Previous Event Materials

This year the ELC Critical Conversations Conference will include discussions about the relationship between thriving, healthy communities and schools. We welcome artists, teachers, assistant principals, principals, higher education professionals, community leaders, activists and all who hope to develop pedagogical tools for collective action.

When: Saturday, March 21, 2026 | 8:30am – 4:00pm

Keynote Speaker: Dr. James E. Ford, Founding Executive Director of the Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED)

James E. Ford, PhD is an award-winning educator, scholar, nonprofit leader, and consultant on issues of equity in education. Dr. Ford is the Founding Executive Director of the Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED), a North Carolina-based education nonprofit focused on eliminating racial disparities from the education system within the state, from early childhood to post-secondary levels. Business North Carolina has included in their Power List during the years 2023 & 2024 in the field of education. James was appointed by former Governor Roy Cooper to serve on the North Carolina State Board of Education from 2018-2023, where he was an At-Large member and Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee.

Dr. Ford earned his doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction with a concentration in Urban Education (2022), his Master’s of Art in Teaching from Rockford University (2009) and his bachelor’s in Mass Communication from Illinois State University. He is also Principal Consultant at Filling the Gap Educational Consultants, LLC., established in 2016 to offer organizations strategic advising and professional learning facilitation. Dr. Ford has the distinguished honor of being selected as the 2014 North Carolina Teacher of the Year.

Dr. Ford is a two-time TEDx speaker, published columnist, and advocate for educational equity, with his writing appearing in Education Week, EdPost, Ebony Magazine, and ASCD Education Leadership. He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., husband and father of four children.

Program

8:30 – 9:00 am | Registration & Breakfast | SOEB Lobby  

9:05 – 9:15 am | Welcome and Conference Overview
Dr. Tiffanie Lewis-Durham, Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership & Cultural Foundations (ELC) Department

9:15 – 9:20 am | Transition
  
9:20 – 10:20 am | Breakout Session A (please choose one of these three sessions)
 
Reflective Dialogue and Inquiry as Praxis: Catalyzing Transformational Change in Rural Schools, Districts and Communities   In this session, participants will learn about and practice Reflective Inquiry and Reflective Dialogue, as critical intervention within educational leadership preparation and practice. These reflective practices are relational processes through which individuals make meaning together by slowing down, providing critical inquiry, listening deeply, and engaging with complexity without rushing to closure. Utilized within educational leadership and preparation, these practices provide opportunities for community building, knowledge sharing, problem solving, and critical conversation. Through PPEERS, Reflective Inquiry and Reflective Dialogue has served as a methodology, pedagogy, and praxis — a way of being in relation with diverse educational leaders.   
Principal Preparation for Excellence & Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS), Team in the ELC Department, School of Education
Dr. Chris Kelly, Clinical Assistant Professor PPEERS Director and PI
Dr. Mark Rumley, PPEERS Assistant Director
Dr. Annie Wimbish, PPEERS Program Coordinator
Onna Jordan, Project Manager
ELC Graduate Students: Kelly Bradford, Kelvon Barkley, Shavonne Oliver  

Stories as Bridges: Using Youth Fiction to Foster Cultural Awareness, Information Literacy, and Critical Dialogue   This interactive session explores how fiction-based youth literature can serve as a powerful entry point for fostering cultural awareness and strengthening information literacy. Participants will examine how stories help readers navigate identity, belonging, perspective, and community while building skills in critical interpretation and reflective inquiry. Dr. Rice will share practical frameworks for selecting texts, facilitating dialogue, and creating emotionally safe yet intellectually rigorous spaces for conversation. Attendees will leave with adaptable tools, guiding questions, and strategies that can be implemented immediately in classrooms, schools, and community settings.  
Dr. Faith Rice, Assistant Professor, Information, Library, and Research Sciences (ILRS) Department, School of Education
 
