Building cross-cultural competency through evidence.
Staff
Dr. Eddie Fergus-Arcia, Founder and Principal Consultant
Edward Fergus-Arcia is a Professor of Urban Education and Policy in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-Newark. Edward is a former high school teacher, evaluator, and community school program director. Dr. Fergus’ current work is on the intersection of educational policy and outcomes with a specific focus on Black and Latino boys’ academic and social engagement outcomes, disproportionality in special education and suspensions, and school climate conditions.
He has published more than four dozen articles, book chapters, evaluation reports, and is the author of Skin Color and Identity Formation: Perceptions of Opportunity and Academic Orientation among Mexican and Puerto Rican Youth (Routledge Press, 2004), co-editor of Invisible No More: Disenfranchisement of Latino Men and Boys (Routledge Press, 2011), co-author of Schooling For Resilience: Improving Trajectory of Black and Latino boys (Harvard Education Press, 2014), author of Solving Disproportionality and Achieving Equity (Corwin Press, 2016), co-editor of forthcoming book Boyhood and Masculinity Construction in the US (Routledge Press, forthcoming), and Unpacking the Cultural Shopping Cart: The Cross-Cultural Lives to Challenge School Segregation (Corwin, forthcoming).
Dr. Fergus serves on various boards such as NY State Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (2010-present), appointed in 2011 to the Yonkers Public Schools Board of Education (2011-2013 and 2019-2021), and is an expert consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division on Educational Opportunities (2014-2016), New York State Attorney General's Office (2022), and NAACP Legal Defense Fund (2018).
Dr. Fergus received a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Education from Beloit College and a doctorate in Educational Policy and Social Foundations from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Tonya Leslie, Senior Consultant
Tonya Leslie is a senior implementation and research specialist at Temple University. She supports educational leaders in reducing disparity patterns in school practice through coaching and professional development that supports the development of equity literacy--the knowledge and skills that allow educators to be proficient advocates for equity.
Dr. Leslie uses her passion of literacy and equity to ensure that all children have access to texts that are culturally relevant and affirming and that educators have a robust equity literacy lens to help them engage all readers.
Dr. Leslie received her bachelor’s degree in secondary education at the State University of New York at New Paltz and attended New York University for her master's degree in English Education as well as for her doctorate in Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Leslie is the author of numerous children's’ books including So Other People Would Be Also Free: The Real Story of Rosa Parks for Kids and the upcoming book, The Story of Barack Obama: A Biography Book for New Readers. More about Dr. Leslie can be found at www.tonyaleslie.com.