Previous Faculty

Dr. Brian K. Perkins is the Director of the Summer Principals Academy Master’s Degree Program offered by Teachers College Columbia University in New Orleans and New York City. He was previously the director of the Urban Education Leadership Program at Teachers College where he was responsible for designing and gaining accreditation of the doctoral program with a new conceptual framework.  He is the former Chair and Professor of Education Law and Policy at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. As Chair, Dr. Perkins successfully led his department through the accreditation and licensure of the university’s first doctoral program and was the university’s youngest full, tenured professor in it’s 112-year history. Dr. Perkins is a distinguished Yale alumnus and was named a Timothy Dwight Fellow in 2004.  During his studies at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Perkins was named a Wilbur G.H. Downs International Health Fellow. He was a member of a research unit at the Yale University School of Medicine at the Child Study Center.  Dr. Perkins was an instructor in the Yale University Department of Chemistry and was awarded the distinguished teaching award for instruction in Inorganic Chemistry Problems. Dr. Perkins also served as the Director of Education Programs within the Yale University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics.  He has served as a consultant to schools and districts throughout the U.S., Brazil, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, the People’s Republic of China, India, Venezuela, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the Republic of South Africa. Dr. Perkins has previously served as a visiting professor at the University of Pretoria in South Africa for more than a decade.  Dr. Perkins is the host of his own radio show, The Perkins Platform, which is a monthly online forum on education leadership topics with thousands of listeners.

Dr. Perkins was the President of the New Haven (CT) Board of Education where he served for 11 years.  He also served for four years on the Board of Directors of the National School Boards Association.  Dr. Perkins served two terms as national chair for CUBE: Council of Urban Boards of Education and was the chair for the National Black Caucus of School Board Members. Dr. Perkins was also the national chair of the Leadership for Healthy Communities initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  Dr. Perkins has served as an executive leadership consultant to Escola SESC en Ensino Médio in Rio de Janeiro and provided consulting services to the Municipal Secretariat of Education in Rio de Janeiro.  He also served as a leadership development consultant to Escola Eleva, an innovative for-profit school in Rio.

Dr. Perkins is the author of several published articles and book chapters and serves as the Principal Investigator and Author of Where We Learn (2006), Where We Teach (2007) and What We Think (2008) – the largest studies on urban school climate in the history of public education.   Dr. Perkins led a groundbreaking study and improvement initiative of school climate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  His forthcoming manuscript, Improving School Climate from the Inside Out, is under review and is scheduled for release later next year.  His instrument, the American School Climate Inventory, has been developed into an iPad, iPhone and Android device application and boasts worldwide distribution.  He is the developer of Privilege Beads, a copy-written diversity exercise, for use with students and adults in a variety of settings.

Dr. Perkins received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from Grambling State University, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the Yale University School of Medicine and his Doctor of Education Degree from Columbia University Teachers College. He has a graduate certificate in executive coaching from the Columbia Business School.  Dr. Perkins is a registered provider of continuing education for school board members by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and a nationally certified principal mentor by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.  He is certified administrator of the Neethling Brain Inventory, the Intercultural Development Inventory, the Leadership Practices Inventory, the DiSC profile and a Gallup-certified Strengths-based Leadership Coach.

Leah Foster is a psychotherapist currently working with adult patients through Integrated Behavioral Health NOLA. She received a master’s degree in social work from Tulane University School of Social Work and a juris doctorate from the City University of New York School of Law where her focus was mediation and criminal justice reform. Prior to her current role she was the clinical director at the New Orleans Family Justice Center.

Dr. Antija Allen (ann-tee-yuh, al-en) is the Director of the Pellissippi Academic Center for Excellence (PACE) and a tenured Assistant Professor of Psychology at Pellissippi State Community College with two decades of experience as an educator. She was the 2021-2022 recipient of the Roger Crowe Excellence in Teaching award and is certified in DEI and online teaching. Antija successfully championed Pellissippi Academy’s Emotional Intelligence cohort for two years and served as the 2019-2021 PACE Faculty Fellow for First Year Experience. The Tennessee Board of Regents selected her as a 2021-2022 Maxine Smith leadership fellow; her cohort developed a toolkit of best practices for Black males: student success, faculty recruitment, and faculty retention in public higher education. Dr. Allen is the Owner of Allen Ivy Prep Consulting (www.AllenIvyPrep.org), which specializes in career coaching and professional development. Antija’s recent publications include a chapter on Academic Freedom in Classroom Discussions and a bestselling edited collection entitled, We’re Not OK: Black Faculty Experiences and Higher Education Strategies. This Cambridge University Press publication discusses promoting mental health, diversity recruitment, faculty retention, and fostering an inclusive environment for Black faculty. It was book of the month for the society of diversity, featured as part of a special report for Inside Higher Ed and recommended by the Journal of Blacks in higher education, INSIGHT into Diversity, Diverse: Issues in higher education, Teaching in higher ed, and several DEI experts. She has led and conducted research on several topics at NYU, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Teachers College Columbia University. Dr. Allen earned her BA in Psychology from Neumann University and MA in Psychology from Pepperdine University. Most recently, Antija has returned to Columbia University Teachers College where she earned her EdD in Adult Learning & Leadership to teach as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in their Summer Principals Academy, educating aspiring school leaders.

