity. H...