Identity Talk 4 Educators LIVE Kwame Sarfo-Mensah

In this episode, I welcomed Jahzara Agyemang to the podcast to talk about her early upbringing in North Philly, navigating life as a teenage mother, and making the bold decision to move to Ghana where she has established herself as a successful educator, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. To learn more about Jahzara's work, you can either visit the Vince Memorial Garden Education Foundation at vmgef.org, her fashion website at jahzarafashionalchemy.com, or any of the following social media handles on Instagram:

@jahzaratheeducator
@jahzara.fashion.alchemy
@vincememorialgef

BIO:
Jahzara Agyemang is the Founder and Executive Director of Vince Memorial Garden and Education Foundation (VMGEF), serving the Ghanaian community through agriculture, diaspora business guidance, education, STEM, youth and women empowerment programs. Through a partnership with University of Education Winneba, Ghana, on specific STEM programs and mentorship, she provides full university tuitions for girls in rural areas.


Jahzara is also a former college professor with 20+ years in education, and has also serves as both a financial director and development director at major nonprofit organizations in US and Ghana.



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In this week's episode, I had the privilege of talking to Lauren Kelley, who shares about her early upbringing, the lasting influence of her late father, her life as an international educator, discovering her passion for DEIB work, and so much more! To learn more about Lauren's work, you can visit the ACS International Schools website or follow her on LinkedIn.

BIO:
Lauren Kelley is currently the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Lead for ACS International Schools, a group of three schools based in the UK. During her 12 years with ACS, Lauren has focused on social emotional learning, with an explicit focus on positive identity development, celebration of others and social justice as a primary teacher, director of a humanitarian project and now as Chair of the ACS DEIB Council of fifty students and staff from across the organization. Lauren is passionate about the inextricable link between wellbeing and DEIB, and the vital need to include students in all decision-making. Above all, Lauren believes there is always a way through love and that storytelling is the door needed to reach it. Lauren was born and raised in Metro Detroit, USA and holds a Bachelor's in Elementary Education and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Michigan State University. Lauren lives with her husband, Reggie and their two young children in the UK.



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In this episode, I had the honor of welcoming Dr. Mary Ashun to the podcast to talk about her early childhood, life as a school leader, her thoughts on building a sustainable pipeline for African teachers, the inspiration behind her creative endeavors, embracing her identity as a Ghanaian-Canadian, and so much more! To learn more about Dr. Mary's work, you can visit her website at maryashun.com or follow her on Twitter (@ashundr) and LinkedIn.



BIO:
A transformational leader with over 30 years experience in the Education, Scientific Research, Publishing and Non-Profit Sectors, Dr. Mary Ashun's pivot for the last 20 years has been on education design and it’s necessary partnerships with technology and community.

Her key projects have involved the design of pan-African and international strategies for increased literacy; effective teaching; targeted training and mentoring of individuals to deliver collaborative projects for educational success.

Providing affordable education is a passion of Dr. Mary's. As a result of this, she collaborated with a team of like-minded people to build a school in West Africa (His Majesty's Christian School), that would build upon this vision. Based in Asamankese (so that the literacy development project could be used as a platform), this school is modeling best practice in education delivery in rural sub-saharan Africa.

Dr. Mary is currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the OSE (Office Of Strategy Execution) of Ghana International School in Accra, Ghana. In January 2013, Dr. Mary co-organized TEDxSixteenMileCreek under the topic "RE-Imagine; videos are available on YouTube. She conceived the idea for TIME Conference - a gathering of educators in Accra, Ghana, the Visiting International Educator Program - the hosting of international educators at GIS for capacity building in the area of International Mindedness and arTRyx, the multidimensional display of student creativity in the Arts. She has written and had performed, 3 musicals: Prince of Egypt: A GIS Adaptation, Dancing Queen: A tribute to ABBA & Tales From Motown: A tribute to Motown Records.

Dr. Mary writes for various audiences and her books are available on Amazon under my official name (Mary Ashun), and two pseudonyms - Asabea Ashun and Abena Apea. She created a book show for Rogers TV Mississauga called Book 'Em TV which was aired from September 2011 - February 2012.

