Our staff
Sarah (they/them/theirs)
Director
Sarah is a former educator as well as an organizer/activist who has worked in fostering and supporting community centered struggles for 10 years. Sarah is from the global and national south and finds inspiration and meaning in fighting alongside the communities they find themself in: queer people of color who are rowdy because they know they deserve more. It is the realization of the abolition freedom dream that keeps them connected and accountable to our collective liberation.
Jonathan (he/him/el)
Jonathan is an Atlanta-based Central American educator, researcher, and organizer. Dancing gives him joy and pupusas are his favorite food. He uses research, creative writing, teaching, and organizing to contribute to building the world that we all deserve to live in.
Mshairi (she/her/hers)
Mshairi is an Atlanta native (Kirkwood/Zone 6 to be exact). Mshairi identifies as a Black/Queer/Feminist/Nurturer/Liberator/Activist/Creative/Performer/Pre-K Enthusiast. She was educated at Georgia State University where she majored in African-American Studies. She has educated for Pre-K programs in Atlanta, New Orleans and Brooklyn. Mshairi is a member of The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and one of the leaders of The New African Scouts. She has done community work supporting the progression of Black people, anti-police brutality, anti-sex trafficking, sex worker rights, and the liberation of political prisoners. Mshairi has dreams of owning a community based school one day and will always continue to serve her community.
Ruth (she/they)
Ruth is a student, educator, and organizer advocating for culturally responsive, equitable education. She studied music performance and education at Vanderbilt University before moving to Atlanta and teaching 2nd grade in Atlanta Public Schools. Abolition and collective liberation excite Ruth and drive her work in education.
Shani (she/her/hers)
Shani is an alumna of Tennessee State University and taught in Atlanta Public Schools for three years. She is currently a social justice advocate and mother. She is the co-author of the book, None of The Above: The Untold Story Of The Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators.
Ashley (she/her/hers)
Director, Virtual Freedom School
Ashley is a writer, educational consultant and advocate for radical social studies teaching. She researches how Black history is taught and how Black kids express their civic identities. She teaches and supports out-of-school and summer school learning opportunities across the country, and celebrates her roles as mother, play cousin and mentor to young leaders.
SELECT MEMBERS OF Our board
Bettina (she/her/hers)
Chair, Board of Directors
Co-Founder
Bettina is an educator who teaches, writes, researches, and advocates at the intersection of racism, education, and abolition. She is the author of the book We Want To Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom.
Martha (she/her/hers)
Board Member
Martha, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice at the University of Georgia, has worked for many years with educators and families in diverse multilingual settings, including U. S. Latino/a and immigrant communities, as well as rural and indigenous communities in México. Her focus has been on engaging with families and educators to promote equity in mathematics and science teaching and learning. Recently, she has worked with educators, parents, and children in schools in Turkey serving multilingual families with refugee status.
Farima (she/her/hers)
Board Member
Farima is a professor of Teacher Education at the University of San Francisco (USF) in California and holds leadership roles in grassroots collectives such as the Teachers 4 Social Justice, the People’s Education Movement and the national Education for Liberation Network. She has over a decade of experience teaching at the elementary level as well as lecturing, supervising and supporting educators locally, nationally and internationally through her roles as a university professor, teacher supervisor, educational consultant and grassroots community organizer.
David (he/him/his)
Board Member
David is Professor of African-American Studies and Criminology, Law & Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). His work with communities, students, and teachers manifests itself in his involvement with the Peoples Education Movement, a collection of classroom teachers, community members, students and university professors in Chicago, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to his duties and responsibilities as a professor at UIC, he also served as a volunteer social studies teacher at the Greater Lawndale/Little Village School for Social Justice from 2005-2018.