Shareefah Mason

Shareefah Mason has innovative ideas for revolutionizing education, focused on teacher diversity, designing culturally-affirming schools and creating 'UNimpoverished' first-generation graduates, attaining college degrees without extreme student debt. She's a knowledgeable voice in education, with extensive personal and professional experiences. She's an Associate Dean of Educator Certification at Dallas College and lead author of the trailblazing Teach Plus and Center for Black Educator Development collaboration paper, To Be Who We Are: Black Teachers on Creating Culturally Affirming Schools.

Her recent TEDx Talk on diversifying America’s teacher pipeline has ignited the necessary discussion around teacher recruitment and retention efforts. She is the Executive Producer of the internationally award-winning film, From the Block, emphasizing the impact of Black teachers on ALL students. A decorated State of Texas Master Teacher, she has earned numerous local, state and national awards for her work and performance in education. As a governor-appointed member to the State Board for Educator Certification, she provided a tremendous voice in the educator preparation and ethical governing space to increase the quality of educators across the state. She's an author, writing empowering Op-Eds and books on education and is revered in the professional development space. She is driven by this work because she grew up as an impoverished student, in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is well-aware of the undeniable impact a quality education has on our most disenfranchised children. Her goal is to provide access to the most exceptional educational experiences for Black and Brown students across the country!