Who Belongs? A Conversation Around Including All Stakeholders   This session will examine the “stake” in stakeholders as we consider belonging. We will explore perspective taking as a path towards partnership, collaboration, and enacting dignity.   
Dr. Carol Jordan, Clinical Assistant Professor, Specialized Education Services (SES) Department School of Education

10:20 – 10:30 am | Transition
 

10:30 – 11:30 am | Breakout Session B (please choose one of these three sessions)
 
Empowering Youth to Build Compassionate Communities   This session will provide an overview of youth programming from a local non-profit organization that has been promoting civic health in the Triad for almost 90 years. Known for its flagship summer youth leadership camp, Anytown, NCCJ provides an array of workshops and programming for elementary, middle and high school students in collaboration with Guilford County schools and other youth-serving organizations. Participants will learn more about NCCJ’s role in the community promoting civic health that seeks to create communities of belonging for all of us, not just some of us.  
Tom Martinek Jr., Program Associate, North Carolina for Community & Justice (NCCJ)    
 
Leading Out Loud: LGBTIQ Leadership in Uncertain Times   What does it mean to lead as an LGBTIQ person in today’s political and educational climate? This interactive session explores the lived realities of queer leadership, the pathways many LGBTIQ leaders take, and the critical skills needed to lead with courage, strategy, and sustainability. Participants will engage in reflection, dialogue, and practical exercises designed to strengthen identity-informed leadership and coalition-building in schools, organizations, and communities.  
Christien Hayden, Co-Director, Impaqt GSO
 
How Immigration Policy Impacts Families and Children   This session will address the legal complexities of the US immigration system and recent changes to policy enforcement that impact students and families. Participants will explore the challenges immigrants face, including language differences, misinformation, identification and documentation, tuition costs and residency, family separation, and the psychological toll these experiences can have on children. Educators will gain insight and empathy for immigrant students and their families and leave better equipped to understand and address the needs of their diverse student populations.  
Jodie Stanley, International Support and Language Access (ISLA) Coordinator, Human Rights Department, City of Greensboro    

11:30 – 11:45 am | Transition
 
11:45 am – 12:45 pm | Keynote Address: “We are STILL in Service: Holding onto Humanity in the Climate of Disconnection”  

Have you ever tried to place a phone call only to hear, “The number you have dialed is no longer in service”? It communicates disconnection and that the information you once had or approaches you once confidently took are no longer operational. For those who have dedicated their personal and professional lives to the pursuit of equal educational opportunity, the regressive socio-political climate is effectively sending us the same message. That our work is prohibited. And that the core values of multiracial democracy, human interdependence and cultural pluralism should be abandoned. Dr. Ford intends to remind us that universal law cannot be legislated away and that despite the best attempts of some — we are STILL in service. Drawing on personal, historical, and environmental examples, he invites us to reconnect with our own humanity, commit to activating positive change, and take heart in increasingly dispiriting circumstances.  
Dr. James E. Ford, Executive Director, The Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED)  

12:45 – 1:45 pm | LUNCH
 
1:45 – 2:00 pm | Transition
 
 2:00 – 3:00 pm | Marching for a Message: Student Voices in Action

Participants will hear from a small group of student leaders from the UNCG Middle College about a recent student-led advocacy initiative. Students will share firsthand accounts of their roles and experiences in leading a student-led walkout. This conference session showcases the voices of young people, while highlighting strategies, challenges, and the power of collective student voices and action in schools.       
The Middle College at UNCG:
Arbree Ware
Genesis “Genny” Arocho
Naomi Toledo Roa
Ahtziri Vargas Teodoro
Jayden Luna  

Shavonne Oliver, Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA), Educational Leadership & Cultural Foundations (ELC) Department, School of Education  

3:05 pm | Closing Remarks  
Dr Tiffanie Lewis-Durham, ELC Assistant Professor, UNCG School of Education  

This year the ELC Critical Conversations Conference will include discussions about the relationship between thriving, healthy communities and schools. We welcome artists, teachers, assistant principals, principals, higher education professionals, community leaders, activists and all who hope to develop pedagogical tools for collective action.

