Meet the 2023 Diversity Travel Award Recipients

The goal of the diversity travel stipend is to increase engagement of CEC members from the BIPOC community and provide them opportunities at the annual convention and expo to access the incredible content and to connect with other members.

Annual Convention and Expo

Your contribution to CEC's Diversity Fund will provide support for initiatives to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of special education.

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2023 Award Recipients
Valencia Alex Special Eduaction Teacher	National Heritage Academies Lafayette, LA	Valencia Alex is a special education inclusion teacher specializing in math instruction. I have been in education for 8 years and in specia education for the last 3 years.
Shannon Benion-Burks Internvention Specialist/Classroom teacher/IS Lead Teacher	Cincinnati Public Schools Cincinnati, OH	I am Shannon Benion Burks a proud Special Educator. I teach at Woodward High School in Cincinnati, OH; serving student with mild to moderate disabilities. I have been an Intervention Specialist for 29 years in Cincinnati Public Schools. I am also a Lead Teacher, District-wide Mentor, AFT Trainer and most importantly a wife and mother.
Naima Bhana Assistant Professor of Special Education	Niagara University Buffalo, NY	Dr. Naima Bhana (she/her/ella) is an assistant professor of special education and a board-certified behavior analyst doctoral (BCBA-D) at Niagara University in Lewiston, NY. Her scholarship is focused on caregiver-implemented interventions, improving the quality of life of ethnically, and racially diverse students, teachers, and families, and expanding services for Spanish-speaking children with disabilities.
Ashaki Budden ESE VE Teacher	The School District of Palm Beach County Lake Worth, FL	Ashaki Budden, M.Ed., is an ESE VE teacher in North Palm Beach, Florida with 3 years of experience. Specializing in elementary education and special education. Ashaki uses that experience to develop individual learning plans for students based on their strengths and disabilities and to create a positive environment that will allow student learning, expression, and safety.
Crystal Carter-Harrington Special Education Director	North Panola School District Batesville, MS	Crystal Carter-Harrington, Ed.S, is a Special Education Director, 504 Coordinator, and Gifted Education Program Coordinator at North Panola School District in Sardis, MS. This is her second year as an administrator and her seventeenth year as an educator. She previously served as a teacher, counselor, and coordinator for North Panola School District, and consultant for the Mississippi Department of Education. Crystal is a proud wife, mother of two, and graduate of Alcorn State University. She is an advocate for diversity, equity, and social justice for the students in her school district.
Amanda Alexia Catterlin Speech-Language Pathologist, Ph.D. Student for Special Education	Fayetteville Public Schools and University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR	Lexi Catterlin, M.S. CCC-SLP, and a current Ph.D. Student at the University of Arkansas pursuing a degree in Special Education. A new assistant professor faculty member at Northeastern State University for the Speech-Language Pathology program.
Dr. Christopher Cormier Associate Professor	Loyola Marymount University Harbor City, CA	Dr. Christopher J. Cormier is a former special education teacher and an Associate Professor of teaching and learning in the School of Education at Loyola Marymount University. He has taught first through 12th in Title 1 schools in the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area. His research program focuses on the social and cultural contexts of minoritized learners and teachers in special education. Under this overarching theme, he has two lines of scholarship. The first is on the professional and socio-emotional lives of minoritized teachers. The second is on culturally informed identification of minoritized students in special education. Dr. Cormier brings a comparative lens to both of his research lines with studies in national and international contexts. He is the Immediate Past President of the Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (DDEL) of the Council for Exceptional Children and a Director-at-Large for Kappa Delta Pi Incorporated.
Karina Du Project Specialist, Doctoral Student, Student Teaching Supervisor	San Mateo County Office of Education; UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University San Leandro, CA	Karina Du is a project specialist for early learning quality and inclusion in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also a doctoral student studying special education at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. She trains and supports teachers on inclusive practices and researches anti-bias education in teacher preparation.
