He worked as a high school counselor for several years prior to completing his PhD in counselor education from the University of Maryland, whose program emphasized promoting systemic equity, access, and justice in schools through counseling. He also holds an MDiv from Virginia Union University. Professor Harris’s research focuses on achieving three goals: (a) improving the college and career readiness of underserved students, (b) promoting the identity development of Black male student athletes, and (c) facilitating the empowerment of antiracist school counselors. He is the creator of Men Passionately Pursuing Purpose, a program that exists to see Black male athletes thrive in and outside of sport. He is also the former president of the Virginia School Counselor Association and a former member of the board of directors of the American School Counselor Association.
Malik S. Henfield, PhD, is the founding dean of and a professor in the Institute for Racial Justice at Loyola University Chicago. He received a BA in biology from Francis Marion University, an MEd and EdS in school counseling from the University of South Carolina, and a PhD in counselor education from The Ohio State University. Professor Henfield’s scholarship situates Black students’ lived experiences in a broader ecological milieu to critically explore how their personal, social, academic, and career success is impeded and enhanced by school, family, and community contexts. His research has resulted in external funding, including most recently a grant from the National Science Foundation focused on increasing the number of students of color entering computer science professions and a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences aimed at determining the extent to which school districts provide equity and excellence in their gifted education programming.
Lynette M. Henry, PhD, is the manager of college success programs in the Office of Counseling and College and Career Readiness in Fairfax County Public Schools. She uses a systems approach to close opportunity gaps for college for students who are historically underserved in college. She manages programs designed to promote high-quality college access, readiness, and success among many underrepresented students. Many of the students served by these programs are the first in their families to attend college. Professor Henry has served in the field of education for the past 26 years, from prekindergarten through college, as a professor, school counselor, college and career counselor, and teacher in the United States and Barbados. Her passion for giving children access to opportunities through innovative school-family-community partnerships has led to her receiving the Superintendent We Deliver Miracles Award from the School District of Hillsborough County and Hillsborough Education Foundation for going above and beyond for schoolchildren and the community, the Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year from Just Elementary School (School District of Hillsborough County), and the Outstanding School Counseling Professional of the Year from Hayfield Secondary School (Fairfax County Public Schools).
Erik M. Hines, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at Florida State University as well as the coordinator of the Counselor Education Program and School Counseling Track. Professor Hines prepares graduate students to be professional school counselors. Professor Hines’s research agenda centers around (a) the college and career readiness of African American males; (b) parental involvement and its impact on academic achievement among students of color; and (c) improving and increasing postsecondary opportunities for first-generation students, low-income students, and students of color (in particular African American males). In 2020 Professor Hines was selected as a fellow of the American Counseling Association.
Kara Ieva, PhD, is an associate professor in the Counseling in Educational Settings program at Rowan University. Her educational career, which spans more than 20 years, includes work as a Spanish teacher, as a professional school counselor, and in school counselor education. She received her BA in Spanish secondary education and an MEd in secondary education curriculum and administration from Towson University. In addition, she earned an MEd in school counseling from Loyola College in Maryland and her PhD in counselor education from the University of Central Florida. Kara’s areas of research interest include promoting equity and wellness in education for children and adolescents from marginalized populations in the areas of college and career access, social-emotional development, and group counseling. She consults with regional school districts and provides professional development to prekindergarten–Grade 12 school counselors, teachers, and administrators on how to embed culturally affirming social-emotional development into curricula and strategies for cultivating safe and welcoming mental health and a neurodiverse culture in schools.
Kaprea Johnson, PhD, is an associate professor in counselor education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her interests are broadly situated in interrogating education and health care systems as it relates to addressing social determinants of health needs, equity, access, and justice. In education, she is interested in school counseling practice, training needs, and outcomes in underresourced schools that serve predominantly minorities. She is an experienced scholar with more than $4.5 million in grant-funded projects as either a principal investigator or a co–principal investigator, 51 peer-reviewed journal publications, two books, more than 80 presentations, and several practitioner-oriented publications. She is passionate about supporting the mental health and wellness needs of youth through assisting in the development of caring, knowledgeable, antiracist, equity-driven school counselors.
Erin Mason, PhD, LPC, CPCS, is an assistant professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta and was previously a faculty member at DePaul University in Chicago. She spent 13 years as a middle school counselor. Her greatest joys as a counselor educator come from teaching, and she values most the fact that students provide her with ongoing opportunities to learn. Professor Mason’s primary area of interest is the relationship between professional identity and professional practice in school counseling. Her scholarship has covered antiracism, antibias, and a justice philosophy for school counseling and school counselor preparation.
Renae D. Mayes, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies at the University of Arizona, where she prepares master’s- and doctoral-level students to be counselors and counselor educators. Professor Mayes’s research agenda centers around the academic success and college readiness of gifted Black students with dis/abilities and Black girls. Her research details the experiences of students and families navigating schools while also providing recommendations for dismantling systems of oppression through policy and practice. Furthermore, Professor Mayes has extended this research to include implications for leadership, advocacy, and collaboration for school counselors and school administrators.
Laura Owen, PhD, is the executive director of the Center for Equity and Postsecondary Attainment at San Diego State University. Formerly an urban school counselor and district counseling supervisor, she is a passionate advocate for closing college opportunity gaps. Her research focuses on evaluating the impact of interventions and programs designed to address the systems, structures, and policies that drive inequitable access to high-quality postsecondary advising support. Laura has researched interventions targeting financial aid and completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the transition from high school to college, text messaging and virtual advising, the impact of technology on college-going decisions, and how students prefer to receive college and career information. Her research includes interventions and partnerships with nonprofit college access organizations, technology companies, cross-institutional researchers, and school districts from Baltimore, Maryland, to San Diego, California.
Whitney Polk, PhD, is a licensed professional counselor in Pennsylvania and previously provided therapy to K–12 students in Philadelphia public schools. She is currently a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania researching discrimination, school discipline, and youth mental health.
Mandy Savitz-Romer, PhD, is the Nancy Pforzheimer Aronson Senior Lecturer in Human Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research examines how schools structure counseling support systems and specifically what conditions are critical to effective practice. Professor Savitz-Romer is the author of Fulfilling
