Our staff
Sarah Abdelaziz (she/her/hers or they/them/theirs)
Director, Activists in Residence
I am a former educator as well as an organizer/activist who has worked in fostering and supporting community centered struggles for 10 years. I am from the global and national south and find inspiration and meaning in fighting alongside the communities I find myself in: queer people of color who are rowdy because we know we deserve more. It is the realization of the abolition freedom dream that keeps me connected and accountable to our collective liberation.
Email me at SarahAbdelaziz at AbolitionistTeachingNetwork.org
Ashley Woodson (she/her/hers)
Director, Virtual Freedom School
Ashley Woodson, Ph.D. 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.
Email me at AshleyWoodson at AbolitionistTeachingNetwork.org
Ominira Mars (them/them/theirs)
Communications Manager
I am a Black southern queer-feminist student, educator, and writer born in Columbus, Georgia. My people are poor/working class folks who saw education as a path to liberation. I am passionate about political education, abolition, and building strategic counter-narratives through story-telling and radical imagination to disrupt systems of oppression.
Email me at OminiraMars at AbolitionistTeachingNetwork.org
Charles Harte (he/him/his)
Digital Media Intern
Charles Harte is a University of Cincinnati junior in the Digital Media Collaborative program. He enjoys making videos, music, and games, and is excited to be putting his talents towards an important cause.
Email me at CharlesHarte at AbolitionistTeachingNetwork.org
Our board
Bettina L. Love (she/her/hers)
Chair, Board of Directors
Bettina Love 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.
Contact me at BettinaLove at AbolitionistTeachingNetwork.org
Brandelyn Tosolt (she/her/hers)
Secretary/Treasurer, Board of DIrectors
Brandelyn Tosolt is an educator who amplifies voices from the educational margins. She works with teachers and educational leaders in the greater Cincinnati area to transform schools into places which celebrate Blackness and joy.
Contact me at BrandelynTosolt at AbolitionistTeachingNetwork.org
Chelsey Culley-Love (she/her/hers)
Board Member
Chelsey Culley-Love is a third grade educator in Atlanta, GA. She began teaching Exceptional Student Education in Homestead, FL. Culley-Love is currently working to build an engaging and effective learning community in Atlanta’s Fourth Ward. This work is facilitated by her experience and belief in the power of education to ensure students are having a meaningful, social justice oriented, joy-filled learning experience!
David Stovall (he/him/his)
Board Member
David Stovall, Ph.D. 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.
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Cynthia Dillard (she/her/hers)
Board Member
Cynthia B. Dillard (Nana Mansa II of Mpeasem, Ghana) is an enstooled Queen Mother/Black feminist teacher educator/school builder/researcher/retreat leader whose life and work spans the US and Ghana, West Africa. She is the author of three books about the work of spirituality in teaching and learning for Black life and is currently working on her fourth book, We (Re)member: Black Women Teachers and the Spirit of Our Work.
Farima Pour-Khorshid (she/her/hers)
Board Member
Farima Pour-Khorshid, Ph.D. 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.
Martha Allexsaht-Snider (she/her/hers)
Board Member
Martha Allexsaht-Snider, 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.