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Dr. Myriam Rogers
Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools
Dr. Myriam Rogers began her tenure as BCPS superintendent on July 1, 2023. Dr. Rogers, who began her educational career as a chemistry teacher in Baltimore County Public Schools in 1996, most recently served as Deputy Superintendent. In that capacity, she planned, coordinated, and administered all professional learning activities, functions, and programs of BCPS and provided leadership and collaboration with and among all offices to ensure that resources and supports are prioritized to meet individual school needs. Dr. Rogers returned to BCPS in 2020. Prior to her role as Deputy Superintendent, she served as BCPS’ Chief of Organizational Effectiveness, Executive Director for Secondary Schools in the West Zone, and Director of School Performance. Dr. Rogers has been in educational administration since 2002 and served as a principal of Francis Scott Key Middle School and Paint Branch High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. She is the recipient of several system, state and national awards and citations and is highly regarded for her development of educational policy and strategic initiatives to improve academic performance and operational efficiency. Dr. Rogers is committed to creating transformative experiences that ensure all students reach their highest potential and is focused on doing what is best for all BCPS students, staff, and families. Dr. Rogers has been recognized for outstanding leadership and accomplishments in the areas of purposeful leadership, instructional leadership, resource management, and community and stakeholder involvement.
Dr. Dolores Subia Bigfoot
Dolores Subia BigFoot is an enrolled member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma with affiliation to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana where her children are enrolled. She is currently a Presidential Professor who directs the Indian Country Child Trauma Center within the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Funded since 1994 by the Children’s Bureau, she has directed Project Making Medicine, a clinical training program to training mental health providers in the treatment of child maltreatment using culturally-based teachings.
With the establishment of the Indian Country Child Trauma Center in 2004, she was instrumental in the cultural adaptations of evidence-based child treatment protocols. She recently received an award to provide training and technical assistance throughout the country on suicide prevention efforts through the National Suicide Prevention Resource Center.
Dr. BigFoot has over 15 published articles and chapters, including serving as the lead author of the recent publication, “Adapting Evidence-Based Treatments for Use with American Indians and Native Alaskan Children and Youth.” Dr. BigFoot has served as a principal investigator on 16 federally-funded projects and has over 30 years of experience and expertise about the concerns of implementation and adaptation of evidence-based practices being introduced into Indian Country. Dr. BigFoot is a member of the national Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Trainer Network.
Dr. Bigfoot served on the US Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence and has received numerous awards for her many contributions in the areas of Native/Indigenous psychology, pediatric medicine, and American Indian and Alaska Native mental health.
Dr. BigFoot received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology/Sociology from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She did her pre-doctoral internship in psychology at the University of California, Irvine and her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. She was also a postdoctoral fellow with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Dr. Joan Y. Reede
Appointed as the first dean for diversity and community partnership in January 2002, Joan Y. Reede is responsible for the development and management of a comprehensive program that provides leadership, guidance, and support to promote the increased recruitment, retention, and advancement of underrepresented minority faculty at Harvard Medical School. This charge includes oversight of all diversity activities at HMS as they relate to faculty, trainees, students, and staff.
In 1990, Dr. Reede founded the HMS Minority Faculty Development Program and also currently serves as faculty director of the Community Outreach programs. In 2008, she became the director of the Harvard Catalyst Program for Faculty Development and Diversity. In addition, Dr. Reede holds appointments of professor of medicine at HMS, Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Assistant in Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In 1989, prior to coming to HMS, Dr. Reede served as the medical director of a Boston community health center, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Youth Services. She has also worked as a pediatrician in community and academic health centers, juvenile prisons, and public schools.
The impact of Reede’s work is reflected in the numerous programs she has created to benefit minority students, residents, scientists, and physicians. Dr. Reede created and developed more than 20 programs at HMS that aim to address pipeline and leadership issues for minorities and women who are interested in careers in medicine, academic and scientific research, and the healthcare professions. Supported by a dedicated staff, she has developed mentoring programs for underrepresented minority students from the middle school through the graduate and medical school levels. She has also designed a training program for middle and high school teachers, developed science curricula for public schools, implemented research and exchange clerkship programs at HMS, and designed and implemented innovative fellowships in minority health policy for physicians, dentists, and doctoral-level mental health professionals.
