n this powerful crossover episode, Jen Cort welcomes back Kwame Sarfo-Mensah—educator, consultant, and author of Learning to Relearn—for a deeply resonant conversation on justice-centered education and the evolving role of educators as cultural leaders and activists. Broadcasting from Lusaka, Zambia, Kwame brings a global lens to DEIJ trends, the impact of political censorship, and the nuanced ways educators can strategically use identity and privilege in the classroom and beyond. Together, Jen ...
Jun 04, 2025•54 min
Juelz is a Towson University freshman majoring in Sports Management and minoring in Business Administration. He prides himself on demonstrating a strong work ethic and learning mindset in everything he does. He is an alumnus of Oneness-Family High School in Kensington, Maryland.
Nov 22, 2024•41 min
Jim Malone, a Math and Physics teacher at Mercersburg Academy since 1979, shares his unique relationship with mistake-making and connects it to his role as an aspiring ally. Jim graduated from Swarthmore High, an excellent public school outside Philadelphia, in 1973. He has always been good at math and science but could have done better in English or History. Jim liked reading good books and discussing them in English class, but needed to be more patient and take the time to learn how to write a...
Aug 01, 2024•56 min
With practical advice and thoughtful insights, a student, faculty advisor, and diversity director discuss the beauty and challenges of their affinity group program. Ved Rawat is a rising senior at Friends Academy Upper School. He plays tennis and basketball and volunteers at St Catherine's Hospital and nursing home. Ved is keenly interested in the positive development of our communities, as he wants to move forward as a member of the Public Health field. Ved shares, “I want to learn to be a lead...
Jul 10, 2024•43 min
Kristen Pollard is an American living and working overseas in the international education system for over ten years, teaching English language and literature in schools in the US, Germany, and the Netherlands. Her current position as the IBMYP Coordinator helps me support and manage curriculum development with staff across grades 6-10. Kristen's particular focus is developing a more forward-thinking concept-, inquiry-based style of teaching and learning within an inclusive environment that suppo...
Jun 26, 2024•47 min
Jeannie Gainsburg is an award-winning educational trainer and consultant in the field of LGBTQ+ inclusion and effective allyship. Formerly the Education Director at the Out Alliance of Rochester, N.Y., she is the founder of Savvy Ally Action and author of the book, The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate. Jeannie has a BA in psychology from Brown University and an MA in social work and social research from Bryn Mawr College. She was under the impression that a citation was...
Mar 09, 2024•47 min
Leo S. Ullman was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in July 1939. After surviving WWIIas a “hidden child,” as chronicled in his book, “796 Days”, and in a documentary film, "ThereWere Good People...Doing Extraordinary Deeds: Leo Ullman’s Story” Harvard College (1961) received law and business degrees from Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve. Mr. Ullman practiced law and founded a real estate investment trust, which he took to the New York Stock Exch...
Nov 13, 2023•43 min
L.J. challenges listeners: ‘within each of our roles in society, we have the power and opportunity to take risks’ and to ‘look at yourself, determine your privileges, and go do something different.’ As a proud, queer, and trans high school student in Jacksonville, FL, L.J. Valenzuela started advocating by joining Equality Florida's Youth Leadership Council and some local LGBTQ+ groups in his area. Since then, he has spoken at conferences, including the All Together Now Conference, the Associatio...
Oct 24, 2023•52 min
About Natalie Gillard Natalie Gillard is a DEI strategist and the creator of FACTUALITY , a facilitated dialogue, crash course, and interactive experience that simulates structural inequality. Over the last six years, Natalie has led virtual and in-person FACTUALITY facilitations for over 57,000 global participants. FACTUALITY has supported the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at hundreds of multinational companies, universities, government agencies, and nonprofits (including Google,...
Sep 08, 2023•53 min
Quentin McDowell, head of Mercersburg Academy. After arriving at Mercersburg in 2007, Quentin has served as history faculty, director of summer and extended programs, Admission, senior associate director of admission, financial aid, and head boys’ varsity soccer coach for eight years, leading the Blue Storm to its first-ever Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship and the PAISAA state championship game in 2014. Before he arrived at Mercersburg, he was, for two years, a member of the history facult...
