Antiracist Counseling in Schools and Communities

Erin Mason, PhD, LPC, CPCS,is an assistant professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta and was previously a faculty member at DePaul University in Chicago. She spent 13 years as a middle school counselor. Her greatest joys as a counselor educator come from teaching, and she values most the fact that students provide her with ongoing opportunities to learn. Professor Mason’s primary area of interest is the relationship between professional identity and professional practice in school counseling. Her scholarship has covered antiracism, antibias, and a justice philosophy for school counseling and school counselor preparation.

Renae D. Mayes, PhD,is an associate professor in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies at the University of Arizona, where she prepares master’s- and doctoral-level students to be counselors and counselor educators. Professor Mayes’s research agenda centers around the academic success and college readiness of gifted Black students with dis/abilities and Black girls. Her research details the experiences of students and families navigating schools while also providing recommendations for dismantling systems of oppression through policy and practice. Furthermore, Professor Mayes has extended this research to include implications for leadership, advocacy, and collaboration for school counselors and school administrators.

Laura Owen, PhD,is the executive director of the Center for Equity and Postsecondary Attainment at San Diego State University. Formerly an urban school counselor and district counseling supervisor, she is a passionate advocate for closing college opportunity gaps. Her research focuses on evaluating the impact of interventions and programs designed to address the systems, structures, and policies that drive inequitable access to high-quality postsecondary advising support. Laura has researched interventions targeting financial aid and completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the transition from high school to college, text messaging and virtual advising, the impact of technology on college-going decisions, and how students prefer to receive college and career information. Her research includes interventions and partnerships with nonprofit college access organizations, technology companies, cross-institutional researchers, and school districts from Baltimore, Maryland, to San Diego, California.

Whitney Polk, PhD,is a licensed professional counselor in Pennsylvania and previously provided therapy to K–12 students in Philadelphia public schools. She is currently a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania researching discrimination, school discipline, and youth mental health.

Mandy Savitz-Romer, PhD,is the Nancy Pforzheimer Aronson Senior Lecturer in Human Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research examines how schools structure counseling support systems and specifically what conditions are critical to effective practice. Professor Savitz-Romer is the author of Fulfilling the Promise: Reimagining School Counseling to Advance Student Success and coauthor of Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success .

Joshua Schuschke, PhD,is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Schuschke is a scholar of Black academic identity development across multiple media contexts. He earned his PhD in 2019 from the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education’s Urban Education Policy program. His concentration was in educational psychology with a special focus on intersectional educational experiences. Before his doctoral studies, Professor Schuschke earned his BS and MA degrees in Pan-African Studies from his hometown school, the University of Louisville. In his master’s thesis he developed a theoretical framework of online Black academic identity development for Black students through the use of social media platform affordances. Professor Schuschke’s dissertation, #RepresentationMatters: Constructing Black Academic Identities Through Popular & Social Media , received the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education PhD Dissertation of the Year Award.

M. Ann Shillingford, PhD,is an associate professor of counselor education at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Professor Shillingford has written several articles and book chapters on multicultural issues focused in particular on disparities among people of color. Professor Shillingford has a keen interest in exploring measures to deconstruct educational, social, and health disparities among marginalized communities. Professor Shillingford’s coedited book The Journey Unraveled: College and Career Readiness of African American Students was published in the fall of 2015. Her coedited book Demystifying the DSM for School Counselors was published in September 2020.

Sam Steen, PhD,is an associate professor in the College of Education at George Mason University. He is also co–academic coordinator of the school counseling program. He specializes in group work and cultivating Black students’ academic identity development. Professor Steen was a school counselor for 10 years, and his practitioner experiences shape his research agenda, approach to teaching, and service. He is a fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work, a division of the American Counseling Association. Recently, Professor Steen received the Professional Advancement Award from the Association for Specialists in Group Work recognizing his outstanding efforts in advancing the field of group work though research and the development of a new and innovative strategies for schools, families, and marginalized communities.

Jaelyn O. Vinesis an undergraduate student at North Carolina A&T State University. She graduated from the Oldfields School in Maryland.

Ahmad R. Washington, PhD,is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at the University of Louisville. He teaches in the School Counseling program, where he works with preservice school counseling students as they prepare to transition into the profession. Professor Washington received his BS in psychology from Francis Marion University, his MA in clinical counseling from Webster University, and his PhD in counselor education and supervision from the University of Iowa in 2013.

Joseph M. Williams, PhD,is an associate professor of counselor education at the University of Virginia. He is a faculty affiliate with Youth-Nex: The Center to Promote Effective Youth Development and with the Center for Race and Public Education in the South. His primary research focuses on resilience-based interventions and policies at the micro and macro levels that neutralize or offset the detrimental effect of racism and poverty on the academic, personal/ social, and career development of K–12 students. Besides publishing scholarly articles and book chapters in these areas, he also consults with school districts, communities, associations, and corporations to improve diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts and engage people in productive dialogue and action. Professor Williams earned his PhD in counselor education and supervision from the University of Iowa and his MS in clinical mental health counseling from Minnesota State University. He has more than 10 years of practical experience counseling children and adolescents in both school and mental health settings.

Valaida (Val) L. Wise, EdD,is the principal consultant at her firm Dr. Valaida Wise Consulting, LLC. The firm supports schools and other organizations in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion, governance, and leadership. She is also a faculty member in the Graduate School of Education at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where she teaches diversity, equity, inclusion, and issues of social justice. An educator for more than 25 years, Professor Wise has served as the head of several independent schools in the Washington, DC, region. Professor Wise is the chair of the board at Creative Minds International Public Charter School; is chair of the board at McLean School in Potomac, Maryland; and also serves on the boards of several other professional organizations and independent schools.