In collaboration with the Massachusetts Medical Society and the New England Board of Higher Education, Dr. Reede founded the Biomedical Careers Program (BSCP). A collaborative, community-based organization, BSCP’s scope of involvement includes academia, private industry, medical centers, public education, and professional societies. BSCP’s goal is to identify, support, and provide mentoring for underrepresented minority students, trainees, and professionals pursuing careers in the biomedical and health sciences.
Dr. Reede has received many awards. The diversity of these honors is a reflection of her far-reaching and varied accomplishments. A few of the awards included in these recognitions of her achievements are: the Boston NAACP Health Award for her contributions to the health of the Boston minority community; the Community Service Award from the Epilepsy Association of Massachusetts for her work on a five-part satellite series on neuroscience for New England high school teachers; the American Association of University Administrators Exemplary Models of Administrative Leadership Award; the Herbert W. Nickens Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine; the Herbert W. Nickens Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Academic Leadership in Primary Care Award from Morehouse School of Medicine. In 2007, she was awarded the Riland Medal for Public Service from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the New York Institute of Technology.
At the national level, Dr. Reede was appointed to the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Minority Health by Donna E. Shalala, former Secretary of Health and Human Services, and she served on the Board of Governors for the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center; the National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Council; the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society at the National Institutes of Health; and as a Commissioner of The Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce. Dr. Reede formerly served on the Secretary’s Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH; the Sullivan Alliance to Transform America’s Health Professions; the Education Board of the American Public Health Association; the National Hispanic Medical Association; the Health Research & Trust Board of Directors of the American Hospital Association, and the National Children’s Study Advisory Committee of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In 2009, Dr. Reede was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Reede is the past chair of NAM’s Interest Group 08 on Health of Populations/Health. Some of Dr. Reede’s current affiliations include the Steering Committee and Task Force for the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students; co-chair of the Bias Review Committee of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director’s Working Group on Diversity; the National Advisory Board of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute of Morehouse School of Medicine; chair of the AAMC Group on Diversity and Inclusion (GDI), HMS representative to the GDI Diversity Strategic Planning Working Group; CTSA Women in CTR Interest Group of the NIH, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science STEM Education Review Committee.
Locally, former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift appointed Dr. Reede to the Board of Directors of the John Adams Innovation Institute of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Also in 2007, Dr. Reede was invited to join the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative Task Force, one of several task forces charged with developing a state-wide life sciences strategy.
Dr. Reede graduated from Brown University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She completed a pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and a fellowship in child psychiatry at Boston Children’s Hospital. She holds an MPH and an MS in Health Policy Management from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and an MBA from Boston University.
Andra Roy Chernack
Andra has worked in law student affairs at GW Law since 2007. Since 2012, she has been the Director of Disability Support Services and Senior Academic Advisor in the Dean of Students Office. In this capacity, she counsels law students on academic, personal, and professional matters with a particular focus on law students with disabilities. A member of the National Association of Law Student Affairs Professionals (NALSAP) since 2016, she is currently the President-Elect of NALSAP.
A Centenary College of Louisiana graduate, Andra earned her law degree from Catholic University Columbus School of Law as a part-time student. Her previous work experience includes working on Capitol Hill for U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston and then U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, working at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office of Policy Development, and returning to the Senate to work at the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Andra, who identifies as being neurodiverse, is a mother to two teenage boys, Ben (18) and Andy (16), and a beloved Schnoodle, Janey.
Jeffery Dodge
Jeffrey A. Dodge, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Assistant Professor of Law and Joseph H. Goldstein Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law, has spent nearly 20 years in legal education.
Dean Dodge has broad experience overseeing law school and University-level offices of student services, international programs, admissions, academic success, career services, and more. He has taught and presented on topics in the fields of family law, education law, international human rights, and LGBTQ+ inequality. His scholarship focuses on the intersection of educational access and minoritized communities. Dean Dodge is past chair of the Association of American Law Schools Student Services, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues, and International Legal Exchange sections. He has served on the national diversity committee of the Law School Admissions Council, as an American Bar Association accreditation site evaluator, and a three-time director of the CLEO Pre-Law Summer
Institute.
