Race Institute Staff
Deidre Ashton
Facilitator
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Sarah Halley
Facilitator
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Ali Michael
Facilitator
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Deidre Ashton
Deidre Ashton, LCSW, is a trainer/consultant who delivers trainings to public and independent schools and not-for-profit organizations in the development of racial competence to better serve their student/client communities. As a former executive director and supervisor for the Center for Family, Community, & Social Justice, Deidre has trained school based therapists and other school personnel to provide counseling and academic support from a context centered systemic approach rooted in cultural competence/humility and racial equity with the goals of enhancing the learning capacity of all students, and creating an environment conducive to learning. Deidre has also taught human service professionals at graduate and post-graduate institutions in the areas of developing and implementing socially just, and culturally sensitive counseling practices. As a parent volunteer at her child’s school, she founded and currently co-leads the Parent Association Committee for Advancing Racial Equity in our School (PA CARES). Deidre maintains a private psychotherapy practice specializing in couple and family therapy and clinical supervision and she serves on the leadership team of the Therapy Center of Philadelphia, a not-for-profit feminist based psychotherapy practice serving women and trans communities through the lens of intersectionality.
Deidre Ashton, LCSW, is a trainer/consultant who delivers trainings to public and independent schools and not-for-profit organizations in the development of racial competence to better serve their student/client communities. As a former executive director and supervisor for the Center for Family, Community, & Social Justice, Deidre has trained school based therapists and other school personnel to provide counseling and academic support from a context centered systemic approach rooted in cultural competence/humility and racial equity with the goals of enhancing the learning capacity of all students, and creating an environment conducive to learning. Deidre has also taught human service professionals at graduate and post-graduate institutions in the areas of developing and implementing socially just, and culturally sensitive counseling practices. As a parent volunteer at her child’s school, she founded and currently co-leads the Parent Association Committee for Advancing Racial Equity in our School (PA CARES). Deidre maintains a private psychotherapy practice specializing in couple and family therapy and clinical supervision and she serves on the leadership team of the Therapy Center of Philadelphia, a not-for-profit feminist based psychotherapy practice serving women and trans communities through the lens of intersectionality.
Sarah Halley
Sarah Halley is an organizational development consultant and experiential educator with 18 years experience, working primarily on team building, leadership development, inclusive strategic planning, and diversity/cultural competence. She co-facilitates a series of workshops for White People Confronting Racism, based out of Training for Change, a grass roots, nonprofit training center in Philadelphia dedicated to global social change. Sarah is also the founder and co-director of Playback for Change, a multiracial improvisational theatre troupe that uses playback theatre as a vehicle for social change, and is an international leader and trainer in the international Playback Theatre movement. Sarah also has a background in engineering and spent 8 years as a classroom teacher in the Philadelphia area.
Sarah Halley is an organizational development consultant and experiential educator with 18 years experience, working primarily on team building, leadership development, inclusive strategic planning, and diversity/cultural competence. She co-facilitates a series of workshops for White People Confronting Racism, based out of Training for Change, a grass roots, nonprofit training center in Philadelphia dedicated to global social change. Sarah is also the founder and co-director of Playback for Change, a multiracial improvisational theatre troupe that uses playback theatre as a vehicle for social change, and is an international leader and trainer in the international Playback Theatre movement. Sarah also has a background in engineering and spent 8 years as a classroom teacher in the Philadelphia area.
Ali Michael
Ali Michael, Ph.D., is the co-founder and director of the Race Institute for K-12 Educators, and the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education (Teachers College Press, 2015), winner of the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. She is co-editor of the bestselling Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories (2015, Stylus Press) and The Guide for White Women who Teach Black Boys (2018, Corwin Press). She also sits on the editorial board of the journal Whiteness and Education. Ali teaches in the mid-career doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, as well as the Graduate Counseling Program at Arcadia University. In the 2017-18 school year, she will hold the Davis Visiting Professorship at Ursinus College. Ali’s article, What do White Children Need to Know About Race?, co-authored with Dr. Eleonora Bartoli in Independent Schools Magazine, won the Association and Media Publishing Gold Award for Best Feature Article in 2014. She may be best known for her November 9, 2016 piece What Do We Tell the Children? on the Huffington Post, where she is a regular contributor. For more details see www.alimichael.org.
