OUR STORY

Dr. Madonna Afriyie-Adams began her career as a Math educator in 2008. Serving predominantly in underprivileged schools, Dr. Adams has made it her life work to provide all students with the tools necessary to excel in school, and beyond. Over the past 16 years, Dr. Adams has served as a NYCDOE math teacher, College of New Rochelle professor, and NYC Leaders in Education Apprenticeship Program alumna. After recognizing a trend in Math and Science education that emphasizes procedures and rote memorization, Dr. Adams began her research at Rutgers University in inquiry-based teaching methods that promote students’ development of a conceptual understanding of Math. Cultivating a specific focus on the positive impact of inquiry-based learning on student achievement, Dr. Adams has incorporated her research-based strategies into her instructional coaching and professional development systems and structures to maximize results in the classroom. In an era where success in STEM fields is directly linked to economic prosperity, Dr. Adams recognizes the importance of arming leaders and teachers with the knowledge to create classrooms brimming with mathematical and scientific thinkers. Driven by this exigency, Dr. Adams founded STEM Strategies Group - a consulting firm committed to innovating Math and Science education. STEM Strategies Group actualizes Dr. Adams' belief that through inquiry, all students are capable of achieving academic success.

Dr. Bisola Neil is an accomplished educator and visionary leader dedicated to transforming math and science education and fostering equity in learning. With a deep passion for constructive education, Dr. Neil has made significant contributions to the field through her expertise, research, and commitment to student success. With a background as a former NYCDOE math teacher and current professor of educational leadership at Montclair State University, Dr. Neil brings a wealth of practical experience and academic knowledge to her work. She holds a PhD in urban education specializing in policy and math education, making her a sought-after expert in the field. Dr. Neil's career has been marked by a relentless pursuit of educational equity and a drive to disrupt the educational inequities that persist in our schools. She firmly believes in the power of mathematics and science as a gateway to higher-level learning and STEM careers, particularly for traditionally marginalized students. Dr. Neil's expertise lies in strategic planning, identifying equity gaps, and supporting both adult and student learning. By centering joy, curiosity, and the holistic well-being of both educators and learners, Dr. Neil aims to provide all children, especially those historically underserved, with math and science experiences that empower and ignite a lifelong love for learning. Through her innovative approaches, she continues to make a profound impact on students, teachers, and schools, creating a brighter and more equitable future for all learners.

Yaa began her career as a middle school math teacher in the Bronx before transitioning to a Title 1 school in SE Washington, D.C. Yaa demonstrated proficiency with building strong classroom communities, resulting in improved student outcomes. As a result, she quickly transitioned into teacher leadership. As a teacher leader, Yaa led her department through a pilot of a hybrid math lab. In this role, she led her team to support students to make 1.5 years' worth of growth. Her success as a teacher leader increased Yaa's desire to expand her influence to ensure all teachers had the support necessary to create the same results in their classrooms. This motivated Yaa to transition into coaching. Yaa started coaching K-11 literacy and math teachers across 22 DC public schools through an alternative certification program. Yaa demonstrated great success with 75% of her teachers rating effective or highly effective through the DC teacher evaluation system. Yaa continued this work in New Orleans, Detroit, North Carolina, Florida, and New York. Through this work, she developed and cultivated effective practices for delivering feedback and utilizing practice to improve content knowledge and skills for both teachers and students. She’s continued to expand her influence through coaching, designing, and leading professional development for instructional leaders and coaches. As a multi-disciplinary coach, her areas of expertise are coaching, teacher development, and curriculum implementation for literacy (CKLA, Wit &Wisdom, Louisiana Guidebooks, EL) and math (Eureka, IM Math). Yaa believes in building solid relationships that are collaborative, open, and honest with every teacher and leader she supports. Most recently, Yaa has led diversification efforts in Baltimore City by designing and managing a program for Black first-year teachers in Baltimore City Public Schools. Yaa is committed to being a change agent in all spaces she enters. Yaa's mission is to ensure all students have access to effective teachers, content, and instruction that creates opportunities and choices for their futures. In her free time, Yaa focuses on spending time with her family and finding opportunities to return home to Ghana.

