What are some of your favorite memories from your time at the University of Iowa?

It was both exciting and instructive when the student organization staged a sit-in at the President’s Office in order to pressure the University to divest from South Africa.  They set up camp on the Pentacrest and intentionally placed themselves in positions to be arrested in protest.  I knew one of the two main organizers of the sit-in and many of the students who were arrested.  I was not yet in the middle of the student organizing, however, so I did not join in the actions that led to arrest.  But I was moved by the actions at Iowa and the similar actions across the nation and the world, which did ultimately lead to the downfall of apartheid and to democratic elections in South Africa.  It was a very exciting time for racial equity advocates, which I was and which I grew to be. 

In what ways did you challenge yourself (conventionally or otherwise) in your undergraduate studies and beyond?

I ran to be an executive of the Liberal Arts Student Association in the spring of my freshman year; after winning that election, I was invited to serve as treasurer of the Collegiate Associations Council (one of the two student government associations at that time) and filled that role my sophomore year.  I then ran the UI chapter of United Students of Iowa the first part of my junior year.  I November of my junior year, I was elected to serve as vice president of the United States Student Association, a full-time position in Washington, DC.  I moved to DC in January of 1987, received internship credit for the second semester of my junior year, then took a leave of absence after being elected to serve as president of the association that summer.  Fourteen years later, I moved back to Iowa.  (I did eventually take courses at the University of Maryland University College, the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Iowa to ultimately graduate from Iowa with a B.A. in political science.) 

Taking advantage of the leadership and decision-making opportunities at the University complemented my studies in ways that catapulted both my work and academic careers! 

Tell us about something fun or unusual you were involved in at Iowa!

I went to the very first Liberty Bowl as a member of the Iowa marching band! 

I took dance classes and ended up being able to perform during Dance Gala.  If I had stayed at Iowa, I probably would have minored in dance, something I never thought I would have been able to do.   

What’s something you wish you had known/done as an undergraduate student?

I feel like I was well-prepared and supported as an undergraduate. I had some major challenges—I ended up with a couple of incomplete courses that became “F’s” once both professors left the university prior to completion.  They were an essential part of my journey, however.  I do wish I had known more about the process to get into graduate school as a younger undergraduate.  Once I moved to Washington, DC, I lost touch with the normal guidance infrastructure I would have had if I had stayed on campus.  However, the extra time it took to get into graduate school is what introduced me to K-12 education policy as a field and that is where I stayed.  So, I have no regrets! 

Describe your experience with West Wind Education Policy Inc. over the years and your role in founding the organization.

I moved back to Iowa City from Washington, DC, in January 2001.  At that time, I was about to defend my dissertation proposal at the University of Maryland College Park.  Periodically during my graduate school experience, I had consulted with the nonprofit organization where I had worked prior to graduate school.  When we moved back to Iowa City, I picked back up on that consulting as a temporary job while I prepared to defend my dissertation proposal.  The work was incredible!  I was able to do everything I had done in Washington, DC.  I soon realized that my passions were centered in the work I was doing, not in the potential career I had been pursuing in the academy.  Once I was advanced to candidacy in my Ph.D. program, I realized that, instead of finishing my dissertation, I wanted to turn my temporary consulting gig into a permanent organization.  I did that and am the sole proprietor of West Wind Education Policy Inc. (West Wind).  In 2015, I co-founded the nonprofit organization, Creative Corridor Center for Equity (C3E).  I am Chair of the C3E Board and its chief fundraiser. 

For our first fifteen years, West Wind focused on state education leadership; in 2015, we officially expanded our efforts to include direct service to school districts.  Our mission is to build the capacity of leaders to imagine and enact school systems that overcome historic and persistent inequities and engage each and every child in learning.  Currently, we serve this mission by providing trainings to overcome the influence of implicit racial bias in education, build the capacity for racial equity leadership, and to implement equity-focused instructional improvement.  We also manage peer review efforts for original education research projects in the Pacific Northwest. 

At C3E, our programming focus is on the diversification of the education workforce by race and the training of marginalized members of communities so that they might serve on public and nonprofit boards and commissions. 

Reflecting on your time at Iowa and life after graduation, how did the Presidential Scholarship impact your life as a student at Iowa, and how has it impacted your life beyond Iowa?

First and foremost, receiving a Presidential Scholarship was an honor that gave me confidence as I left my small Iowa hometown to become one of 30,000+ students at the University of Iowa.  The funding offered through the scholarship allowed me to pursue volunteer service instead of needing to work to make ends meet.  Once I moved out of the dorms my junior year, I was surprised to learn that the funds which had previously covered room and board were available to me in my off-campus housing situation.  This followed me to Washington, DC, where I was able to earn a full semester of credit through an internship at the Washington Center—without the scholarship, this would have been very difficult, as the nonprofit salary I received barely covered living expenses.  Ultimately, I was able to graduate my undergraduate program debt-free.  This meant I did not have to think twice before applying to graduate school at the University of Maryland College Park and Harvard University. 

Looking back, did you expect to be where you are now? If not, reflect on how you navigate “the unexpected” in your life.

I would have answered this question very differently two years ago!  Back when I was an undergraduate, I did expect to have lived in Washington, DC, and to have returned to Iowa.  I did not expect to be doing what I am doing, however.  I always had broad goals—do good things for others the realm of politics—but I was able to be flexible in the pathways I actually took to achieve my goals.  When opportunities arose, I was able to take advantage of them—like running for vice president of the US Student Association midway through my junior year of undergraduate school, like staying on as a research assistant after completing a temporary job at the Council of Chief State School Officers, like launching the Consortium for Racial Equity in K-12 Education in partnership with Pacific Educational Group and the Ohio Department of Education, and like shifting to serve school districts when founding the Creative Corridor Center for Equity.  Everything I did served my personal mission; I had to be open to the opportunities that arose in order to take advantage of them.