Michele Hong
Michele is the Deputy Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) at the University of Baltimore School of Law (UBalt Law). In that role, she oversee the day-to-day operation of the Tackling Chronic Absenteeism Project, an early intervention program that operates in Baltimore City Public Schools to improve attendance and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. She was recently appointed to UBalt Law’s DEIB Dean’s Action Collaborative. For the last few decades, she has worked within systems to achieve better outcomes for Maryland’s children, youth, and families. Prior to joining CFCC, she spent over seven years as a policy analyst with the Institute for Innovation and Implementation and previously worked as the Policy Coordinator for Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice at Advocates for Children and Youth. Before re-locating to Baltimore, Michele lived in New York City where she served as Associate General Counsel at Kaplan, Inc., and as a litigation associate at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson and RubinBaum LLP (now Dentons). She received her J.D. from Cornell Law School and her B.A. from Columbia University.
Michele lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband and two daughters. When she is not working, she enjoys reading, taking walks with friends, and watching her daughters play soccer and lacrosse.
TaWanda Hunter Stallworth
TaWanda Hunter Stallworth, MDiv, is the Program Manager for the Antiracist Development Institute at Penn State Dickinson Law. She has been actively involved in many racial justice projects throughout the region over the course of her career, including serving as the Criminal Justice Co-chair for the Lancaster, PA NAACP serving on the Boards of Directors for both the Lancaster, PA and Carlisle, PA YW’s, leading the effort to rededicate Lincoln Cemetery (Memorial Park), chairing the Pennsylvania Re-entry Coalition’s Health Committee, leading the Department of Health’s Office of Health Equity’s subgroup for incarcerated and returning citizens, and co-chairing the Borough of Carlisle’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission and the LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania’s Board of Directors. Mrs. Stallworth is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Leadership Harrisburg Area and is a member of Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams’ Equity Roundtable.
Mrs. Stallworth holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Behavior and Applied Psychology from Albright College, a Master of Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary, and a Certificate in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business.
As the program manager for the Antiracist Development Institute at Penn State Dickinson Law, Mrs. Stallworth is responsible for the organization and publication of a nine-volume book series entitled, “Building an Antiracist Law School, Legal Academy, and Legal Profession” book series which undergirds the course material available through the ADI.
Shirley A. Jefferson
Shirley A. Jefferson joined Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) in 1999. She is a member of Vermont Law School Class of 1986. Jefferson currently serves as the vice president of community engagement and government relations and is the school’s first
vice president of color. In this role, she reports directly to the VLGS president and provides strategic insight and advice to the school’s senior leadership regarding community issues; local, state, and federal government matters; and efforts for the enrichment of society and intercultural understanding.
Jefferson previously served as a special assistant to admissions, director of alumni affairs, associate dean for student affairs and diversity, and Title IX coordinator. She is also a professor of law and has taught race and the law, civil rights litigation, and non-profit organizations.
A nationally sought after speaker and adviser on matters relating to race and the law and equitable access to legal education, Jefferson is a member of the Vermont State College Board of Trustees and Vermont State Police Advisory Commission. She is a multiple-time winner of the Women’s Law Group Phenomenal Woman Award, a
recipient of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Edge Diversity Award, a recipient of the National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair Legal Education Access and Diversity Champion award, and a National Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCU) Pre-Law Hall of Fame Honoree, among many other honors.
On a more personal note, as a young girl, Vice President Jefferson met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama. At the age of 17, Jefferson integrated her high school in Selma, Alabama.
Korey Mercer
Korey J. Mercer serves as the Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions at William & Mary (W&M) Law School. He is responsible for leading recruitment strategies and initiatives to identify aspiring law students across the world. Korey is dedicated to ensuring access and opportunities to legal education for historically underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds like himself. He is passionate and brings a unique experience to law school admissions. As a first-generation law school graduate and the youngest person ever appointed in administration at two prestigious universities, his experiences allow him to identify with diverse students.
