Brianna Baker

Baker is a magna cum laude graduate of Spelman College where she earned her B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Urban Studies and Public Administration. In 2015 she authored her first research project focused on examining the role of school culture in combatting the criminalization and exclusion of students of color through a culture of care. She presented that research at the American Education Research Association 2016 conference, served as a 2016 Yale Law School Arthur Liman Undergraduate Fellow and functioned as a School Pathways to Juvenile Justice System Project Intern. Baker is a recent graduate of Teacher's College, Columbia University where she earned her M.A. in Social Studies Education focused on drawing connections between social studies, social education and social justice. While at Columbia, Brianna was selected to present as panelist at the 2017 Harvard Graduate School of Education's AOCC during a session that examined Resisting Structural Oppression in Public Systems. Outside of school she volunteers as a program instructor with the Justice in Education Initiative and has implemented a curriculum on women’s empowerment and liberation uniquely designed for girls aged 18-21 detained at Rikers Island Correctional Facility.

Baker is a social justice educator who has worked in both public and charter school spaces. Her greatest accomplishments as an educator include establishing the Freedom Fighters Youth Program. This program manifested as a collaboration between her mass incarceration course and Columbia Law School which embeded the Racial Justice Advocacy Seminar into her curriculum giving students an opportunity to take this seminar at Columbia Law School. (managed by CLS Center for Gender & Sexuality) Additionally, this authored Justice for Black Girls, a research project authored by 7th grade girls of color entitled, Race, Criminality, Girlhood and Justice. This multi modal project was presented at Columbia University, recognized as Exemplary and endeavors to examine the intricacies of black girlhood with particular focus on their often confining and exclusionary experiences in schools from the lens of young black girls.  Namely, this work explores the impact of exclusion, criminalization and confinement on the schooling experiences of girls of color through an examination of mass incarceration and school push-out. Ultimately Brianna is a teacher, scholar and juvenile justice advocate that is fervent about creating spaces that unconditionally affirm Black brilliance.