DR. DOROTHY SHAPLAND

Dr. Dorothy Shapland is an Associate Professor of Education in the department of Special Education, Early Childhood, and Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver.  Her coursework focuses on Culturally Responsive, Trauma Informed, and Intentional teaching practices in Early STEM, Assessment, Creativity, Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education, and Educational Leadership. Her research and publications center on Teaching strategies for Social Emotional Competency, Trauma & Resiliency, and Anti-Racism & Anti-Bias teaching in the Early Years.  Dr. Shapland has over thirty years of Pk-12 teaching experience and fifteen of those years in teacher leadership, professional development, and coaching.  In addition to the Education world, Dorothy has worked for the past twenty years providing support for organizational growth using an Appreciative Inquiry approach. This work with Non-profit organizations and government agencies in developing missions, visions, core values and action plans for equity led her to co-found The Village Consulting Group which focuses on developing authentic equity in organizations through accessing community needs and interests for growth. A founding leader in the Denver Chapter of the National Black Child Development Institute, and founding member of the Inclusion, Equity and Social Justice Council of the Division for Early Childhood of the National Council for Exceptional Children, Dorothy brings her passion for educational equity to everything she is a part of.  She currently stands as co-chair of the School of Education’s Diversifying the Teacher Workforce committee, and faculty advisor for the Diverse Scholars Program where she works to reduce barriers within systems for BIPOC and LGBTQAI+ teachers to enter and remain in the education profession. She is an active member of various non-profit educational boards, and serves on state advisory boards and committees to bring a perspective and voice to equity issues throughout Colorado.

RICHELLE FRY SKINNER 

Richelle Fry Skinner has served with the Center for Equity and Excellence (CEE) since its inception. Her roles have included personal assistant, Equity Audit Coordinator, and most recently Chief Operations Officer. Richelle is the glue that holds the Center together. She is responsible for maintaining and directing the daily operations of the Center, including coordinating with all public facing and internal entities, maintaining and enhancing CEE’s daily operations and ensuring the goals and objectives of the Center are met.

Richelle supports trainers, providing, support, advice, and direction on upcoming sessions and opportunities. She develops and implements policies, practices, and procedures for daily operations, and communicates the policies to trainers, consultants, and clients. Mrs. Fry Skinner ensures the Center's operations support the stated vision, mission and values. Richelle represents the public face of the Center, and is involved in every aspect of logistics, marketing, public relations and communications.

TRAINERS

Trainings on: *Implicit Bias* Creating an Anti-Racist Environment* Culturally Responsive Practices * Anti-Bias Practices* Trauma & Resilience * Historical Trauma* Reducing Implicit Bias* Cultural Humility * Microaggressions * Racial Equity* Addressing Challenging Behaviors * Family Engagement * Leadership Skills *Culturally Responsive Licensing & Compliance

JASMINE CRANE

Jasmine Crane, MS, MA, NCC, LPC is a Licensed professional counselor in the state of Colorado, where she has worked as a teacher at nearly every level of education.  She has worked as a lead teacher and two-year-old classroom management trainer, she was a middle school and high school reading and writing and language arts teacher and currently holds a substitute teaching license in the state of Colorado.  Jasmine works as an adjunct faculty member for the University of Colorado Denver, in their Masters-level counseling department.  Jasmine currently works as the Director of Health and Wellness for the Institute for Racial Equity and Excellence (IREE) and is the owner and primary therapist of Transcendent Counseling LLC, where she provides counseling to families of school-aged children, couples, individuals and adolescents.  She is also a contracted trainer with the Pyramid Model Consortium, where she provides training on equity and culturally responsive practices, especially as it relates to implementing the Pyramid Model.  She has served on the board of the Denver County Cultural Commission, where she helped allocate SCFD funds to tier 3 arts and science organizations serving the Denver Metro Area.  Jasmine has also served on the board of their Inclusivity Committee, a committee dedicated to ensuring that SCFD funds are reserved for organizations serving lower-income, diverse and otherwise marginalized populations in the Denver Metro Area.  She has also served as a member of the 2019-2020 Denver Public School Bond and Mill board.  Jasmine was recognized by the Denver Business Journal as one of Denver’s top 40 under 40 in 2017 and continues to promote her passion for social justice in early education, as well as the social and emotional development of children in various capacities. 

