MEET DR. B

Brandi Nicole Hinnant Crawford

I am a Black woman, who is a 5th generation descendent of enslaved Africans in Eastern, NC.  I am a mother, a sister, and a daughter.  I am the daughter of a teacher, who taught in poor Black schools for over 30 years-- the schools I attended.  I am a Christian and my theology teaches me God is on the side of the oppressed.  My identity is central to my work and my orientation to that work. 

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As a self-described critical pragmatist and aspiring scholar-activist, my scholarship seeks to expose policies and practices related to exploitation, domination, and marginalization—while simultaneously exploring remedies to alleviate the impact of those policies and practices.  My research agenda has two broad strands that are intimately connected: the first is equity, inclusion, and access: which deals with the pedagogy, policies, and practices within P-16 education.  The second is organizational improvement which examines the effectiveness of improvement and evaluation methodologies and the role of different stakeholders in the realization of improvement.

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I have a diverse number of experiences in education ranging from the classroom in the rural south to central office in the urban northeast. While I love research and teaching, my first priority is being the mother to my nine-year-old twins, Elizabeth Freedom and Elijah Justice Crawford.  At the end of the day, I am just trying to do the work my God and my soul require, my ancestors approve, and my children deserve.