Dr. Kimberly Melgar is an accomplished educator and visionary leader dedicated to transforming math education and fostering equity in learning. With a deep passion for all things math content, Dr. Melgar has had the privilege to observe, support, and coach math teachers and challenge their thinking about what it really means to do and teach math. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Melgar has served as a former NYCDOE math and science teacher, Rutgers University lecturer, professor, and Math Department Chair at Relay Graduate School of Education, bringing a wealth of practical experience and academic knowledge to her work. Fueled by her belief that students possess a resilience and adaptability that can be leveraged to cultivate great mathematicians, Dr. Melgar encourages educators' to reimagine what mathematics teaching and learning can look, sound, and feel like. In her practice, Dr. Melgar challenges the current narrative that kids are behind in math post-pandemic, and has authored publications focused on building students' confidence in their math abilities and facilitating conversations about inequities in mathematics classrooms. Dr. Melgar is dedicated to supporting teachers to build the mindsets, content knowledge, and teacher practices that create safe math spaces for students to identify positive math identities and be their authentic mathematical selves.

Deborah Jackson has been an educator for over 20 years, working as a teacher, an instructional coach, a school leader, and a consultant. Her areas of expertise include math pedagogy and curriculum and school-wide systems for instruction and culture. As a consultant, she supports educators in developing systems for transformational change, deepening content knowledge and pedagogy and using data to drive instructional decisions in the short and long term. All this is aimed at increasing the quality and effectiveness of schools and classrooms. Deborah has extensive experience with designing and delivering professional development that deepens teacher and leader practice, partnering with schools to define, refine and enact their vision for excellence, and writing Common Core aligned math curriculum that is culturally responsive. Most recently, Deborah became a contributing author: From Being Woke to Doing #Thework. Deborah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Teaching in Adolescent Mathematics from Pace University and a Master of Instructional School Leadership from RELAY Graduate School of Education.

Colleen Rodgers enters the work of organizational change and school transformation with a belief that powerful teacher leadership is the catalyst for systemic change. Such transformation centers students as architects of their own learning and privileges holistic and sustained student outcomes. As a former Chemical Engineer, Colleen is obsessed with consequential impact for marginalized students in STEM disciplines. In the 17 years she has been in the field of education she has enabled the conditions for significant gains in student outcomes as a middle school teacher, school administrator, district consultant and National Director of STEM for the nation's largest teacher preparation organization. As a STEM consultant, she specializes in the areas of pedagogy, culturally sustaining curriculum development and leadership development. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Tuskegee University and a Master of Arts in International Learning and Leadership from Roehampton University, London UK. She has also earned her NJ Supervisors certificate from Rutgers University and the Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership (CAEL) from Harvard University. Her professional interests include gifted education programs, formation of academic identities, academic trauma, and teacher mindset.

Diego Garcia is an accomplished educator and visionary leader dedicated to transforming science education and fostering equity in learning. He believes that in stimulating students’ intellectual curiosity and creating hands-on experiences in the classroom, students can develop an innate love for science that deepens their conceptual understanding. Serving as a Science educator in the NYC DOE and Nassau County for over a decade, Diego brings a wealth of practical experience and academic knowledge to his work. As an instructional coach, Diego specializes in teacher development in student engagement, data-driven test preparation, and assessment and curriculum design in middle school science, Living Environment, Chemistry, and Forensic Science. Diego holds a Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine and Masters of Arts in Science Education. He also holds teacher certifications in Biology, Chemistry, and General Science, and is a Certified Athletic Trainer, serving as the Athletic Training Director for the Cold Springs Harbor school district. Diego is dedicated to providing all students with science experiences that ignite a lifelong love for learning. Through his innovative approaches, Diego motivates students to see, hear, and feel science in a way that profoundly impacts their learning.

Amber Chandrashaker is an educator who is a strong advocate of data-driven, inquiry-based instruction who believes that all learners are capable of meeting rigorous goals in the classroom, especially when their identities, interests, and cultural backgrounds are intentionally integrated and elevated. Over the past 18 years in both Austin, Texas and New York City, Amber has worked as an ELA and Social Studies teacher in a variety of settings and in several leadership positions as a literacy and inclusion instructional coach, director of literacy, and an assistant principal. In Amber's practice she partners with school communities to spread strong instructional practices, build content knowledge, and to help design differentiated, efficient, and sustainable structures that support the creation of high quality and sustainable learning environments that close equity gaps and lead to the improvement of student outcomes.