Elizabeth Fisher Special Education Teacher & Adjunct Faculty	Milwaukee Public Schools Milwaukee, WI	Elizabeth Fisher, M. Ed, is a high school special education/transition teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has experience teaching elementary and middle school as well. She is working on her Ph.D. in special education from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Her focus in graduate school is on disability identity.
Allison Gunter Intensive Behavior Intervention Coordinator	Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Gastonia, NC	Allison Gunter, Ed.D. is an Intensive Behavior Intervention Coordinator and Education Consultant who works in collaboration with schools and families in addressing the academic and nonacademic factors that impact children in schools. Dr. Gunter has over 20 years of experience working with children, youth and adult learners across the P-20 system.
JoAnn Houston Special Education Teacher	Gwinnett County Public Schools Tucker, GA	JoAnn Houston, M.Ed., is a MOID 3-5 teacher at Margaret Winn Holt Elementary School in Lawrenceville, GA. This is her seventh year teaching special education, two of them having been in Brasilia, Brazil. She believes all children can learn.
Nahid Husain-Habib Diverse Learner Teacher	Mary G. Peterson Elementary School, Chicago Public Schools Chicago, IL	Nahid Husain-Habib is an Assistant Professor of Practice with Relay Graduate School and a former elementary and high school learning specialist. She is passionate about lifelong learning and literacy for students with special needs. She is also currently in her first year as a doctoral student at UIC, specializing in special education and juvenile justice.
Sungwoo Kang Graduate teaching assistant/Instructor of record	Purdue University West Lafayette, IN	Sungwoo Kang, M.A., is a graduate student in Special Education at Purdue University. Based on his former experience as a special education teacher in Korea, Sungwoo primarily focuses on enhancing financial literacy and prerequisite skills (e.g., mathematics) for individuals with developmental disabilities.
Veronica Kang Assistant Professor	University of Maryland at College Park College Park, MD	Veronica Kang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is passionate about family-centered instruction that support language/literacy, social, and daily living skills of autistic students and understanding the experiences of immigrant families in special education.
Carlos Enrique Lavin Assistant Professor in Special Education	College of Charleston Charleston, SC	Carlos Lavín is an assistant professor in special education at the College of Charleston. His research interests include the intersectional space occupied by Latinx students with dis/Abilities, counterspaces in higher education institutions, and international special education. He now lives on James Island, SC. with his awesome wife and two amazing kids.
Martin Odima Jr. Special Education Teacher, Adjunct faculty	St. Paul Public Schools, MN \| University of St. Thomas, St. Paul Maplewood, MN	Martin Odima Jr., M.A., is a Special Ed. Teacher Coach in Minnesota's Saint Paul Public School District. Also, Martin is an adjunct faculty in the Department of Special Education at the University of St. Thomas. His scholarly interests focus on culturally sustaining practices and retention of teachers of color.
Haerin Park Assistant Professor	University of Saint Joseph Manchester, CT	Dr. Haerin Park is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Saint Joseph in Connecticut. Dr. Park received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Special Education at Boston College in May 2022. She is a teacher educator with expertise in inclusive education for diverse learners.
Acer Pitas Resource Teacher/Consultant	Big Country Educational Cooperative Miles City, MT	I am Acer Pitas, a filipino itinerant resource teacher/consultant who work with PK to 12th grade students for small school districts in southeastern Montana. This is my 4th year in the United States!
Jaleesa Pleasants Early Childhood Special Education Teacher	Henrico County Public Schools Henrico, VA	Jaleesa Pleasants, M.Ed; M.S. is an Early Childhood Special Education teacher in Henrico County, Virginia. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and painting. Her motto is to, "Follow the child, not the lesson plan."
Jinwei Song Doctoral student, Graduate research assistant	University of Connecticut Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service Storrs, CT	Jinwei Song, M.Ed, BCBA. I am currently studying at the University of Connecticut as a third-year doctoral student. My research interest is early intervention, evidence-based practices, meta-analysis, and autism spectrum disorder.
Sarah Taylor Sped Teacher 6-12	Pawhuska School District Bartlesville, OK	Sarah Taylor is a Special Education Teacher at Pawhuska High School teaching 6-12th grade. She likes music, dancing, being with friends and family. As well as her pets.

Your contribution to CEC's Diversity Fund will provide support for initiatives to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of special education.

Contributions to the endowment can be made here: https://exceptionalchildren.org/give/about-cec-endowments