Guilford Dialogues

A native of Trenton, NJ, Jerell Blakeley is an alumnus of Howard University, where he earned a degree in History with a minor in Political Science. Presently, he is the inaugural Director of…

Dr. Sharon L. Contreras, CEO of The Innovation Project in North Carolina, is passionate about providing a high-quality education to each child. She is a teacher at heart, a transformational…

Valerie Holton serves as CUMU’s executive director. She brings over 25 years of experience in and across universities and non-profit organizations, as a faculty member, administrator, Fulbright…

Samuel Oladipo currently serves as the SEL district advisor at CASEL. In this role, he uses his experience of integrating social and emotional learning (SEL) and equity to support districts with…

Jessie Wetherby is a graduate student in the International Education Program at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development as well a High School ELL (English…

Cherrel Miller Dyce is an Associate Professor and Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education at Elon University.

Christian Walter was recently appointed interim principal at Doris Henderson Newcomers School in Greensboro. He will become the principal at Sylvia Mendez Newcomers School in High Point when that…

Northwestern University Professor Sally Nuamah will show and discuss her documentary "HerStory" as part of Guilford Dialogues. 

Dr. Whitney Oakley is the superintendent of Guilford County Schools (GCS), serving more than 68,000 PK-12 students and 10,000 employees at 126 schools. A Guilford County native, Oakley is a long-time…

Laura Colson, Ed.D. serves as vice president for Academic Affairs and Student Experience at Bennett College.  As the chief academic officer, Dr. Colson provides academic vision and strategic…