Afro.Scholar
Inspiration. Aspiration
About Us
Inspiration for your equity aspirations
Afro.Scholar focuses on supporting (K-12) schools, school districts and teacher-education programs in developing systems and practices that promote educational equity.
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Our consultancy services offer participants sustainable solutions for integrating equity into daily teaching practices, the curriculum and the culture of a school.
Our online resources offer opportunities for educators to engage with content that centers and celebrates historic and contemporary scholarship related to equity.
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The Afro.Scholar EdCollective is a community of care for educators doing the work of advancing equity in schools. We center wellness practices that support classroom teachers to engage in joyful, long term careers in the field of education, by providing opportunities for collaboration and mentorship.
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The guiding intentions for our work include…
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Developing schools where all students have voice, access, and influence in their education as they become critically conscious members of society
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Creating excitement around equity scholarship and providing opportunities for reflecting on the continued evolution of equity informed practices
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Building a supportive community for educators working to create and promote equity-focused experiences in schools
Meet The Team
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With 20 years as a New York City educator Dr. Andolyn Brown has had the privilege of serving teachers, students and families in a variety of settings - including the richest and poorest congressional districts in the United States. A guiding principle to her work has always been incorporating culturally responsive and sustaining education(CRS-E) practices into the communities she serves and developing equitable educational opportunities that elevate voice, access and influence for students and families.
Andolyn’s boundless dedication to the education field is firmly rooted in the cultivation of her own wellness- which she defines as-developing healthy and supportive personal and professional relationships, maintaining spiritual practices and making conscious choices to contribute to her own health and happiness- as both an educator and a human being. She is clear that if it were not for her focus on wellness and a strong network of mentors and allies that she would never have been able to build a long lasting career that led to the joyful experience of being a veteran educator.
Her next steps for increasing her impact on New York City public schools include developing a network of brilliant educators who are passionate about building equity focused rich and fulfilling long term careers in the field of education.
Dr. Andolyn Brown
CEO & Co-Founder
Denise Pérez
CEO & Co-Founder
Denise Pérez has close to 20 years of teaching and leadership experience in New York City’s Department of Education (NYCDOE), the largest public school system in our nation. Denise began her career in 2002 in West Harlem where she taught fourth grade for seven years, before joining a gifted and talented elementary school in the Upper East Side as the fifth grade English Language Arts teacher, where she later became the Assistant Principal (AP). As a teacher Denise took great pride in designing lessons and curriculum that promoted students’ critical and independent thinking skills, while instilling in each of them a love and joy for learning.
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As a school administrator, Denise enjoyed working side-by-side with staff, teachers, and caregivers to create a welcoming, affirming environment of mutual respect and trust by holding book clubs, professional learning communities, and often co-facilitating lessons. In 2019 Denise completed New York University’s Critically Conscious Educators Rising (CCER) series, a 2-year program intended to build participants’ capacity to decolonize education and in 2022 she participated in Teacher's College Reimagine Education Summer Institute: Teaching, Learning, and Leading for a Racially Just Society. In her tenure as an AP Denise led her school’s equity and excellence work, looking at instructional practices, curriculum and materials with an equity and racially-just lens.
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Denise is a former adjunct-lecturer at the School of Education at Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY) where she supervised and mentored current and aspiring-teachers in grades K-8 across New York City schools. Denise recently moved to Los Angeles, California where she continues to support educators and school leaders with creating opportunities that build students' social comprehension skills while offering a top-quality educational experience for all.