Dr. Carolyn Strong is an educator with an ardent belief in equity and anti-racist practices. She has been described as a cultural light bringer with plenty of shade as well as a firebrand for the culture. An educator with more than 20 years of experience working with inner-city youth, she is currently serving as the Dean of Students in a high school serving more than 1,200 young people. Passionate about educational equity and rewriting society’s often inaccurate narrative of black women and girls, Dr. Strong strives to empower administrators, teachers, and students to exemplify these values on a daily basis. Dr. Strong holds Master’s degrees in both Curriculum and Educational Leadership and a Ed.D. in Curriculum and Social Inquiry Her dissertation entitled Black Girls Matter?: Historical Representation and its Impact on Contemporary Education, highlights the need for safe spaces for African American Girls. Furthermore, Dr. Strong is the author of Black Girl Blues: Small Group Sessions, Activities and Discussions to Combat Intra-racial Bullying (2014) a book that has been utilized as both an alternative to suspension and small group intervention in schools across the United States and parts of Canada. Dr. Strong enjoys traveling to national conferences and presenting on a host of topics, ranging from ranging from cultural competence in schools to equitable discipline and conflict resolution. She has written and designed several courses for the Illinois Principal’s Association Ed Leaders Network. Those course titles include Anti-racist Education and Bias and Microaggressions in the Classroom. In 2020, she co-founded Centering Sisters, an organization dedicated to unapologetically centering the needs of Black women and girls. . Heralded as an expert on bullying signs and symptoms, Dr. Strong has appeared on ABC Newsviews, as well as a plethora of national panels regarding culturally relevant discipline and anti-racist school environments. A true lover of literature, Dr Strong enjoys reading When she is not reading, she can be found working on her podcast, Strong Conversations, where she has candid conversations about topics and issues impacting Black people and the education system.