Kristina M. Marshall, JD - Conference Chair and Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
and Justice at Oakland Community College
Kristina M. Marshall is the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) at Oakland
Community College. Her expertise spans over many years of training, professional development,
administration, and collegiate teaching. She is a national speaker and consultant,
focusing on cultural competency and how to address the needs of diverse populations.
Marshall possesses a unique understanding of the challenges facing organizations,
administrators, teachers, and students. Her straightforward, common sense approach,
and practical strategies address improving dialogue, interaction, and understanding
amongst staff and administration. Marshall speaks from personal, classroom and consulting
experience; her work has focused on building communities and helping to support inclusive
workplaces. Marshall currently serves in a variety of national diversity leadership roles including
serving as the current Chair of the National Advisory Council for the National Conference
on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education; Member of the membership committee of the
National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, and Accreditation
Reader for the Council for Standards in Human Service Education. Marshall also serves
as a board member Voices for Children (Flint/Owosso, Michigan); board chair of New
Pathways, Inc. (Flint, MI); and is a member of the Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce
Innovations Council.
Marshall has received numerous honors and awards, including Michigan Community College
Association’s 2022-2023 Leadership Academy Fellow, Crain’s 2021 Notable Executives
in DEI and 2018 Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame Judge. Marshall is a national diversity
council certified diversity professional and a certified facilitative mediator. |
Nina Shoman-Dajani, EdD - Assistant Dean, Learning Enrichment & College Readiness;
Moraine Valley Community College (Palos Hills, Illinois)
Dr. Nina Shoman-Dajani is the Assistant Dean of Learning Enrichment and College Readiness
at Moraine Valley Community College. In addition, Dr. Shoman-Dajani works as an adjunct
professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Saint Xavier University and has served as a
visiting lecturer at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC), where she taught
Arab American studies. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor
in Middle Eastern Studies and her Master of Arts in International Affairs with a focus
on U.S. Foreign and Domestic Policy from California State University, Sacramento.
She completed her Doctor of Education degree at Benedictine University in Higher Education
and Organizational Change. Her doctoral research focused on the racial identity construction
of Arab American college students. She is a member of the National Advisory Council for the National Conference on Race
and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE), a board member for the Arab American Studies
Association and a board member for the Syrian Community Network, a refugee resettlement
agency in Chicago. She is a student and community advocate who has volunteered as
the advisor to the Arab Student Union for over a decade and currently serves as the
Executive Director for the Chicago Palestine Film Festival. Dr. Shoman-Dajani has
been recognized with the Delores Huerta Activist Award for her commitment to social
change from the Freedom Bound Center in Sacramento, California, and was honored with
the Moraine Valley Embracing Diversity Award in recognition of the various initiatives
she spearheaded to support students from diverse backgrounds. In 2017, she was honored
by Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs with the Outstanding Commitment in Education
Award. In recognition of her advocacy on behalf of immigrant populations on campus
and in her community, Dr. Shoman-Dajani was the Spirit of Empowerment Award by Arab
American Family Services in 2018. In 2019, she was recognized by Saint Xavier University
for her academic contributions to the Middle Eastern Studies program. |
Kirsten Moffler-Daykin, EdD/TESOL - Learning Commons Manager, Learner Support and
Transition Division, Student Success Center, Western Technical College (La Crosse,
WIP
Dr. Kirsten Moffler-Daykin currently manages the Learning Commons at Western Technical
College in La Crosse, WI. There, she leads the trauma-informed, poverty-informed,
and culturally- responsive academic support and library services programs alongside
the most incredible team of students and professionals imaginable. She works closely
with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by serving on the Diversity Action
Team and as a strategy team lead for poverty-informed work at Western. Kirsten serves
on the academic policies team, is a certified institutional trainer in trauma-informed
care and is an equity leadership and anti-racism professional development workshop
facilitator. For the first 20 years of her career, Kirsten taught English and speech
in secondary, alternative education, post-secondary, and multi-lingual learner programs.
