About the Speakers

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings 

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings is Professor Emerita and former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor in Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and was Faculty Affiliate in the Departments of Educational Policy Studies, Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis and Afro American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the Immediate Past President of the National Academy of Education. She was the 2005-2006 president of the American Educational Research Association. She is the inaugural Distinguished Scholar in Race and Social Justice for the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Ladson-Billings is the author of the critically acclaimed books, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children, (currently in its 3rd edition), Crossing over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms, and Beyond the Big House: African American Educators on Teacher Education and recently released Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Asking a Different Question, and Critical Race Theory: A Scholar’s Journey. She is editor of 6 other books and author of more than 100 journal articles and book chapters. She is the former editor of the American Educational Research Journal and a member of several editorial boards. Ladson-Billings’ research examines the pedagogical practices of teachers who are successful with African American students. She also investigates Critical Race Theory applications to education. Her work has won numerous scholarly awards, fellowships, and honorary degrees for her contributions in research, teaching and service in the fields of education, anthropology and social justice.

Dr. Paul Gorski 

Dr. Paul Gorski is Founder, Lead Equity Specialist, & Research Director of the Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange. He has 25 years of experience helping educators, nonprofit workers, and others strengthen their equity efforts. He has worked with educators in 48 states and a dozen countries. He conducts and collaborates on research and other scholarship related to maximizing the transformative potential of equity efforts. Paul has published more than 70 articles and has written, co-written, or co-edited twelve books on various aspects of educational equity, including Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap and Case Studies on Diversity and Social Justice Education (with Seema Pothini). Paul spent nine years on the board of directors of the National Association for Multicultural Education and five years on the board of the International Association for Intercultural Education. He earned a PhD in Educational Evaluation at the University of Virginia. He was a teacher educator at several universities for 15 years. He is also a father, a published poet, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and the biggest fan of Buster, his cat. 

Fabiana Parker

Mrs. Fabiana Parker is an experienced English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher serving students in grades nine through twelve in Manassas, Virginia. Having grown up as an English language learner herself, she understands the challenges and triumphs that come with learning a new language. Her passion for education began during her childhood when she taught her grandmother to read. Mrs. Parker earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Foreign Language and Education from King's College London in 2001 and her Master of Arts degree in Education, Curriculum, and Instruction from Boise State University in 2005. As a global-minded educator, Mrs. Parker is committed to civic and community involvement. In 2015, she received a Congressional Record for serving the adult literacy needs of the Northern Virginia community. In 2021, she was recognized by the Virginia Department of Health with a Certificate of Appreciation for her outstanding commitment and translation services during the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic response efforts. She is a staunch advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the classroom and beyond. Mrs. Parker's greatest accomplishment is seeing her students achieve their educational goals and become productive members of society. She uses her personal and professional experiences to promote cultural diversity, build bridges of trust, respect, and understanding across cultures.