About Us

Apriel K Hodari, PhD, is an expert in STEM education research, equity and workforce diversity, and the culture of STEM disciplines. She is a Principal Investigator with Eureka Scientific, Inc. Her current research focuses on the cultures of STEM disciplines, centering the lived experiences of successful women of color in STEM fields. 

Dr Hodari serves as PI for ADVANCE Partnership: Faculty Online Learning Communities for Gender Equity: Targeting Department Level Change in STEM; SBE-UKRI: Collaborative Research: Centering Women of Color in STEM: Data-Driven Opportunities for Inclusion; What Do Physicists From Majority Groups Know and Believe about Race and Gender? and Centering Women of Color in STEM: Identifying and Scaling Up What Helps Women of Color Thrive.  She also serves as advisor to College Institutional Factors on the Success of Women and Underrepresented Minorities in STEM Majors.

Dr Hodari earned a doctorate in experimental nonlinear optics from Hampton University.  She was awarded as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow with the Physics Education Research Group at the University of Maryland, College Park; a Congressional Science Fellow in the US House of Representatives; and a Fulbright Scholar at Queen Mary, University of London.

Dr. Samantha L. Elliott is the Founding Director of the Center for Inclusive Teaching & Learning and Associate Professor of Biology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Dr. Elliott completed her Ph.D. in Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and postdoctoral studies in C. elegans immunology at Duke University before joining the faculty at SMCM to teach courses in Introductory Biology, Cancer Biology and Immunology. Her research interests shifted to biology education upon observing inequities within STEM, particularly at the introductory level. Her education research interests include: student conceptual knowledge, measures to increase student access, inclusion and sense of belonging, high school to college transition, organizational change, faculty development and anything assessment-related. Dr. Elliott is a PULSE Leadership Fellow, AAC&U/PKAL STEM Leadership Institute alumnus and mentor, former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education and currently Executive Editor of College Teaching.    

Dr. Kelly Mack is the Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).  Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Mack was the Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Program while on loan from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) where, as a Professor of Biology, she taught courses in Physiology and Endocrinology for 17 years. During her tenure at NSF, Dr. Mack managed an annual budget of approximately $17 million, facilitated the inclusion of issues targeting women of color into the national discourse on gender equity in the STEM disciplines and significantly increased the participation of predominantly undergraduate institutions, community colleges and minority serving institutions in the ADVANCE portfolio. 

Donté McGuire, PhD, serves as Managing Director at Higher Ed Insight. Donté’s approach is characterized by his emphasis on collaboration, genuine curiosity, and deep appreciation for both research scholarship and practitioner knowledge. He has experience in various educational contexts including international education, high school re-entry and completion, college access, residence life and housing, program evaluation, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Donté’s scholarship focuses on improving educational access and success for marginalized groups, cross-cultural education and understanding, and culturally competent leadership. He earned a PhD in Higher Education at the University of Maryland, a MEd in Higher Education Administration from North Carolina State University, and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from Wake Forest University.

Ms. Christina Shute is the Program Manager for Project Kaleidoscope and other initiatives within the Office of Undergraduate STEM Education at the Association of American Colleges and Universities. She comes to FOLC-E with over 20 years of experience in directing national projects aimed at providing meaningful professional and leadership development for STEM faculty. Christina’s professional interests include higher education leadership, experiential learning, and broadening participation.

Christina’s work has been featured in numerous venues and at both national and international STEM focused conferences. Christina has a B.A. in Psychology and Classical Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College; and she is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Ms. Shayna Krammes is a research assistant at Eureka Scientific, Inc. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Global History, with a focus on Latin America, at George Mason University. Shayna also studied Spanish and spent a summer abroad in Granada, Spain to study the language, culture, and Spanish interpretation of the colonial period. Her undergraduate research focused on the centrality of human rights during Argentina's last transition to democracy in the 1980s. Shayna took elective courses in African American history which ground her understanding of the present disparities in higher education.

For questions about the FOLC-E project, please contact Shayna at equityfolc@gmail.com.