Educator. Researcher. Writer.

Raised between the city of Richmond and the suburb of Glen Allen, Danielle is a proud Virginian. After graduating from Henrico High School, she remained in the Old Dominion to pursue her Bachelor of Arts in English and History from The College of William and Mary and Master of Teaching from Virginia Commonwealth University. Post-graduation, she settled down in the heart of the city and enthusiastically began her career as a third-generation Richmond Public Schools’ teacher. Some of Danielle’s fondest memories are sitting at the helm of her classroom (or standing by the volleyball net as a coach) and learning from some of the most intelligent and dynamic people she’s ever had the pleasure of knowing: her students.

However, over time, Danielle began to feel that the field of education required answers that were larger than what she could provide from inside the walls of her classroom. The stakes surrounding her large questions felt far too urgent, so she made the difficult decision to leave the classroom in search of answers she could eventually bring back to her city and her students. As a result, she currently lives in Menlo Park, California as a qualitative researcher and PhD Candidate at Stanford University in the programs of Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education (CTE) and Race, Inequality, and Language in Education (RILE). Since coming to the Graduate School of Education, Danielle has dedicated her time to the following current projects: (1) investigating the standard language ideologies of African American teachers who teach in majority Black urban schools, (2) determining the impact of one urban district’s rapid gentrification and pro-school choice policies, and (3) theorizing about power, politeness, and indirect speech acts within teacher education. Outside of her main academic pursuits, she has also consulted for predominantly white school districts, with low-levels of traditional forms of student and teacher diversity. Her work there has focused on assisting said districts with incorporating equitable teaching practices and dismantle systemic oppression and unconscious bias. Likewise, she also has the immense pleasure of serving as the Chief of Staff of the Richmond Resilience Initiative - a guaranteed income pilot serving working-class residents of Richmond, Virginia.

Education reform sits at the heart of all that Danielle does. Though she is often far away, she continues to remain connected to many of her previous students and their families - as a constant reminder of the importance of always keeping one foot on the ground and in the classroom.

After Stanford, Danielle hopes to pursue a career in higher education, but likewise would like to open a community center that focuses on enriching the lives of Black children through a proactive educational based platform that addresses aspects of physical, mental, emotional, and social well being. She aspires to give back all that she can, precisely because she can and because she has been given so much.

Lastly, it would be remiss if it was not mentioned that Danielle is a Slytherin and Grounder who moonlights as an avid science fiction/fantasy novel reader, bully of a big sister, and 1/2 of the socio-political podcast Ain’t No Free Lunch.

Let’s work together.