FOUNDER
VIVIAN ANDERSON
Dr. Gloria Boutte is a Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina. Her scholarship focuses on equity pedagogies. She is the author/editor of five books:
We Be Lovin’ Black Children: Becoming Learning to Be Literate About the African Diaspora;
African Diaspora Literacy: The Heart of Transformation in K-12 Schools and Teacher Education (2019 AESA Critics Choice Award)
Educating African American Students: And how are the children;
Resounding Voices: School Experiences of People From Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds; and
Multicultural Education: Raising Consciousness.
She has nearly 100 publications. Dr. Boutte has presented nationally and internationally on equity issues and has received prestigious awards such as the Fulbright Scholar; Fulbright Specialist; 2020 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Outstanding Educator in the English Language Arts—Elementary Section; and the 2021 American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2021 Division K Legacy award. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for the Education and Equity of African American Students (CEEAAS). She has presented on every continent except Antarctica.
In the fall of 2019,
Dr. Aleksandra Chauhan obtained an OJJDP grant to start a Juvenile Defender Advocate position at the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense. In that position Dr. Chauhan focuses on South Carolina juvenile justice data collection, training, and support of juvenile defense attorneys in the state. Prior to that, Dr. Chauhan was an assistant public defender in Richland County, SC. In 2015-2016, she obtained two federal grants to open a Youth Reentry Program at the Public Defender’s Office. The Youth Reentry team that she supervised consisted of a social worker, youth advocates and a civil attorney. It focused on holistic representation of the youth.
Dr. Chauhan received her Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. During her doctoral studies she focused on researching the Convention on the Rights of the Child. After obtaining her Ph.D., she studied law and in 2013 received her J.D. at the USC School of Law. In addition to representing youth,
Dr. Chauhan is on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Children’s Rights, Every Black Girl, Inc., the Columbia Film Society and is on the Advisory Committee of the Southern Juvenile Defense Center. Dr. Chauhan has presented keynotes and workshops on issues of reentry, trauma, and racial justice at local and national conferences. She is actively involved in creating systemic change in her community and raising awareness about needs and challenges youth face in their communities. Dr. Chauhan was recognized as a 2017 Juvenile Public Defender of the Year. She is a 2019 SC BAR Leadership Academy graduate and a 2020 Georgetown Law School Ambassador for Racial Justice.
