Priscilla Alfaro is a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Ph.D. program and a current ALT Fellow. She has obtained a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership, Politics, and Advocacy from NYU Steinhardt, a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Manhattanville College, and is also certified in Spirituality and Social Work from the NYU Silver School of Social Work. Her research interests aim to develop the understanding of the Black and Latinx college students' transformational experiences and the intersectionality of educational attainment and spirituality. Her research will grant the opportunity to understand how to feed a student’s soul for the purpose of a transformative experience. This personal integration plays an essential role in a student’s transformational leadership and self-development.
Briana K. Gonçalves is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Ph.D. program at NYU. She is currently a grants administrator at NYU’s Institute of Human Development and Social Change and previously provided technical assistance and training support to behavioral health providers with the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research. Her research interests focus on school climate and the organizational features that influence teachers’ perceptions of their workplace and job satisfaction. More specifically, Briana utilizes mixed-methods designs to study the unique experience of the special education workforce and teachers of color to identify policies, practices, and conditions that impact teacher attrition and retention. Briana holds a Bachelors in Sociology and Spanish from the College of the Holy Cross, a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership, Politics, and Advocacy and a Master of Philosophy degree in Education Leadership and Policy Studies from NYU.
Blaise Joseph is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Ph.D. program at NYU. He is a recipient of a three-year Ramsay Centre for Western Civilization postgraduate scholarship from Australia. His research focuses on understanding high-achieving schools serving under-resourced communities and their implications for education equity and policy in both the United States and Australia. Prior to the start of his doctoral studies, Blaise worked as an education research fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies and as a high-school teacher in Sydney. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Teaching from the University of New South Wales.
Emily Myers (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program at NYU Steinhardt and IES-PIRT Fellowship recipient. Her research interests include examining the effects of content restrictions and curricula bans in K-12 public schools in the United States, particularly as it relates to those working in and leading schools. Emily is currently engaged in a project that examines the effects of within-year teacher turnover on family involvement and trust in New York City elementary schools, as well as a mixed methods study that centers paraprofessionals’ experiences and their career trajectories.
Emily previously served as a public-school principal and special education teacher in Philadelphia and New York City. She has experience teaching at the graduate level, having previously taught at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and currently teaching statistics at NYU Wagner. Emily also consults with K-12 districts on special projects that affect student and faculty outcomes.
Emily earned her Master of Science degree from Fordham University and her B.A. from the University of Rochester.
Toby Wu (he/they) is a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Ph.D. program at NYU and a recipient of the five-year Steinhardt Doctoral Fellowship. His research interests lie in the intersections of teacher diversity and leadership, organizational change, and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies. Specifically, he is interested in the ways that schools can evolve to better leverage the strengths of teachers of color and fulfill their institutional role within a multiracial democracy.
Prior to his doctoral studies, Toby spent over a decade serving in a range of teaching and operations roles in elementary schools in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds a master’s degree in Education from Stanford University and a bachelor’s in History & Education from Swarthmore College.