Jul 15, 2023•55 min
Authors, speakers, presenters, and change agents, Cornelius and Kass Minor of Minor Collective share how they live in the space of possibility.Cornelius Minor is a Brooklyn-based educator and part-time Pokemon trainer. He works with teachers, school leaders, and leaders of community-based organizations to support equitable literacy reform in cities (and sometimes villages) across the globe. His latest book, We Got This, explores how the work of creating more equitable school spaces is embedded i...
May 26, 2023•49 min
Tony Keith, Jr. and Mel Cort share the paths they have walked to ensure understanding of their unstated identities. Lacking windows or mirrors for their historically marginalized identities, poetry created an avenue to express, explore, understand, and speak these identifiers. Bio Anthony (Tony) Keith, Jr., PhD. is a Black American gay poet, spoken word artist, and Hip-Hop educational leader from Washington, D.C. He is the author of the debut young adult memoir in verse “How the Boogeyman Became...
Apr 14, 2023•1 hr 20 min
Justine Ange Fonte joins Third Space to share her story, wisdom, insights, and challenges for school colleagues. IPOC, who is your community? And White people, what is your role in an ethical community? About Justine Justine Ang Fonte, M.Ed, MPH, is an award-winning health educator, public speaker, consultant, ghostwriter , and professor based in New York City. We can all learn about health but need equal access to it. Justine frames pedagogy through the lens of Kimberlé Crenshaw's teachings on ...
Mar 28, 2023•45 min
Toni Graves Williamson is a nationally recognized diversity practitioner, consultant, now Director of Equity and Inclusion at Friends Select School Toni is a founding faculty member of the National Diversity Practitioners Institute , served on the faculty of the Student Diversity Leadership Conference, and co-founded Mid-Atlantic Region Diversity Conference. She conducts diversity climate studies, trains educators in cultural competency and best practices, and partners with the Friends Council o...
Mar 05, 2023•1 hr
Tricia Montalvo Timm is a first-generation Latina board director, venture investor, and speaker. She is on a mission to inspire anyone who has ever felt like an “other” in the workplace to embrace their true selves, owns their identity, and achieve success and fulfillment in their life and career....
Feb 16, 2023•44 min
Kimberlee is, first and foremost, a humanist, a deep believer in what is possible when humanity is centered. Her mix of authenticity and raw truth permits those around her to choose progress over perfection and bring their whole selves into the room. She is known for finding humor and challenge at just the right moments and, like the best of coaches, leaning in and pushing audiences just enough to believe in the potential she sees. Her approach of connection and compassion makes a consultation f...
Dec 19, 2022•46 min
Bill Ivey (he/any) is Middle School Dean and teaches Humanities 7, Rock Band, and Academic Skills at Stoneleigh-Burnham School, a gender-inclusive girls' school for grades 7-12 in Western Massachusetts. Bill serves on the NELMS Board of Directors as an equity, inclusion, and social justice advisor and on the AMLE Equity in Middle Grades Education Committee. He earned an A.B. in French at Middlebury College, with a concentration in Music, and a M.A.T. in French from the University of Massachusett...
Nov 25, 2022•41 min
Dr. Kelly Pascarella is a 17-year public school educator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During her career, she has taught and held leadership positions in two of the top performing school districts in the state of Pennsylvania, Mt. Lebanon, and Upper St. Clair School Districts. Her dissertation research examined teacher access, management, and evaluation of digital education resources amid the Covid-19 pandemic and emergency remote teaching. Kelly's work led to the creation of the Education Blue...
Oct 12, 2022•27 min
Kojo Clarke is currently a Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) at a pre k- 9th grade school. In his role he works closely with school leaders to oversee programming and professional development, while supporting parents and caregivers to explore and understand the world of DEI. As a member of the Leadership Team he also supports work of the school's Board of Trustees in several diversity, equity & inclusion initiatives, all with the communal goal of developing "culturally com...
Aug 15, 2022•42 min
High School Students reflect on school based DEI work, share advice and ideas for future programming. Student Bios: Ty’Shea Woods (she/her) is a recent graduate Garrison Forest School, and will attend Northwestern University to double major in psychology and international studies with a minor in Japanese. She was President of the School, on DEI advisory board, a member of the Baltimore Girls Student Leadership Coalition, and black student alliance. She has attended, planned, and been a lead faci...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Liza Talusan returns to Third Space! Liza (LIE-zuh) earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Connecticut College, a Master's Degree in Student Personnel Administration from New York University; a certificate in Human Resources; a PhD in Higher Education from the University of Massachusetts Boston; and her certified coaching credentials from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. Her scholarship has been published in peer reviewed journals, edited book collections, online p...
