Antiracist Counseling in Schools and Communities

Gretchen Brion-Meisels, EdD,is a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education whose work draws on critical participatory action research approaches to understand how schools and communities can become more equitable and loving spaces. She completed her EdD at the Harvard Graduate School of Education after spending 10 years as a middle school teacher.

Julia Bryan, PhD,is a professor of counselor education at The Pennsylvania State University. Professor Bryan examines the role of school counselors in school-family-community partnerships and has developed an equity-focused partnership process model to promote care, academic achievement, antiracism, resilience, and equity for marginalized students. She also uses large national secondary data sets to research school counselors’ roles in addressing academic achievement, college access, disciplinary referrals, school bonding, and other equity issues in schools that greatly affect students’ lives, especially the lives of students of color. Professor Bryan has contributed numerous peer-reviewed empirical publications to the profession, including a special issue of the Professional School Counseling journal on collaboration and partnerships with families and communities. Professor Bryan was recently awarded the American Counseling Association’s Extended Research Award, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision’s Locke-Paisley Outstanding Mentor Award, and the National Career Development Association’s Article of the Year Award.

Janice A. Byrd, PhD,is an assistant professor of counselor education in the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education at The Pennsylvania State University. She earned her PhD in counselor education and supervision from the University of Iowa and has previous experience as a school counselor and career counselor. She has also counseled, taught, and mentored youth. Professor Byrd’s scholarship seeks to situate the lived experiences of Black students within the broader ecological context to systematically examine how their personal, social, academic, and career success is interrupted and/or enhanced by school, family, community, and policies throughout all stages of the educational pipeline (i.e., K–12, postsecondary, and graduate studies).

Aubrey D. Daniels, PhD, LPC,is an assistant professor of counseling at Rider University. Her research is focused on complex trauma and the impacts it has on individuals and family systems both long term and short term. Much of her research focuses on the construct of resilience. She studies what factors lead to resilience despite the experience of trauma. Similar to her research interests, Professor Daniels’s clinical practice is focused on trauma, more specifically childhood and complex trauma, crisis, and adult mental health.

Beth O. Day-Hairston, PhD,is dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at Fort Valley State University. Professor Day-Hairston has presented extensively at numerous local, state, and national conferences on differentiated instruction, service learning, coteaching, inclusion, problem-based learning, experiential teaching, best practices for working with culturally and linguistically diverse families, best practices for teaching at-risk students, and teaching strategies for working with children with behavioral and emotional disorders. Professor Day-Hairston is the recipient the 2010 Wachovia Excellence in Teaching Award for Winston-Salem State University and the recipient of the 2000 Alumni Achiever of the Year Award for the School of Education and Performance at Winston-Salem State University.

Norma L. Day-Vines, PhD,serves as associate dean for faculty development in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University and maintains a faculty appointment as professor of counseling and human development. Prior to joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, she held tenured faculty positions at Virginia Tech and William & Mary. Professor Day-Vines’s research agenda examines the importance of multiculturalism as an indispensable tool in the delivery of culturally competent counseling and educational services for clients and students from marginalized groups. More specifically, she specializes in the measurement of attitudes toward discussing the contextual dimensions of race, ethnicity, and culture with ethnic minority clients or students and the identification of strategies that reduce barriers to well-being. She has consulted with school districts across the country to address issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her scholarship has appeared in leading counseling journals, such as the Journal of Counseling & Development , the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development , the Journal of Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development , and Professional School Counseling . Professor Day-Vines was recognized with an Exemplary Diversity Leadership Award in 2013 by the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development. In 2018 she received an Excellence in Teaching Award at Johns Hopkins University, and in 2019 she was awarded a Presidential Citation from the American Counseling Association in recognition of her scholarship on multiculturalism.

Traci Dennis, EdD,is a professorial lecturer in American University’s School of Education. In her current role, she teaches undergraduate and graduate students in various education courses. Professor Dennis has a strong record of teaching in underfunded prekindergarten–Grade 12 schools. Her scholarly work focuses on examining how Black students experience school and schooling and the intersection of anti-Black racism and antiracist teaching. Through her teaching and scholarship, she aims to address the impact of inequities in education on students of color; support the development of antiracist knowledges, literacies, and capacities among teacher candidates; and assist teacher candidates in translating antiracist theories and research into practice in prekindergarten–Grade 12 schools, classrooms, and curricula. Her goal is to use research to counter harmful dominant narratives, improve educational outcomes for students experiencing marginalization and oppression, amplify the voices of racially minoritized students, and create opportunities for adaptive and sustainable change.

Mary Edwin, PhD, LPC, NCC,is an assistant professor of counselor education at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. She received her doctoral degree from Pennsylvania State University, where she also served as a career counselor. Prior to earning her doctoral degree, Professor Edwin served as an elementary and middle school counselor. Her research interests include career development across the life span and fostering career development in K–12 schools.

Derek Francis, MA,is the manager of counseling services for Minneapolis Public Schools and a professional development consultant for Hatching Results. Derek, who specializes in helping students and staff build trusting cross-cultural relationships, has presented at state and national conferences around the country. In the summer of 2020, Derek led a webinar for more than 25,000 counselors and educators on proactive school counseling after a major racial incident. Some of Derek’s published work includes contributions to Contemporary Case Studies in School Counseling , the published blog “This Is Not a Fire Drill—Supporting Students After George Floyd,” and articles published for the American School Counselors Association and in the American School Board Journal . Derek was quoted in the November 2020 Time magazine article titled “‘You Can’t Be Silent.’ Schools Brace for the Presidential Election Aftermath.” Derek believes that school counselors are key to bridging our country’s racial divide. Spending time with his daughter, eating, and traveling are Derek’s favorite hobbies.