Saturday, March 1, 2025, 8:30am – 4:30pm

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons

Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons is Black feminist educator and thought leader whose work embodies the intersection of education, advocacy, and transformative leadership. Her work amplifies marginalized voices, creating inclusive spaces for dialogue, and advancing social justice initiatives. Kristal possesses experience in K–12 education, higher education, and nonprofit management. Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons is a native of Chicago, Illinois and a graduate of DePaul University, where she earned her B.A. in Women’s Studies and Political Science. She earned her M.A. from Washington State University in American Studies, her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Education-Culture, Curriculum and Change, and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Duke University. She serves as professor of educational leadership and educational leadership doctoral program director at Virginia State University. Prior to this role, she served as an associate professor at Virginia State University, assistant clinical professor at Florida State University, visiting assistant professor at Florida A&M University, and assistant professor at Tallahassee Community College. In her academic leadership, she has effectively shaped and influenced curriculum, fostered positive academic experiences, and curated high-quality face-to-face and online course work. She also has a breadth of academic leadership focusing on social foundations of education, women’s and gender studies, and distance learning pedagogy.

In addition to her extensive experience in academia, Kristal has been involved with the CDF Freedom Schools program over the last two decades. In 2020, Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons was named national director of the CDF Freedom Schools program. Beginning as a Servant Leader Intern, Kristal went on to serve as the project director and co-founder of the CDF Durham Freedom School site, a CDF Freedom Schools partner at North Carolina Central University. She co-founded North Florida Freedom Schools site, three different CDF Freedom Schools sites at Florida A&M University, a local church and school district. Kristal has also served as the co-founder and co-executive director of the CDF Freedom Schools site at Virginia State University. Her expansive work and leadership within CDF Freedom Schools movement is supplemented by the historic perspective she cultivated in focusing her academic scholarship on the 1964 Freedom Schools movement.

In addition to her academic and professional accomplishments, Kristal received her 200-hour certification from Hot House Yoga RVA, a Yoga Alliance certified teacher training school in 2021. She has been an active yogi since 2003 and is passionate about curating inclusive wellness spaces to increase Black women and girls’ in developing their yoga practices. Kristal is committed to helping the youth make connections between education, liberation, storytelling and yoga. Kristal also enjoys serving her community through her various service organizations. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated (Petersburg Alumnae Chapter), The Links, Incorporated Petersburg (VA) Chapter, and the Rotary Club of Petersburg where she serves as the 2024-2025 president of the lunch club.

All Day Activity

“Putting the ‘WE’ in Weaving: Collective Quilting Project” | 8:30 am – 3:30 pm | Fabric Design and Video Recording | School of Education Building (SOEB) 114 Auditorium

Throughout the day, participants will be invited to design a fabric square for a collective ELCCCC quilting project. Participants will be asked to create a symbolic representation of their learning from the conference and/or connection to the conference’s theme: “Grounded and Growing: Collective Work to Strengthen Education and Communities.”

Participants are also invited to record a short video (less than 30 seconds) sharing about their fabric square, what it represents, and how it connects to the ELC Critical Conversations. While the fabric squares will be quilted together later by the ELCCCC 2025 committee members, our hope is that this quilt will serve as our legacy, an artifact, symbol and ongoing reminder of our meaning-making, resource sharing, and weaving together of knowledge from this conference.

