AnnMarie Baines

AnnMarie Baines, PhD, is an educator, researcher, and public speaking coach devoted to promoting self-expression, literacy, and agency through inclusive education. She is known for her ability to facilitate kind, welcoming places for people to develop their voice, believe their stories matter and navigate inequities to become transformative leaders. As Founder and Executive Director of award-winning Bay Area nonprofit, The Practice Space, AnnMarie and her women-led team elevate underrepresented voices from youth through adulthood, utilizing Expression-Driven Teaching to foster youth voices and prepare teachers to facilitate storytelling, presentation, and debate. The Practice Space is the recipient of the Activating Equity Award from the National Speech and Debate Association. AnnMarie was trained as a special education teacher and started her career as a volunteer speech and debate coach for her high school alma mater. Today, more than 20 years later, she still gives back to the program that developed her voice as a quiet Filipina who was initially petrified of public speaking.

AnnMarie has held faculty positions at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State and was a program officer at the George Lucas Educational Foundation. She received her PhD in Learning Sciences from University of Washington, where she was recognized with the 2023 Distinguished Graduate Award, and also has a Master's in Education Policy from Harvard and a teaching credential from Boston Teacher Residency. AnnMarie is a TEDx speaker and the author of two books, including Amplify Student Voices: Equitable Practices to Build Confidence in the Classroom (2023).