Natalie S. King, PhD is an associate professor of science education at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA. Her scholarly work focuses on advancing Black girls in STEM education, community-based STEM programs, and the role of curriculum in fostering equity in science teaching and learning. Dr. King is a National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award (#1943285) recipient whose research challenges the capitalist agenda for encouraging girls’ involvement in STEM. She elevates the identities and brilliance of Black girls in her scholarship, programs, and grant projects. She also serves as Principal Investigator of an NSF Noyce project (# 1852889) seeking to diversify the STEM teaching workforce. Dr. King is the founder and executive director of I AM STEM, LLC and partners with community-based organizations to provide Black and Brown children with access to comprehensive academic summer enrichment programs that embrace their cultural experiences while also preparing them to become productive and critically-conscious citizens. Her work is published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, Journal of Multicultural Affairs, The Science Teacher, and Teaching and Teacher Education.

Dr. Irvin PeDro Cohen is the Executive Director of LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) Jacksonville. Dr. Cohen is a Jacksonville, FL native and he received his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of North Florida, an MBA in Marketing from Pfeiffer University and a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership and Urban Education from Nova Southeastern University. His research is largely centered on the social well-being of the African American community (education, healthcare and economics) and particularly the role the African American church plays within that space.

Dr. Cohen serves on the advisory boards of the University of Florida’s Clinical Translation Science Institute and Vanderbilt University’s Recruitment Innovation Center, IDEA Schools and Changing Homeless Coalition. He is a member of the Jacksonville Downtown Rotary Club, the Jacksonville Chapter NAACP, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated and a member of Leadership Jax Class of 2014.

His blog can be read at www.irvinpedrocohen.blogspot.com.

Nicholas W. Collins is a science educator and student-centered educational leader whose work emphasizes the need for Black male educators in urban schools. Mr. Collins attained his Master of Arts in Teaching degree in secondary science education from Georgia State University and Bachelor of Science in biology from Clayton State University. He is a National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teaching Fellow through GSU’s Developing STEM Educators as Teacher Leaders Program. Nicholas is a recipient of Fulton County Schools’ 2022-2023 Legacy of Excellence Teacher of the Year award. In his professional pursuits, Mr. Collins has effectively navigated student-engagement through the pandemic and led a $30,000 initiative to develop a game room tied to social emotional learning (SEL) and positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS). His passion for education drives his commitment to high expectations for all students and eradicating “deficit perspectives” from urban P-12 academic spaces.

Rachael serves as President of Jacksonville Public Education Fund. She previously served as Senior Director of the GradNation Campaign at America’s Promise Alliance and a 2013 Presidential Management Fellow and Program Officer at the U.S. Department of Education. 

She earlier served as an Education Pioneers Fellow at the Oakland Unified School District, and led JPEF’s community mobilization efforts, launching the ONE-by-ONE campaign to develop a shared community vision for schools. Rachael began her career as teacher at S. P. Livingston Elementary in Jacksonville through Teach for America.    

Rachael holds a master’s in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership from Stanford and a bachelor’s in Political Science from UNF. Rachael currently serves on the Board of Baptist Medical Center. She was recognized by Jacksonville Business Journal as a First Coast 40 under 40 in 2020. She’s a member of Leadership Florida’s Education Class of 2018 and Leadership Jacksonville’s Class of 2022.