Episode 4: Cierra Kaler Jones

Today, our guest is Cierra, a social justice educator, writer, and scholar based in Washington, DC. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland - College Park studying minority and urban education. Through her research, she aims to highlight Black girls' stories and their arts-based practices (i.e. movement, music, hair) and how they use them as mechanisms for identity development and resistance. She is also the Education Anew Fellow with Communities for Just Schools Fund and Teaching for Change, and previously served as a fellow with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. 

As an educator, Cierra has worked with preschool students, K-12 students, and college students. She is also an arts education advocate – she teaches dance classes for all ages, choreographs for local companies, and runs programming that offers culturally-sustaining arts-based curriculum for girls. 

She is also the founder of Unlock Your Story, a coaching and consulting business aimed at helping people tap into the stories that they are bravely meant to share with the world through writing coaching, public speaking coaching, storytelling workshops, and diversity and inclusion through storytelling consulting. Listen Now

Check out this episode and others on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Links Mentioned In This Episode 

Cierra (Website)- https://www.cierrakalerjones.com/

Teaching Tolerance (Website)- https://www.tolerance.org/

Guest Social Media Info:

Cierra (Instagram)-@_cierrajade_