She holds a doctorate from Northeastern University in Boston in Curriculum, Teaching,
Learning, and Leadership, with an emphasis on Social Justice. Her research interests
include trauma-informed practices, educational trauma, language preservation, decolonizing
education, linguistic justice, justice-involved students, and nontraditional student
success. For the last 13 years, Kirsten and her supportive and kind husband, two brave
and creative boys, and a cherished fur baby named Mookie (named for Mookie Betts our
favorite player while he was still with the Red Sox), have called Wisconsin home. |
Maresa Murray, PhD - Associate Clinical Professor – Human Development and Family Studies,
Director of Undergraduate Studies Department of Applied ScienceSupervisor of Adjunct
Faculty Members - Department of Applied Science, School of Public Health - Bloomington;
Indiana University
Dr. Maresa Murray is a Clinical Associate Professor at Indiana University in the Department
of Applied Health Science, within the specialty area of Human Development and Family
Studies program. She also serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies, leading
the curricular content areas of Community Health, Nutrition Science, Dietetics, Safety
Management, Human Development and Family Studies, Health Promotion, and Youth Development.
Her master’s and doctoral degrees were in the field of Family and Child Ecology, where
she specialized in ethnic family health, and even more specifically, African American
Family Health. Dr. Murray absolutely loves teaching, and her students will tell you
that she “enjoys serving as a catalyst for critical thought.” Her goal is to facilitate
the fusion of peer-reviewed research with practical application among her students.
Her audience extends beyond her enrolled students, as she also serves as a gentle
racial coach for faculty, staff, and administrators in becoming more aware of how
they can personally promote racial restoration for public health. She serves as a
master trainer while conducting “Racial Safety Coaching,” both virtually and in-person,
in settings such as private and public schools, small businesses, Fortune 500 companies,
community centers, and churches. She serves in the local community as a consultant,
and racial ghostwriter, framing racial minority characters within a culturally competent
paradigm. She has won numerous awards and serves as the president of Groves Conference
on Marriage and Family, which is the oldest Family Studies organization in the U.S.
Additionally, given her study of family dynamics, Dr. Murray teaches IU students,
as well as individual families, how to intentionally cultivate family health among
multi-racial and multi-ethnic families, as well as families with children who have
been transracially adopted.
|
Nicole Sherman Patterson PhD - Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Professional
Learning; Shaker Heights Schools (Shaker Heights, Ohio)
Dr. Nicole Sherman Patterson has been in education for the past twenty-seven years.
She has taught primary through intermediate grades in Cincinnati Public Schools and
Shaker Heights City Schools in Ohio, served as a literacy coach in Cincinnati Public
Schools, as well as been an adjunct instructor at Miami University, Notre Dame College,
and Baldwin Wallace University. As an adjunct professor she has taught graduate and
undergraduate courses on curriculum theory, diversity in education, educational research,
and teacher leadership.
She has also provided professional learning on cultural proficiency, culturally relevant
and responsive teaching, equity and anti-racist education. She received her B.S. in
Elementary Education in 1997 from Miami University, M.Ed in Curriculum and Teacher
Leadership in 2001 from Miami University, and in 2010 received her Ph.D. in Educational
Administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio as well. During this time, she
also received her administrative license for Ohio K-12 schools. Dr. Sherman Patterson’s research interests include equity in education, culturally
relevant education, culturally responsive teaching, anti-racist education, culturally
proficient teaching strategies, critical race theory, critical race feminism, and
womanist theory as it relates to education, the community, and higher education.
She has been a presenter at local and international conferences such as the International
Baccalaureate Conference, the Bergamo Curriculum Conference, AERA (American Education
and Research Association), ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development),
International Multicultural Education Conference, and the International Cultural Education
conference in Verona, Italy.
Currently, Dr. Patterson is the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Professional
Learning for Shaker Heights City Schools. Dr. Patterson has also served as the Diversity,
Equity, & Inclusion Learning Specialist in Shaker Heights City Schools, the district
MAC (Minority Achievement Committee) Scholars advisor, a Regional Practitioner Council
member of MSAN’s (Minority Student Action Network) as well as serves on the Educational
Equity Round Table, Equity Advisory and Action Team, Equity Task Force (previously),
Co-Chair of the Black Teacher’s Task Force, and many other community committees that
strive towards justice and equity in k-12 education. She enjoys spending time with
her family and daughter in Cleveland, Ohio. |