Breakthrough Greater Boston Careers in Education Fair, UNCF/Mellon Programs Conference, International Conference on Education & Justice and more…
The IRT team has been busy these past few months connecting at events. Highlights on the team’s travels below. Any IRT Alumni who plan to attend annual conferences or local events, let us know!
LaShawnda Brooks
Executive Director, IRT
Breakthrough Greater Boston held their annual Careers in Education Fair this August at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. LaShawnda connected with talented teaching fellows exploring their paths to a career in education.
LaShawnda also attended Boston University’s Fall 2026 Education Policy Seminar Series in September. Dominique Baker, an associate professor from the University of Delaware presented on “Examining the Higher Education Policy Discourse Through 75 Years of Congressional Hearing Testimony.”
Leislie Godo-Solo, IRT ‘ 91
IRT Education Programs Specialist
On October 1, Leislie presented at the UNCF/Mellon Programs Conference in Atlanta. The theme was Scholars Transforming the Academy: Centering and Stabilizing Scholar Activism
in Times Like These. Additional IRT Alumni participating in panel discussions included Dominick Rolle, IRT ’09 is the Director of Undergraduate Research Programs, The Pathways Center, at Emory University, Julius Flemming, IRT ’08 Associate Professor of English at Washington University, Saint Louis, and Bria Paige, IRT ’18 a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College.
Leislie will also be representing IRT and its program on October 22 at a Virtual Internship and Postbaccalaureate Research Programs Expo, hosted by Morgan State University and The Leadership Alliance.
2026 UNCF/Mellon Programs Conference
Alba Lamar, IRT ’14
IRT Arts & Sciences Programs Specialist
Alba will be attending two online conferences this month. The ReHuman Black and Indigenous Solidarity Conference will take place on two consecutive Sundays, October 11 & 18. The conference includes Black and Indigenous guest speakers and facilitated discussions on important issues of our times.
The Wellness Manhood Mini Conference will be held on Friday, October 23. This is a community-centered mini conference bringing together masculine-of-center people, cis men, and allies.
Catherine Wong
IRT Associate Director & Manager of Programs
In September, I had the honor of presenting at the 16th International Conference on Education and Justice, hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education and the University Laboratory School and led by Kevin Kumashiro. Centered on the theme, “Collectives and the Commons,” the conference brought together scholars, educators, and community leaders to explore how collective action, public scholarship, and collaborative inquiry can advance educational justice and strengthen the public commons.
I was also invited to serve as moderator for the roundtable session on Troubling Dialogue and Inquiry; works in progress which featured presentations by myself, Ryan Ozar, Ph.D., (Challenging Experiential Learning Facilitation for Inclusive Practices), Marcos Viveros Cespedes, Ph.D., (From Practitioner Inquiry to Collective Action: Reimagining the Public Life of Social Justice Scholarship), and Shirley Steinberg, Ph.D., (Take a Hike: Unfiltered Dialogue for Those Blazing New Trails).
(left to right) Catherine Wong, Shirley Steinberg, Marcos Viveros Cepedes, and Ryan Ozar
My presentation, “E Hana Kā Kākou: Talk Story as Co-Authored Liberation, Women of Color Building a Commons Together,” introduced all about our LIBERATION: A Manifesto for Women of Color, an anthology-in-progress grounded in collective authorship, relational knowledge-making, and the belief that stories created by and for women of color are powerful tools for liberation and social change. Through the framework of (re)MEMBERING, (re)CLAIMING, and (re)BUILDING, I explored how talk story, shared reflection, and community-centered storytelling can challenge extractive models of scholarship and create spaces where wisdom is generated collectively rather than individually.
The ideas explored in this presentation directly inform my work with IRT. Both with scholars and SOPA’s, I encourage writing not simply as an individual academic exercise but as a process of reflection, self-definition, and connection to community. The session reinforced strategies I use when advising scholars on personal histories, statements of purpose and scholarly writings: centering authentic voice, honoring lived experience as a source of knowledge, and helping writers identify the communities, values, and commitments that shape their educational journeys. By drawing on practices of collective inquiry, reflection, and storytelling, I support scholars in developing a writing mindset that is both academically rigorous and deeply grounded in who they are and the impact they hope to make.
(left to right) Kevin Kumashiro and Catherine Wong
Participating in this conference was a meaningful opportunity to bring the Hawaiian ‘Ōlelo No’eau #328, E lawe i ke aʻo a mālama, a e ʻoi mau ka naʻauao. One who takes their teachings & applies them increases their knowledge, (Mary Kawena Pukui) into conversation with educators and scholars from around the world. It was also a powerful reminder that writing, teaching, and advising are collaborative acts that help build the commons, one story, one relationship, and one scholar at a time.
