The Social Justice Academy at Monmouth University concludes its year-long professional development series, Combating Racial Injustice Through Education, with a moderated conversation on April 19 at 3:30 p.m. The virtual event is free to attend, but advanced registration is required.
The seminar, “From Surviving to Thriving: Creating Equitable Environments Through Emotional Intelligence & Culturally Relevant Practices,” will feature Dena Simmons, Ed.D., the founder of LiberatED, a collective focused on developing school-based resources at the intersection of social and emotional learning (SEL), racial justice, and healing. Yessika Garcia-Guzman Ph.D., executive director of financial aid at Ocean County College, will serve as moderator.
Simmons is the former assistant director of Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, where she supported schools to use the power of emotions to create a more compassionate and just society. Prior to her work at the Center, she served as an educator, teacher educator, diversity facilitator, and curriculum developer. She has been a leading voice on teacher education and has written and spoken across the country about social justice pedagogy, diversity, emotional intelligence, and bullying in K-12 school settings, including the White House, the inaugural Obama Foundation Summit, the United Nations, two TEDx talks, and a TED talk on Broadway.
Simmons is a recipient of a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a J. William Fulbright Fellowship, an Education Pioneers Fellowship, a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, a Phillips Exeter Academy Dissertation Fellowship, a Hedgebrook Writing Residency, and an Arthur Vining Davis Aspen Fellowship, among others.
She earned her doctorate degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she recently served as faculty in the Summer Principals Academy. Simmons’ research interests include teacher preparedness to address bullying in the K-12 school setting, culturally responsive pedagogy, and the intersection of equity and SEL interventions in the effort to ensure and foster justice and safe spaces for all. She is the author of the forthcoming book, “White Rules for Black People” (St. Martin’s Press).