Chief Operations officer

KAMAU ALLEN, JD​
Kamau Allen is an attorney with Nash Law Group, where his practice focuses primarily on criminal defense and family law. He approaches the practice of law with a deep commitment to justice and fairness, ensuring individuals have a strong advocate when navigating complex legal systems. A native of Denver, Colorado, Kamau's commitment to social justice began well before law school. As a Howard undergraduate, he participated in community-led activism in Ferguson and Baltimore during the 2014–2015 period of national protests surrounding police violence. That experience helped shape what would become a sustained commitment to criminal legal reform and community advocacy. After returning to Denver, Kamau worked as a community organizer, advocating for police accountability and criminal justice reform. Through his work with Together Colorado, he was behind the 2018 grassroots campaign that successfully removed slavery and involuntary servitude language from the Colorado Constitution. He later founded the Abolish Slavery National Network, supporting efforts to remove similar constitutional exceptions nationwide. Kamau has also served as Director of Equity and Social Justice for the Institute for Racial Equity & Excellence, where his work continued to center community empowerment and systemic change. Recognizing that community organizing alone could not address every legal challenge confronting individuals and families, Kamau pursued a law degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Law School.  Kamau’s career represents a natural progression from organizing communities for change to advocating for individuals through the law. His work remains grounded in a longstanding commitment to justice, advocacy, and creating systems that work more fairly for the people they are intended to serve.

ANDREW WALTON, PH.D

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Dr. Andrew D. Walton is a young and invigorating Assistant Professor of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education in the department of Special Education, Early Childhood, and Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Prior to his role at MSU Denver, Dr. Walton served in multiple positions within public education that include: Spanish immersion teacher, special educator, ESL teacher, math interventionist, instructional coach, and high school administrator. With his multitude of k-12 teaching experience, he seeks to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in both his research and teaching to prepare culturally and linguistically competent K-16 educators through coaching, collaboration, and critical reflection within an educational community of practice.

 
Fueled through his own experience as a bilingual person of color and teacher leader who has worked with academically vulnerable youth populations and their families in urban K-12 settings in the U.S., he is fundamentally concerned with developing equity-oriented educators and seeks to leverage his scholarship to promote culturally and linguistically transformative pedagogies for teaching and learning. Dr. Walton earned his bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with a major in Spanish and minor in Bilingual Education from Central Michigan University, two master’s degrees in Special Education from The University of Texas at San Antonio and in School Leadership from Trinity University. He then followed these degrees with a PhD in Culture, Literacy, and Language and a Graduate Certificate in Technology for Language Education from The University of Texas at San Antonio.

DR. ELMER HARRIS

Dr. Elmer Harris is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education in the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver. An educator, scholar, mentor, and military veteran, Dr. Harris brings extensive experience across early childhood, elementary, and special education to his work preparing the next generation of educators. His professional background includes service as an early-intervention paraeducator, a special education teacher working with children with autism, a fifth-grade general education teacher, and a district behavior interventionist. Dr. Harris’s scholarship and professional interests focus on recruiting and retaining diverse educators, school-family partnerships, early childhood education, special education, and behavior management. His work is grounded in the belief that meaningful learning begins with relationships and a strong sense of community. He emphasizes learning environments where students are known, supported, challenged, and given relevant, individualized, and engaging experiences. Before entering higher education full-time, Dr. Harris also completed a distinguished 22-year career in the United States Air Force. His commitment to public service continued in education, and during the 2017–2018 academic year, he was one of only six educators nationwide selected to serve as a U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellow. He has also served with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Denver and participated in its Mentor 2.0 initiative supporting high school students academically, personally, and professionally. 

DR. RIKESHA L. FRY BROWN

Dr. Rikesha L. Fry Brown is a psychologist, educator, administrator, speaker, facilitator, trainer, and author. An educator at heart, Dr. Fry Brown has served as a special education teacher for grades Pre-K, 2, 4, and 6-8 in Florida, Georgia, and the District of Columbia, ensuring educational equity for all children. She has been a Special Education Coordinator for a District of Columbia Charter School, serving as a Special Education Parent Liaison. She completed both her Pre-doctoral Internship and Post-Doctoral Fellowship with the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support. She provided individual and group therapy, conducted psychoeducational evaluations, provided parent advocacy training, and led teacher training on working with students diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders, dismantling the school to prison pipeline, one child, one family, one school at a time.

A rising star in higher education, Dr. Rikesha currently serves as the director of the Freddye T. Davy Honors College at Hampton University. Prior to returning to Hampton, Dr. Fry Brown was an adjunct professor in the psychology departments of Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College.  She is co-owner of the African American Honors Collective. She consults with businesses on engaging Scholars of Color, particularly from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), as a means to racial equity in the workplace. As a practitioner, Dr. Rikesha is the co-founder and clinician of the Kindred Family Wellness Group, a counseling, consulting, and coaching practice in the Atlanta area, specializing in work with children, youth, young adults, and women to include experience working with families, couples, and parents.  

A dynamic speaker, presenter, and trainer, Dr. Fry Brown has presented for groups, organizations, and religious institutions across the country, in South Africa and England. Dr. Rikesha Fry Brown’s primary research focuses on the psychological and social implications of mediated images for African American women.  She has also written and presented the historical impact of racism on the perception of HBCU education, the path of Honors Education for scholars of color, and the importance and impact of self-care.

Dr. Fry Brown graduated cum laude from Hampton University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Education.  She earned a Master of Counselor Education degree with concentrations in both school guidance and mental health counseling from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Dr. Fry Brown earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Counseling Psychology from Howard University.