Who We Are

Executive Committee

Yiting Chu, Chair

Dr. Yiting Chu serves as the Multicultural/Multiethnic SIG as chair for 2023-2025. Dr. Chu is an assistant professor serving the Doctor of Education in Educational Program Development at University of South Florida, Tampa. His research is situated in the intersections of diversity and equity in education and teacher education policy and practice. Dr. Chu previously served as the Awards Committee Chair and the Program Chair for the Multicultural/Multiethnic SIG.

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Annette Teasdell, Secretary

Dr. Annette Teasdell serves the Multicultural/Multiethnic SIG as secretary for 2024-2025. Dr. Annette Teasdell is a nationally recognized scholar and an acclaimed author. With research interests that span Multicultural Education, Women's and Gender Studies, and Africana Studies, she is the author of two books--Race, Class, Gender, and Immigrant Identities in Education: Insights and Perspectives from First and Second Generation Ethiopian Students published by Palgrave MacMillan and Unbleaching the Curriculum: Enhancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Beyond in Schools and Society published by Rowman and Littlefield. Dr. Teasdell is currently an Assistant Professor at Clark Atlanta University and the principal investigator for the PANTHER Project and the LANEY Scholars Project two United States Department of Education Personnel Preparation grants. A 2022 United Negro College Fund Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellow, she is committed to excellence in education. She has received national acclaim as an Asa G. Hilliard III and Barbara A. Sizemore Research Fellow by the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Grounding her research in over 15 years of teaching, Dr. Teasdell believes in the transformative power of education. She holds a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Christopher Sewell, Treasurer

Dr. Christopher Sewell is the Multicultural/Multiethnic SIG Treasurer for 2024-2025. Dr. Sewell is the Director of the Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb Honors Program and Associate Professor at Talladega College. Previously, he was Associate Dean of Students and Dean of First-Year Students at Williams College and as Curriculum Manager at Praxis Labs. He has worked across the educational spectrum. His scholarship focuses on the experiences of gifted students of color with college access, the transition to college, and the experiences of Black students at Predominantly White Institutions. Dr. Sewell serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of African American Males in Education (JAAME). He has previously served as the Multicultural/Multiethnic Education SIG Program Chair. He earned his Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University, Master of Science in Education from UPenn, Master of Arts in Afro-American Studies from UCLA, and Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and History from Williams College.

Xin Li, Program Chair

Dr. Xin Li serves as the 2025 Program Chair for the Multicultural/ Multiethnic SIG. Dr. Li currently holds the position of Assistant Professor and specialization lead in Early Childhood Education at the University of Houston. Her research focus on early childhood development, Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism teacher preparation, and culturally responsive GenAI applications. Dr. Li's research methods span both qualitative and quantitative approaches, such as narrative study, case study, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), longitudinal study, etc. Dr. Li is also an active grant recipient, securing funding for research initiatives advocating equity for marginalized groups. To become a pioneering leader in early childhood education, Dr. Li aims to empower educators to build diverse and inclusive classrooms for every child, transform teacher preparation programs, and influence national policies.

Melisa Valentin, Social Media Chair

Dr. Melisa Valentin serves as the Social Media Chair for the Multicultural/Multiethnic SIG for 2024-2025. Dr. Valentin has loved dedicating more than 20 years to learning from diverse individuals in different contexts, specifically international students and historically marginalized ethnic and racial groups. She has enjoyed educational consulting, research, curriculum development, and instructional design. Dr. Valentin's life experiences have led her to focus her research on how curriculum impacts Latinx children, including their perceptions of their racial identity. She is interested in studying how the curriculum otherizes students through colonial narratives utilizing a theoretical framework merging critical race theory, reader-response theory, and principles of culturally responsive teaching. Her goal is to challenge the hidden curricula to build a shared vision of what all learners could become when they are met where they are and uplifted through cariño pedagogies, race-conscious curricula, and responsive instruction. Most importantly, she intends to foster equitable visions of our children's individual value and academic potential.

AnnMarie Alberton Gunn, Awards Committee Chair

Dr. AnnMarie Alberton Gunn serves as the Awards Committee Chair for the Multicultural/Multiethnic SIG for 2024-2025. Dr. Gunn is a Professor of Literacy Studies in the College of Education. Dr. Gunn is a former classroom teacher of 10 years and is committed to working with children and families who have been traditionally marginalized by society. Her passions include supporting teachers and future teachers to teach children in Pre-K-12th grade classrooms and serving the larger community.

Saliha Al, Graduate Student Representative

Saliha Al is a Graduate Student Representative for the MC/ME SIG, a teacher educator, and a doctoral candidate in the Teaching and Curriculum Program at the University of Rochester. Her research interests focus on the design of multicultural teacher education programs aimed at preparing educators to effectively teach all students, with an emphasis on inclusive practices in mathematics and science, transformative urban education systems, immigrant education, and the pursuit of educational equity and justice. Currently, she contributes to the NSF-funded MSAMP Project and serves as the Chair of the Academic Excellence Committee at the Rochester Academy Charter School.

Golnar Fotouhi, Graduate Student Representative

Golnar Fotouhi is a Ph.D. student in the Research and Evaluation in Education program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, with a background in applied linguistics. Her research focuses on culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices, the impact of teacher beliefs on multilingual learners, and the effectiveness of professional development programs for educators. She has taught the Sheltered English Immersion course at the master’s level, a state-mandated course for all content area teachers. Golnarhas published articles on supporting multilingual learners and the role of teacher education in fostering inclusive classroom environments.

Jennifer M. Johnson, Immediate Past Chair

Dr. Jennifer M. Johnson served as the Multicultural/Multiethnic SIG as Chair for 2021-2023. She is an associate professor of higher education at Temple University and an active-scholar practitioner in the fields of college access and student retention. A former Philadelphia middle school teacher with a background in science and mathematics, she has spent several years working as a counselor and advisor for college access and success programs. Her research areas include high achieving students of color, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and graduate student experiences. This scholarship explores the ways race, gender, and class intersects to shape the educational experiences of students across diverse institutional environments.

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