Aireale Joi Rodgers is a research assistant at the Pullias Center for Higher Education and a PhD Candidate in the urban education policy program at the University of Southern California. She is fundamentally interested in developing practices that disrupt and reshape historical inequities towards justice for historically minoritized students pursuing higher education. Mainly, Aireale is interested in the development of equity-minded classroom learning environments at white serving institutions of higher education (WSIs) through the design and evaluation of faculty professional development experiences. Her research seeks to empower faculty to transform postsecondary institutions to better serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Aireale holds a B.S. in Social Policy and an M.A. in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy.
When not thinking about equity and justice in higher education, Aireale is volunteering at her church, FaceTiming with her 3 y/o Goddaughter, Michaela, or scouring books by fantastic womxn of color, like bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Gloria Anzaldúa, for inspiration.