Dena Simmons
Educational Equity Advocate | Anti-Bias & Social-Emotional Learning
About
Dena Simmons is a leading voice for educational equity and anti-bias education. As the former Assistant Director of Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, she developed groundbreaking programs on social-emotional learning.
Dena's research-based strategies have empowered thousands of educators to create more inclusive and culturally responsive classrooms. Her TEDWomen talk on unlearning fear has reached over 1.
4 million views. Dena's keynotes provide actionable frameworks to promote diversity, belonging, and student well-being in schools and communities.
Talks1
How students of color confront impostor syndrome
As a black woman from a tough part of the Bronx who grew up to attain all the markers of academic prestige, Dena Simmons knows that for students of color, success in school sometimes comes at the cost of living authentically. Now an educator herself, Simmons discusses how we might create a classroom that makes all students feel proud of who they are. "Every child deserves an education that guarantees the safety to learn in the comfort of one's own skin," she says.
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