Program

8:30 – 9:00 am – Registration & Breakfast, SOEB Lobby
9:00 – 9:05 am – Welcome and Conference Overview, Dr. Tiffanie Lewis-Durham, ELC Assistant Professor, UNCG School of Education, SOEB 120
9:05 – 10:05 am – Keynote Address: Mind Stayed on Freedom: Education for Liberation through the CDF Freedom Schools® Movement, Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons, National Director Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools®, SOEB 120
10:05 – 10:10 am – Transition

10:10 – 11:10 am – Breakout Session A (please choose one of these three sessions)

Growing our Possibilities: College Students with Disabilities Championing the Post Secondary Education Movement – This session explores the importance of the post-secondary education movement, and how K-12 teachers can prepare students with intellectual disabilities for the possibility of college as an option after high school.
Brandon Baldwin, UNCG Alumni
Dr. Lalenja Harrington, ELC Assistant Professor, UNCG School of Education
SOEB 102

Building Bridges, Removing Barriers – The session will emphasize the importance of existing communities taking the time to know and connect with their new neighbors – refugees and immigrants, and the power of community collaboration in making their transition smoother and more welcoming.
Natacha Nikokeza, Senior Program Coordinator Community Centers, UNCG Center for New North Carolinians (CNNC)
SOEB 104

Mastering the 3 Es in Community: Engaging, Equipping and Encouraging Others – Turning Everything Around (T.E.A.) is a non-profit dedicated to providing strategic support and connections to resources for the Triad community. The organization also hosts the T.E.A. Time Teen Mentoring Program. This program provides a safe and supportive space for teenagers to engage in mentorship sessions, discussions, and activities aimed at personal and academic growth. In this session, participants will engage in an interactive presentation that aligns with Mastering the 3 Es in Community: Engaging, Equipping and Encouraging Others.
Lisa McMillan, Founder and Executive Director of Turning Everything Around (T.E.A.)
SOEB 106

11:10 – 11:20 am – Transition

11:20 am – 12:20 pm – Breakout Session B (please choose one of these three sessions)

Creating Community for Queer and Trans Youth – Queer and trans youth thrive when they feel a sense of belonging and community, but many face isolation due to rising censorship and limited school resources. This session will explore why community is essential for LGBTQ+ youth, how to foster affirming spaces, and ways to work within and beyond the school system to provide support. Together, we’ll reflect, share strategies, and find creative ways to build connections that make a lasting impact.
Rachel Hopkins, President/Founder Transcend Alamance
SOEB 108

Strengthening Cultural Wellness – Cultural wellness incorporates a sense of awareness, understanding, and respect for our own selves as well as others. Holistic well-being is incomplete without cultural wellness. This interactive session will help you explore the variety of cultures that have influenced you and highlight the benefits you can reap from all of your cultural experiences.
Shahnaz Khawaja, Associate Director Spartan Well-Being, UNCG Student Health Services (SHS)
SOEB 110

How Immigration Policy Impacts Families and Children – This session will address the legal complexities of the US immigration system and recent changes that impact students and families. Participants will explore the challenges immigrants face, including language differences, identification and documentation, tuition costs and residency, family separation, and the psychological toll these experiences can have on children. Educators will gain insight and empathy for immigrant students and their families and leave better equipped to understand and address the needs of their diverse student populations.
Jodie Stanley, International Support and Language Access Coordinator Human Rights Department, City of Greensboro
SOEB 118

12:20 – 12:30 pm – Transition

12:30 – 1:30 pm – LUNCH

1:30 – 1:45 pm – Transition

1:45 – 2:55 pm – Conference Reflection: Where Do We Go from Here? – In this session, participants will be invited to individually reflect on lessons, barriers, and potential actions to take with them after the conference. After participants individually reflect, they will be invited to share with other participants to process and resource share. At the end, participants will receive resources to work towards strengthening education and community.
Shavonne Oliver, ELC Graduate Research Assistant (GRA), UNCG School of Education
Luis Garay, Director of the Gender and LGBTQIA Center, Elon University and ELC PhD Student, UNCG School of Education
SOEB 120

2:55 – 3:05 pm – Closing Remarks
Dr Tiffanie Lewis-Durham, ELC Assistant Professor, UNCG School of Education
SOEB 120