If there is one thing that Jeff Duncan-Andrade knows for sure, it’s this: If you find something that’s not working, change it. And that’s exactly what he has done. The longtime urban educator, researcher and activist felt that students in his community in East Oakland, California, who are mostly Black and Latinx, weren’t getting the education they deserved. So Duncan-Andrade, a teacher and professor of Latina/o Studies and Race and Resistance Studies at San Francisco State University, co-founded a new school—the Roses in Concrete Community School. It’s a school that centers the wellness of its students above everything else—to the unique needs of the community as the pathway to social and academic rigor. Duncan-Andrade also co-founded the Community Responsive Education Group and the Teaching Excellence Network (TEN) to support schools and districts to build and support similar practices in their communities.
The result of these unique methods is nothing but triumph. Duncan-Andrade has been ranked as one of the nation’s most influential scholars by EdWeek’s Public Influence Rankings. His work and methods of teaching have been widely studied and acclaimed for producing uncommon levels of social and academic success for students. His research interests and publications span the areas of youth wellness, trauma responsiveness, curriculum change, teacher development and retention, critical pedagogy and cultural and ethnic studies. He works closely with teachers, school site leaders, union leaders and school district officials to help them develop classroom practices and school cultures that foster self-confidence, esteem and academic success among all students.
Duncan-Andrade also lectures around the world and has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters on effective practices in schools. He has written two books and his third book with Harvard Press will be released in spring 2022. In 2016, Duncan-Andrade was part of the great educators invited to the White House on National Teacher Appreciation Day by President Obama, and in 2019 he was chosen as the Laureate for the prestigious Brock International Prize in Education. In 2021, he was selected to join the board of Prevent Child Abuse America. He holds a Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Studies in Education and a Bachelor of degree in Literature, both from the University of California–Berkeley.
Erin Jones is a biracial, transracial adoptee, who was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she was adopted by parents who had been raised in Northern Minnesota. Her father took a teaching job at the American School of The Hague in the Netherlands, where Erin was raised and where her parents taught for over 30 years. By the time Erin was 17 years old, she could speak four languages and had played soccer, basketball and softball in 10 countries. Upon graduation from high school, Erin returned to the United States for college. She attended Bryn Mawr College, in a suburb of Philadelphia, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literatures of the African diaspora in English, French, and Spanish. She later earned her teaching certificate from Pacific Lutheran University and another certificate in Language Immersion instruction from Concordia College.
Erin has worked as an athletic coach, a substitute teacher, a classroom teacher, an instructional coach, a state assistant superintendent, and a school district executive. Erin has earned awards as The Most Innovative World Language Teacher, the Washington State Milken Educator of the Year, a White House Champion of Change, and the Inaugural Hanford Education Leader. Erin ran to lead the Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2016 and lost that race by 1%. Her loss propelled her into full-time consulting on issues related to equity and public speaking at conferences, in schools, and at churches. Since 2017, Erin has spoken to over 500,000 students and provided trainings and keynotes to a similar number of adults. She has three TEDx Talks and recently published a book, “Bridges to Heal US: Stories and Strategies for Racial Healing.” She and her husband, James, have been married for almost 30 years. James is a high school teacher and head football coach. They have three adult children – one who is a para educator and coaches football, one who serves as the communications and project manager for an education foundation, and one who works for an independent video game design company.
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