Dr. Lorea Martínez Pérez is the award-winning founder of HEART in Mind, a company dedicated to helping schools and organizations integrate Social Emotional Learning into their practices, products, and learning communities. She has worked with schools, districts, and organizations to guide SEL implementation efforts, including training teachers and leadership teams, and provided guidance to educational technology and media companies to help them integrate SEL into their products.

An educator who has worked with children and adults internationally, Dr. Martínez is a faculty member at Columbia University Teachers College, educating aspiring principals in Emotional Intelligence. She has conducted extensive research in the SEL field with a focus on SEL implementation, principals’ Emotional Intelligence, teacher preparation, and school climate. She frequently blogs about how to incorporate SEL in teaching practices, leadership, and parenting.

She received her Doctor of Philosophy, magna cum laude, in Quality and Innovation in Education from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. In 2014, she was awarded the American Education Research Association Graduate Student Award for Excellence in SEL Research from the SEL Special Interest Group.

Dr. Martínez started her career as a special education teacher and administrator. A native of the Costa Brava in Spain, she currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two daughters.

Dr. George Daniel Galindo was born and raised in Raymondville, Texas. After graduating Valedictorian from Raymondville High School in 2009, he enrolled at the University of Texas-Pan American (now known as The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley). In May 2012, he earned his BA in English with Secondary Teacher Certification Magna Cum Laude with Honors College Distinction. At UTPA, Dr.Galindo completed his undergraduate thesis on teacher leadership styles in the classroom and their impact on student achievement.

After earning his BA, Dr. Galindo began his educational career as a 2012 Teach For America Corp Member and the English I/II Pre-AP teacher at IDEA College Preparatory Donna. After successful completion of his Teach For America commitment, he transitioned to Mercedes Independent School District (MISD) and taught English II Pre-AP at Mercedes Early College Academy (MECA). While at MISD, he was named as the 2015 MECA Campus Teacher of the Year and the 2015 District Secondary Teacher of the Year.

In 2015, Dr. Galindo earned his MA in Public School Building Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University and was named as a Secondary ELA Curriculum Manager for IDEA Public Schools. In this role, he was charged to design the district’s English Language Arts curriculum, assessments, and teacher/leader professional development for all Texas schools in operation. In 2019, he was named a Sr. Curriculum Manager for the district.

In 2021, he joined Great Minds and currently serves as an Implementation Leader for the southern region of the United States, partnering with urban, suburban, and rural school districts to ensure strong implementation of Great Minds curricula within all classrooms.

In 2022, Dr. Galindo earned his Doctorate of Education in Learning and Organizational Change from Baylor University.

Dr. Galindo’s research includes teacher, leader, and district curriculum adoption, internalization, and coaching around high-quality instructional materials and their impact on student achievement.

Cathlin Goulding, Ed.D., is a curriculum specialist and education researcher. She co-directs the YURI Education Project, an education design studio that develops resources for cultural institutions and PK-12 students. She has written educational materials for the WNET Group’s Mission U.S., American Masters, and It’s Lit! Series; Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery; WETA’s The Asian Americans; Fred T. Korematsu Institute; Teachers College Inclusive Classrooms Project; Minor Collective; Mikva Challenge; David's Legacy Foundation; iPondr@Work; Little, Brown and Company Books; and Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience.

She started in the education field as an English Language Arts teacher at a public high school in the East San Francisco Bay Area. She trained as an education researcher at Teachers College, Columbia University. After completing her doctorate, she served as an Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral research fellow at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and a visiting scholar at New York University.

