Impact

Leading and expanding my impact on our communities, families and children is my passion and purpose.

Gallup Senior Scientist

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Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world. We help the Leaders of the Future Create a Better World so them build better lives for themselves and others. Our purpose is to provide the analytics and advice that educators need to empower students to overcome obstacles, be confident in their strengths and learn how to thrive. Gallup provides Education Solutions Support for K-12 School Systems and Higher Education Institutions. Gallup's K-12 school system and higher education consulting uses our groundbreaking research and insights on strengths, engagement and wellbeing in education to help leaders fulfill their mission. Senior Scientists are leading experts who advise and consult with Gallup researchers and select clients. Their contributions serve to further our mission and ensure that our research and development programs are on the cutting edge. These experts have advised Gallup on a range of topics, including leadership, management, employee selection and development, public opinion research, positive psychology, and research methodology. Each Senior Scientist and Senior Adviser is a foremost authority in their field.

Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen has joined as a Senior Scientist, their first-ever with a focus on education. Senior Scientists are leading experts whose contributions serve to further Gallup’s mission to deliver analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations around the world solve their most pressing problems.

Executive in Residence

ISA
New Schools Venture Fund and Women Of Color Education Collaborative

For more than 30 years, the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA) has partnered with schools and districts to improve student achievement by transforming how teachers and administrators approach learning.

For decades, ISA uses data to drive our review of existing policies, practices, and procedures, we gain clarity on how our systems impact students and the learning opportunities available to them. When working together, the possibilities are endless.

Thanks to generous funding from NewSchools Venture Fund, ISA has launched the Women of Color Education Collaborative (WOCEC), bringing together women of color in superintendent and cabinet-level roles in school districts. The goal of WOCEC is to create a network of thriving women of color superintendents and senior leaders by providing a program designed to enhance their leadership skills and capacity while also focusing on healing and building strong bonds between participants. The collaborative focuses on building upon existing strengths and capabilities to support women leaders and work towards advancing equity.

Executive Producer

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Education as a Pathway for Positive Social Change

Defining US is a Documentary Series and a Platform for Social Change. Now we find ourselves at a defining moment in our nation. Many suggest that the increase in mental health issues is tied to social justice concerns and are calling for educators to take the lead in solving these problems that highlight the connections between race, gender, socio-economic status, and mental health outcomes.

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Leading voices in education are answering the call through new teaching and learning strategies that advance equity, promote social and emotional development and improve mental health.

Founder

uplift caregiver comfort fund

Uplift connects caregivers in Atlanta, Georgia with needed financial support & services to improve student outcomes and begin building pathways out of poverty. Atlanta is one of the most unequal cities in America. This reality has profound implications for education where poverty is the biggest hurdle to overcoming the achievement gap.

A bold vision and strategy are needed for Atlanta to end intergenerational poverty, close the achievement gap, and serve as a blueprint for other urban metropolitan cities.Research shows that addressing the needs of caregivers offers families, and in turn students, the stability and bandwidth they require to focus on academic pursuits, driving greater academic outcomes and paving a pathway out of intergenerational poverty.

The Uplift pilot capitalized on research on two-generation approaches by proactively identifying the needs of caregivers of public school students and connecting them to necessary services and interventions. The goal is to improve student academic performance in the near term and help families build a pathway out of poverty in the long term.

Co-Founder

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UNITE is a national impact initiative animated by a new way of seeing each other – and the work of building America’s future. Enabled by the nation’s most generous philanthropists, tireless creators, and collaborative partners, we invest in three kinds of projects:

First, we tell the stories of Americans who are uniters - who are showing us how to work together across divides to solve problems in their communities, their schools, their churches and their families. We offer new media experiences that tell these stories, bringing Americans starving for a new way together like never before.

Second, we catalyze solutions - assembling surprisingly diverse teams of uniters to solve problems of the whole that we can overcome only if we join together. We believe there is a new method for solving problems in America. A way that both feels better and works better.

Third, we undertake studies that result in fresh insights about what it will take for each of us to step into the identity of the uniter – and fulfill the promise of our country.

Over time, UNITE aspires to become the spark behind a new American story animated by shared values, shared vision, and shared purpose. In other words, we are committed to building the United States of America, once and for all.

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