Benita R. Brooks received her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in literacy education from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She received her M.A. in English from Murray State University and has taught high school English for ten years.

She co-founded the Diversity Engagement, Education, Development, and Support (DEEDS) Certificate Program for faculty, staff, and graduate students. The American Association for Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) considered the DEEDS Certificate Program “of significant academic merit.” She is the recipient of two national grants from the Department of Education and one from the National Science Foundation. She has received The Powell Foundation Grant for two consecutive years (2018-2019 and 2019-2020). Receiving funding from the Powell Foundation strengthened a university-community partnership between a public state university and a local Boys & Girls Club. As the founder and director of the after-school academic program at a local Boys & Girls Club, Brooks was able to provide opportunities to engage teacher candidates seeking certification at the elementary, middle, or secondary level in experiential service learning that leveraged the expertise of university faculty and school and community partners. The purpose of this program was to nurture the development of classroom readiness and community readiness in teacher candidates to eliminate the possibility of K-12 students from historically marginalized communities experiencing a deficit view, implicit bias, exclusionary discipline encompassing a school-to-prison pipeline, or a disproportionate assignment to special education. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her academic and community engagement work.

Her research interests include cultivating culturally responsive and sustaining practices through critical service-learning in teacher education programs, developing culturally proficient leaders in K-12 and higher education, and re-thinking diversity, equity, and inclusion to obtain justice.

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