Upon discovering his passion for law school admissions, he transitioned to legal education after a short stint in private practice following graduating law school. Prior to his role as Senior Assistant Dean, Korey served as the Director of Admissions at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) School of Law. During his tenure at NCCU, he has aided in enrolling one of the most diverse incoming classes at NCCU, co-chaired and facilitated the inaugural HBCU Law School Showcase event with all historically black law schools in the country and helped plan and support the first-ever LSAC PLUS program at a historically black law school. Korey is a member of the Pre-Law Education and Admissions to Law School section of the Association of American Law Schools and the National Association of Law Student Affairs Professionals. In addition, he also serves as an inaugural member of the Reaffirming Individuals Supporting Education (RISE) Alliance advisory council and several other committees within law school administration.
Korey has shown a commitment to increasing minority representation in the legal profession through collaborations, programming, and self-led initiatives. He is a native of Durham, NC, and a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. He is active in his community and dedicates his free time and talents volunteering at the local YMCA, and at church. Korey is a proud three-time
graduate of the illustrious North Carolina Central University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Master in Business Administration, and a Juris Doctorate degree from his alma
mater.
Kathy Northern
Kathy Seward Northern is the Robert M. Duncan/Jones Day Designated Associate Professor of Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law where she has been a professor since
1991. She currently serves as the Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, represents the law school to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Leaders and Advocates group, and serves on the University’s Workgroup for Inclusive Excellence. She has also served as Associate Dean for Admissions and Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs while at Moritz. Dean Northern teaches in the areas of Tort Law, Poverty Law, Products Liability, and Environmental Justice. She serves on the Board of the Law and Leadership Institute, a pipeline program for underrepresented and under resourced high school students and has been deeply involved with this pipeline program since its inception in 2008. Dean Northern received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, her B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Psychology from Williams College.
Karen DeMeola
Karen DeMeola is superior court judge. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from UConn and her J.D. from UConn Law. After graduation from law school, Karen was a civil rights litigator. Thereafter, she held several roles at the University of Connecticut School of Law (UConn Law) including assistant dean for diversity, belonging, and community engagement, assistant dean for finance and administration, and assistant dean of students and enrollment.
Karen served as president of the CBA during the 2017-2018 bar year and was the first person of color to serve as president in the association’s history. She has also held numerous significant roles within the CBA, some of which include co-chair of the Lawyer Well-Being Committee; co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; chair of the Pro Bono Committee; and chair of the Law School Subcommittee of the State of the Legal Profession Task Force. She was also involved in the establishment of both the CBA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and Lawyer Well-Being Committee.
As a CBA officer, she created numerous diversity and pipeline projects, including the CBA Pathways to Legal Careers Pipeline Program, which provides high school students with insight about the legal profession in hopes of encouraging talented and diverse students to consider a legal career. In 2020, the CBA established the Karen Lynn DeMeola Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund in honor of her important work as a champion of diversity and equal rights within the Connecticut legal community.
Karen has been recognized for her work by the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, the Connecticut Law Tribune, the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity, and the University of Connecticut School of Law Alumni Association.
Nick Lobosco
As the Managing Architect and Division Manager of the Architecture and Mechanical/Electrical Group, his rolls include both management of professional and technical staff, as well as project related design work. Responsibilities include day to day group operations, coordination with other division, management of client and project
related services, and quality control.
With a passion for creating a collaborative, creative and inclusive work environment for his team, Nick has placed a focus on employee satisfaction, mentoring, and career growth within his group. With a significant team growth in 2023, and the ongoing focus of his team on high level design, His team is geared toward further growth in the coming years.
Accessibility standards and practices play a critical roll in Nick’s day to work, both as it relates to employee management and the professional practice of architecture. The built environment, both existing facilities, and new proposed work are an interactive part of
our everyday life. Decisions made by architects and engineers, related to both accessibility and more recently to DEI initiatives, have a lasting impact on how buildings are utilized by people of all backgrounds.