Her research and writings focus on place-based learning, public pedagogy, and the teaching of historical violence. As the daughter and granddaughter of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, the concentration camp is a key area of inquiry.

In 2019, she co-founded YURI Education Project with Freda Lin. United in their goal to bring more Asian American stories to PK-12 students, they started their own education consulting project named after the civil rights activist, Yuri Kochiyama. They have developed youth-friendly curricula on documentary films, pop culture, rare archival sources, and museum exhibitions.

In addition to her work as a curriculum specialist, she teaches future public school teachers and instructional leaders at the City University of New York, San José State University, and Teachers College, Columbia University.

Dr. Monica White teaches ORLA 5029: Supervision of Teaching and Learning to Summer Principals Academy Southern and NYC cohorts. She holds an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College Columbia University, where her research focus was principals, accountability, and decision-making. 

In the years following her graduation, Dr. White held the position of lecturer in the C&T Department and co-instructor in the Summer Principals Academy before leaving to work full-time in New York City Public Schools. In NYCPS, she held leadership roles in programs such as District 79 (alternative schools and programs), Innovation Zone (iZone), and the Digital Learning Initiative in Curriculum and Instruction. She also has teaching and leadership experience in New Orleans Public Schools, where her career began. 

Dr. Monica White brings a passion for teaching and education leadership to graduate students preparing for principalship in SPA.

Dr. Joseph Daschbach earned a B.S. in Engineering Science from Trinity University, San Antonio, in 1995. In 2001, after a brief career as an engineer and project manager, Joe earned his teaching certificate in high school science & mathematics from the University of New Orleans and began teaching in public high schools. In the decades since, he has continued to work in public schools as both a teacher and a leader in New Orleans and New York City. He has contributed to numerous articles and a book chapter exploring the financial and organizational aspects of the charter school system in New Orleans. Joe earned his Ed. D. in Leadership, Policy and Politics at Teachers College, Columbia University, in 2018, and has been a member of the Summer Principals Academy faculty since 2013.

Joe currently works as a finance specialist for EdOps, a Washington DC based consulting firm, where he assists clients with all aspects managing school financial systems, including annual budget development, HR strategy and payroll, federal grants management, and strategic planning and problem solving, with a goal toward maximizing the resources that reach students in the classroom.

Rebecca Stilwell is an Organizational Psychologist who independently consults with schools, districts, and other for- and non-profit organizations. Her work ranges from managing change, developing school culture, professional collaboration, leadership development, strategic planning, curriculum design as well as research and evaluation. She is dedicated to working collaboratively with stakeholders in organizations to co-create and implement comprehensive change plans for organizational development. Prior to becoming an Organizational Psychologist, Rebecca taught in public, private, and international schools. Her current research focuses on leader behaviors that support effective change and approaches to change in education. Rebecca earned her Ph.D and M.A. in Social-Organizational Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University and her B.A. in Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Chase McLaurin is an educational consultant, innovative leader, and author. He is the proud product of Louisiana Title I schools and a dyslexic learner with a unique educational perspective that has led him to become an award-winning educator and educational leader with an outstanding track record for improving school and student outcomes. Chase is a former U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School Award-winning principal, Model Dual Language Immersion School Principal, Elementary Principal of the Year, Founding Early College High School Principal, and charter network executive director. He specializes in building the capacity of future-focused organizations through strategic planning, academic structures, instructional coherence, adult learning, innovative programming, team building, and culture.

Sara Godchaux teaches Ethical and Legal Issues in Education Leadership in the SPA-NOLA program. Sara is an education attorney with the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic, located in New Orleans, LA, where she provides free representation for students and families on school discipline and special education matters. She also works on issues of systemic reform in the areas of public education and juvenile justice through strategic impact litigation and policy advocacy on the local and state levels. At the Loyola Law Clinic, Sara also co-teaches the Youth Justice Clinic and supervises 3L law student practitioner work on education cases. Prior to joining the Loyola Law Clinic, Sara worked as a civil rights attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in New Orleans for four and half years, primarily focusing on children’s education and access to mental health care issues. At SPLC, Sara also worked on behalf of Louisiana’s immigrant community and filed litigation to protect the voting rights of naturalized U.S. citizens.

Sara is a native New Orleanian and a graduate of Vanderbilt University (B.A. Political Science and French, magna cum laude) and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude), where she graduated top of her class and received the Spirit of Ignatius Award for her demonstrated commitment to community service and high academic achievement.