Her first serious novel, "Tuesday's Child was a Quarter finalist in the 2010 Amazon/Penguin Writing Contest and her second novel - Mistress Of The Game- was a Quarterfinalist in the 2011 Amazon/Penguin Writing Contest. York University's HUMA1970 uses Tuesday's Child in their 'World's of Childhood' Class.

Dr. Mary intends to leave this world a better place for our children...



LINKS:

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In this episode, I welcome Maymouna Sakho to the podcast to learn about her early upbringing in the Bronx, embracing her Senegalese heritage, her journey from classroom teacher to school leader, the current state of inclusion and learning support services in international schools, and much more! To learn more about Maymouna's work, you can either visit her company website at https://sakholearningconsult.my.canva.site/ or you can follow her on Twitter (@AdjaMaySakho) and LinkedIn.


BIO:

Maymouna Sakho is an educator, advocate, leader, supporter, and connector of people and ideas, who is passionate about serving others - particularly children - to reach their fullest potential. She currently serves as the Head of the Elementary Student Support Department at an international school in Africa. Prior to becoming an educator, Maymouna served as a financial and budget analyst, program director, student advisor, coach, and mentor. She holds a Master of Public Administration with a focus on nonprofit/financial management from New York University and a Master of Education from CUNY City College with a focus on Inclusion/Special Education.

Maymouna's passion for working to create equitable and inclusive spaces comes from her experience of growing up betwen two culutres, having to learn a new language and system and find a place and voice for herself.Maymouna is the founder of SLC - dedicated to supporting individuals and organizations to innovate through embracing and implementing equitable and inclusive practices. She also serves as a mentor of the AIELOC Aspiring Leaders of Color Program, co-leads AIELOC's Learning Support Affinity Group, and chairs the SENIA Africa Board.Outside of her professional life, Maymouna is passionate about spending time with her famly and friends, traveling to new countries, cooking and exploring new places to eat and working with individuals with a vision and desire to contribute to the ever changing African landscape through education and advocacy.



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In this week's episode, I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Shamari K. Reid to learn about his early years in education, what it means to be human, the power of self-regard, his new book "Humans Who Teach", and much more! To learn more about Dr. Reid's work, you can follow him on Twitter (@shamarikreid) and LinkedIn.

BIO:
Dr. Shamari Reid (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Dr. Reid completed his doctoral work in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition, he holds an M.A. in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language and TESOL from New York University, and a B.A. in Spanish and Education from Oklahoma City University.

As a scholar, Dr. Reid’s work explores how Black trans and queer youth and their communities sustain themselves amidst oppression, as well as how we can collaborate with these communities to better transform schools into sites of equitable opportunities for Black LGBTQ+ youth. His dissertation, which explores the agency of Black LGBTQ+ youth in NYC’s ballroom culture was awarded the 2022 Dissertation of the Year Award by the Queer Studies SIG of AERA. In addition to working with Black LGBTQ+ communities to reimagine schools, Dr. Reid’s work examines radical love as a moral imperative in social justice education and as a path toward culturally sustaining school communities, which he explores in his recent book, Humans who teach: A guide to centering love, justice, and liberation in schools.



LINKS:

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For this week, I had the honor of welcoming Adika Crémet to the podcast to talk about her early upbringing in New Zealand, navigating life as a Third Culture Kid, the ups and downs of her journey as an international educator, and so much more! To learn more about Adika's work, you can follow her on Instagram (@adikakaycremet), Twitter (@CremetAdika), and LinkedIn.

BIO:
Adika Crémet is living in Hanoi, Vietnam and serves as the early years team leader and homeroom teacher at the United Nations International School (UNIS) of Hanoi. She has been teaching for the past 20 years in New Zealand, Scandinavia, Denmark, and China and travelled around the world. Adika is a passionate advocate for TCKs (Third Culture Kid), inquiry-based learning, early childhood education, diversity and inclusion in schools. She hopes for a better understanding on being a global citizen and international education for the community of learners around her as she makes these her goals wherever she goes.

LINKS:

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