Jun 20, 2022•47 min
Susan Yao (she/hers) is an educator with experience as a middle school humanities teacher and middle school head. She is passionate about building communities of racial solidarity and believes that collective thriving is possible when we learn how to be in a community together in supportive and authentic ways. Susan has launched professional development programs such as the Friends Institute for New Administrators of Color and the New Teachers of Color Institute at the Gordon School and serves o...
Jun 03, 2022•42 min
Logan Dechter (he/they) is a May 2022 graduate of the University of Maryland School Counseling Program and a professional school counselor in Montgomery County Public Schools. Logan serves as one of the advisors for his school's Rainbow Club, a developmentally appropriate Genders and Sexualities Alliance for 4th and 5th grade students. Logan also led the charge for the implementation of a Genders and Sexualities Alliance Prince George's County Public Schools middle school. In addition to his wor...
May 02, 2022•45 min
Kristen Tubman grew up and lives in Baltimore, though she was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She has spent the last 15 years teaching Spanish and engaging in Diversity & Equity work with 6th-12th grade students. Additionally, Kristen facilitates and learns with adults in various white affinity groups and workshops on a wide range of topics including Anti-racism, Whiteness, and Privilege. She has also been honored to be a co-planner of the Baltimore Student Diversity Leadership Confer...
Dec 31, 2021•54 min
Elizabeth Tingle is a secondary teacher from Calgary, Alberta. She recently completed her Master's in educational research and is currently a sessional instructor at the Werklund School of Education and the lab coordinator for the Body Image Lab at the University of Calgary. She is passionate about weight-neutral health education and is the mother to three school-aged kids. She is also a producer and co-host for the Teacher Fanclub podcast https://teacherfanclub.com/podcast and on Apple Podcasts...
Nov 23, 2021•40 min
Jen Williams (she/her) is a middle school counselor in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and two children. Her tenure in middle school education spans two decades and includes a state board position for the Pennsylvania Association for Middle-Level Education. Mrs. Williams earned her M.Ed from Villanova University and her M.S. from The International Institute for Restorative Practices. She is the author of Peacekeepers: Empowering Youth Using Restorative Practices....
Oct 11, 2021•41 min
Nate Bridge is Haverford School Math teacher and has taught in international schools. Principally interested in systemic changes to education and school culture that would result in more equitable outcomes such as Criterion-Based Grading for student assessment and Rank Choice Voting for electing student leaders. Twitter: @schoolmrbridge https://natebridge.wixsite.com/teaching Kentaro Iwasaki- The son of Japanese immigrants, Kentaro Iwasaki knew from a young age that he aspired to become a teache...
Sep 22, 2021•56 min
Afrika Afeni Mills is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with BetterLesson and an Education Consultant. She is the author of 'Letter to White Teachers of My Black Children' a blog on Teaching While White that went viral, and an upcoming book. Afrika works with colleagues, teachers, coaches, and administrators to transform practices. She has been featured on podcasts, blogs, delivered keynote addresses, and facilitated sessions at conferences across the United States. She will also ...
Aug 10, 2021•54 min
Camille Simone Edwards, Consultant With a Coach’s Approach believing in the infinite power of courage. With a strategic course of action, she partners with clients to create new pathways to their short/long-term goals related to personal + professional development. Camille Simone trains clients on how to use courage as the foundational tool to change their lives and then to fiercely maintain it. Camille Simone is excited to meet clients who are seeking to be coached in the learning areas of lead...
Jun 21, 2021•1 hr 3 min
LGBTQ+ advocates and facilitators Bex Mui and Emily Schorr Lesnick talk with Jen about supports for LGBTQ+ youth, from mental health to sex ed to spirituality, and how they are connected. They’ll share insights from their youth workshop, which shares a variety of perspectives on gender, sexual orientation, and relationship structures and supports students in both reflecting on their own identities, and in advocating for the LGBTQ+ affirming sexual health curriculum they need and deserve. Bex Mui...
May 24, 2021•52 min
