Brittney Yancy, IRT ’03
Brittney holds a masters degree in U.S. History and earned a Ph.D. in U.S. History last year from the University of Connecticut. Brittney is currently an Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies at Illinois College.
Rachel Ansong, IRT ’14
Rachel’s poetry collection, BLACK BALLAD, published by Bull City Press will be available in Summer 2022. You can preorder a copy or find out more about the author and the collection on Rachel’s website.
Yasmin Elgoharry, IRT ‘14, ’20
Yasmin is a recipient of the University of Connecticut’s (UCONN) Neag School 2022 Alumni Board Scholarship. Yasmin is a doctoral student at UCONN in Leading, Learning & Educational Policy with a concentration in higher education racial justice and decolonization.
Elizabeth Gill, IRT ‘11 and Ashley Johnson, IRT ’06
Congratulations to AERA Ed Change SIG members Elizabeth Gill and Ashley Johnson on the recent publication of their paper: “We, as parents, do have a voice”: Learning from community-based programs effectively engaging parents in urban communities. Urban Education.
~1991 Cohort~
Leislie Godo-Solo, IRT ’91
Leislie initiated a special project that made a huge difference to a number of IRT students this holiday season. She coordinated and purchased a supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, hand wipes and a hand-written note complete with candy and organized other family members and friends to contribute items that were sent to IRT students around the world. Leislie is also the IRT Education Programs Specialist and we would like to thank her for her kindness and generosity. If you know of a student who may be in need, please contact the IRT.
According to Leislie, “this project came about because of a current IRT student who informed me that they were teaching a group of elementary students in person and she mentioned that the school was not providing any PPE to teachers. I was alarmed and believed that these materials are basic supplies. I shared my concern with my Daddy (I am a Daddy’s girl, lol!) and unbeknownst to me, my parents sent me a Nike shoe box full of cloth masks. A former Andover colleague heard me discussing the matter in an affinity group and texted me right on the spot to say that he wanted to send disposable masks to help in my cause; I was off and running. Providing PPE was such a small gesture and one that was easy enough to do. I am pleased that we have been able to assist IRT students in this concrete way.” As a result of this project, Leislie’s motto in 2021 is “Onward and upward, doing what we can in our little part of the world!”
“I am very grateful for Leislie’s work. She was my IRT advisor. I admire her work. Also, I appreciate all the assistance of the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT) has provided to us. I feel honored I was selected to participate in the 2020-2021 IRT Associate Program in the field of Linguistics. This program impacted me positively. It could change my life. Especially thanks to Leislie Godo-Solo, Rachel Weissler, Monica Reum, Brittany Zorn, LaShawnda Brooks, Janelle Bonasera, Sara Cerretani, and thanks to all the alumni.” Zahaira Cruz Aponte, IRT ’20
~2014 Cohort~
Jonathan Cortez, IRT ‘14 accepted the César Chávez Fellowship pre/post doc from Dartmouth College starting in fall 2020. Jonathan will be working in the department of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies until 2022.
Joshua Abreu, IRT ’14 received a Doctor in Philosophy – Educational Leadership after successfully defended his dissertation at UConn’s Neag School of Education in the Department of Educational Leadership in March 2020. A brief bio is included below:
My research interest centers on how college professors across different academic disciplines learn to teach and navigate academia—particularly professors who teach and research issues of diversity and equity. I believe my scholarship contributes to understanding and support of the professional success of faculty committed to equity. For my dissertation, I studied how Criminology/Criminal Justice professors have learned to include critical and marginalized perspectives of crime and crime control into their teaching. I particularly focused on professors responsible for teaching the students most impacted by the unjust criminal justice system (e.g., Black, Latinx, and low-income students).
Prior to UConn, I worked as a retention specialist and adjunct instructor at Northern Essex Community College (NECC) in Lawrence, MA. At NECC, I helped establish the Student Success Center, which provided retention counseling and culturally-sustaining supports to Latinx college students. Before NECC, I worked as a sworn part-time police officer in New Hampshire and then became a licensed social worker for Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. My experiences in law enforcement, social work, and education has positioned me to take an interdisciplinary and practical approach to teaching and researching social inequities in higher education. I earned a bachelor’s and master’s in Criminal Justice from the University of Massachusetts – Lowell.
~2011 Cohort~
Congratulations to Dr. Anthony Urena, IRT ’11 who successfully defended his dissertation and will be joining Princeton as a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the fall.
Aria Halliday, IRT ’11 was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship for a year dedicated to research with no service or teaching responsibilities for 2020-2021. Aria also accepted an Assistant Professor position at the University of Kentucky in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and African American and Africana Studies program.
~2008 Cohort~
Adom Getachow, IRT ‘08 was featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education in the article, “Prominent Scholars Threaten to Boycott Colleges That Don’t Support Contingent Faculty During Pandemic.”
~2007 Cohort~
Heather Moore Roberson, IRT ‘07/’10 is a recipient of the 2020 Thoburn Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Thoburn Award for Excellence in Teaching is presented to a faculty member who has been at Allegheny College for 10 years or less.
~2004 Cohort~
Jessica Bardill, IRT ‘04 has received tenure and a promotion to Associate Professor of Indigenous Literature and Cultures at Concordia University.
Thank you to IRT for your brilliance, support, and endurance…I am making sure to give back to many of the places and people that got me here. Keep lifting, keep climbing, keep fighting, keep changing.
~2000 Cohort~
Sherri Ann Charleston, IRT ’00 was named chief diversity and inclusion officer at Harvard University beginning. Read article in the Harvard Gazette.
Getachew is a Newbauer Family Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. She is the author of “Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination.”
Institute for Recruitment of Teachers 
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