Ali Michael, Ph.D., is the co-founder and director of the Race Institute for K-12 Educators, and the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education (Teachers College Press, 2015), winner of the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. She is co-editor of the bestselling Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories (2015, Stylus Press) and The Guide for White Women who Teach Black Boys (2018, Corwin Press). She also sits on the editorial board of the journal Whiteness and Education. Ali teaches in the mid-career doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, as well as the Graduate Counseling Program at Arcadia University. In the 2017-18 school year, she will hold the Davis Visiting Professorship at Ursinus College. Ali’s article, What do White Children Need to Know About Race?, co-authored with Dr. Eleonora Bartoli in Independent Schools Magazine, won the Association and Media Publishing Gold Award for Best Feature Article in 2014. She may be best known for her November 9, 2016 piece What Do We Tell the Children? on the Huffington Post, where she is a regular contributor. For more details see www.alimichael.org.
Toni Graves Williamson
Toni Graves Williamson is a nationally recognized diversity practitioner and consultant, now serving as the Director of Equity and Inclusion at Friends Select School in Philadelphia. Toni is a founding faculty member of the National Diversity Practitioners Institute, and she has served on the faculty of the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Toni co-founded the Mid-Atlantic Region Diversity Conference. Using her knowledge of organizational change management, she conducts diversity climate studies and trains educators in cultural competency and institutional strategic planning as a principal consultant of the Glasgow Group. Toni is a lead facilitator for the Race Institute for K-12 Educators and a member of the creative team of the Multicultural Resource Center at the Association for Delaware Valley Independent Schools. Additionally, as a longtime Friends schools educator, Toni provides professional development opportunities for Quaker schools through a partnership with the Friends Council on Education.
Toni Graves Williamson is a nationally recognized diversity practitioner and consultant, now serving as the Director of Equity and Inclusion at Friends Select School in Philadelphia. Toni is a founding faculty member of the National Diversity Practitioners Institute, and she has served on the faculty of the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Toni co-founded the Mid-Atlantic Region Diversity Conference. Using her knowledge of organizational change management, she conducts diversity climate studies and trains educators in cultural competency and institutional strategic planning as a principal consultant of the Glasgow Group. Toni is a lead facilitator for the Race Institute for K-12 Educators and a member of the creative team of the Multicultural Resource Center at the Association for Delaware Valley Independent Schools. Additionally, as a longtime Friends schools educator, Toni provides professional development opportunities for Quaker schools through a partnership with the Friends Council on Education.
Christine Saxman
Christine Saxman is the founder of Saxman Consulting LLC where she provides racial and social justice training, facilitation and coaching. She also works each summer for the National SEED Project (Seeking Education Equity and Diversity) as part of the National Staff. Prior to spending two years as an equity transformation specialist at Courageous Conversations About Race, Christine was an educator in Township District 113 in Illinois for fifteen years where she was also a racial equity leader. In 2016, she received recognition as an Illinois Golden Apple Finalist and Teacher of Distinction. She earned a B.A. in English from University of Pittsburgh, a M.A. in English from Northwestern University, and a M.S. in Education from Northwestern University. She can be found at LinkedIn and christinesaxman.com.
Christine Saxman is the founder of Saxman Consulting LLC where she provides racial and social justice training, facilitation and coaching. She also works each summer for the National SEED Project (Seeking Education Equity and Diversity) as part of the National Staff. Prior to spending two years as an equity transformation specialist at Courageous Conversations About Race, Christine was an educator in Township District 113 in Illinois for fifteen years where she was also a racial equity leader. In 2016, she received recognition as an Illinois Golden Apple Finalist and Teacher of Distinction. She earned a B.A. in English from University of Pittsburgh, a M.A. in English from Northwestern University, and a M.S. in Education from Northwestern University. She can be found at LinkedIn and christinesaxman.com.