Wanda B. Knight
Wanda B. Knight, Ph.D., is the Inaugural Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Penn State Harrisburg, the Interim Head of the African American Studies Department, and a Professor of Art Education, African American Studies, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and Bioethics at Penn State University Park. Besides university-level teaching, she has served as a Pre-K-12 art teacher, an art museum educator, and a principal of elementary and secondary
public schools. She teaches, presents, and leads workshops and seminars that foster diversity and support fair, ethical, and inclusive teaching and learning environments. Serving as an expert diversity consultant to non-profit and educational organizations, businesses, and a Fortune 500 Company, her teaching, research, and leadership knowledge, and skills are informed through global travels and from scholarly pursuits that have allowed her to cross borders of technologies, disciplines, and institutions. Dr. Knight’s work concerning racial justice and intercultural teacher education, culturally competent teaching, equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice is published broadly. Her presentations span national and international locations, including Austria, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Korea, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and Switzerland, among other
areas. Her projects are equity-minded and diversity-focused, including two recently published co-edited and co-authored books, Lobby Activism (2022) and Teaching and Assessing Social
Justice Art Education: Power, Politics, and Possibilities (2023). Selected awards and honors include the John A. and Betty J. Michaels Distinguished Lecture in Art Education Award, the National Art Education Association (NAEA) Distinguished Fellows Award, the Pennsylvania Art Education Association Outstanding Higher Education Art Educator Award, the National Art Education Association’s Women’s Caucus June King McFee and Maryl Fletcher DeJong Awards, the J. Eugene Grigsby Jr. Award for outstanding contributions to art education, and the Kenneth Marantz Distinguished Alumni Award from The Ohio State University where she earned her Ph.D. Representing over 16,000 members, Dr. Knight is the first woman of color elected by the National Art Education Association to serve as president of its premier organization (2023-2025).
Hope Freeman
Hope Freeman was born and raised in Boston MA. She is a graduate of Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Africana Studies. Hope received her Master of Science in Management with a concentration in Non-Profit Management at Simmons College School of Management.
Hope’s passion work is to expand resource lists pertaining to LGBTQIA+ inclusivity practices for community-based organizations, state organizations, public schools, provider networks, and
universities. Hope is of the Radical Black Feminist tradition and interested in community care and transformative approaches that result in liberation for all. Hope has spent well over 20 years in
LGBTQIA+ community work and is passionate about improving the lives of the young people that she works with through education on health issues, education on LGBTQIA+ history and affirming
those within LGBTQ communities of color.
Hope is an Active Bystander, Educator, Abolitionist, and a proud Youth Worker. She is currently serving as the Senior Director of both the LGBT and Women’s Centers within the Division of Student
Diversity and Inclusion (DSDI) at Tufts University. She is also an active member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Access (DEIJA) Committee for the Tufts University School of Arts &
Sciences.
Hope enjoys buffalo chicken dip, Beyoncé, and is an Adult Fan of LEGO.
Nicole P. Dyszlewski
Nicole P. Dyszlewski currently serves as Professor & Assistant Dean for Curricular Innovation at Roger Williams University School of Law. She is the lead editor of the Integrating Doctrine and Diversity book
series. She received a B.A. from Hofstra University, a J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and an M.L.I.S. from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. She is a
member of the Massachusetts State Bar and the Rhode Island State Bar. Her areas of interest are DEIB pedagogy in law school, mass incarceration, and access to justice.
Lisa-Michelle P. Houck
Lisa-Michelle is a recent graduate from Albany Law School. She worked in disability advocacy for many years, primarily as a Social Security Disability non-attorney claimant representative. Her experience navigating the disability world came in handy when she developed multiple progressive autoimmune diseases, and needed to navigate the world with diminished mobility and chronic pain. She went back to school to become an attorney, and made her way through law school and bar exam accommodations thanks to an excellent support network. The journey wasn’t always smooth. There were definitely missteps and difficulties. Now, she works at the
New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, in the Office of General Counsel, while also pursuing a Master’s in Public Health as a part-time student. She is open to talking about her disability, her experiences as a queer woman, and being a non-trad student and mom-of-two.