Ray’s post-secondary journey began at Louisiana State University where he earned a Bachelor's in Political Science & a Master's in Higher Education Administration. He also served as the Graduate Assistant & Program Manager in the Office of First-Year Experience designing programs to support success for incoming freshman and minority students at LSU. Realizing the urgent need for Black male educators, Ray transitioned to K-12 schools where he's worked for nearly a decade as a teacher and leader in Clayton County and Atlanta Public Schools, KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools, and KIPP New Jersey Schools in Newark, New Jersey. Ray has served as an ELA teacher, school turn-around educator, Grade Level Chair, and Director of Extended Learning. Most recently, Ray served as Founding Assistant Principal at KIPP Soul Academy in Atlanta, GA. In this position, he was responsible for designing & implementing curriculum and building out the region’s first-ever Anti-Racism Professional Development and Culture of Independent Reading programs. Both efforts met the urgent needs of students returning to school post-COVID. Ray is also heavily involved in community organizing for educational equity and reform within local school districts and community organizations. Ray leads a variety of different efforts at 2Rev to increase learner-centered and equitable environments in formal and informal education settings, eager to put the revolution in the hands of learners- now and forevermore. Outside of professional interests, he enjoys spending time with his wife and their 2 young daughters, and relishes victories for the Los Angeles Lakers, LSU Tigers, and the culture (politics, hip hop, etc.).

Why is the focus on learner-centered and equity critical to shift classrooms and systems?

When classrooms and school systems are focused on individual learners, equity is alive and can liberate students. Leveraging learner-centered pedagogies and curricula ensures that student outcomes exist within self-paced learning structures, rather than moving learners on for the sake of pacing. Students inevitably grow in their ownership of learning. We see this through increased voice, self-efficacy and a greater investment in their overall educational process. This is a stark counterpoint to it just being done to them. Synchronously, having equity centered curricula and approaches allows teachers and leaders to guarantee that the pursuit of cognitive and skills development and identity enable learners to achieve academically, be culturally competent, and socio-politically conscious of the ever-changing world which they inhabit. Through these shifts, schools and systems transition into spaces of social transformation that cultivate self-actualization and determination. Based on my experiences as both an educator and product of American public schools, I have a singular focus on ensuring that education can finally be the great equity provider, not just, “the great equalizer,” in the words of Horace Mann. In doing this, learning will have the opportunity to be truly learner-driven and equitable.

 
Why are you passionate about transforming schools?

Schools, more than any other location or facet of our society, have the ability to replicate, recreate, permeate, and revolutionize the world as we know it. More specifically, since schools have the ability to impact what people think of themselves and others, they serve as incubators of greatness. I’m passionate about transforming schools because our world can be, and all kids deserve to be greater than what we know as our reality. In the words of Huey P. Newton, “the revolution (or transformation) has always been in the hands of the young, for the young always inherit the revolution”. That revolution always starts with what and how children learn in school. As needs for kids and staff change, models need to change. To keep the same is to stay satisfied with mediocrity. We should instead continuously strive for what’s better and work to build it.