Resource Center

• IDRA Newsletter • October 2020 •

The IDRA Education Policy Fellows Program is generously supported by Trellis Foundation and in partnership with the John Gardner Public Service Fellowship, facilitated by Stanford University’s Haas Center for Public Service.

Dr. Altheria Caldera

Dr. Altheria Caldera is a scholar, writer and equity activist whose other identities include dog-lover, nature-enthusiast and college football fan. The Alabama native began her professional career as a middle school English teacher. Altheria earned her Ph.D. in education studies from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. As an IDRA Education Policy Fellow, she will identify and pursue advocacy opportunities to expand access to and ensure success in postsecondary education spaces, particularly for students of color.

Thomas Marshall III

Thomas Marshall III is a native of Columbia, South Carolina and received a B.A. in English with a minor in youth development studies from Clemson University. His research interests include the recruitment and retention rate of Black males at predominantly white institutions. He is a student in the master of education (higher education) program at the University of Houston. As an IDRA Education Policy Fellow, he will execute a strong digital communications and community engagement advocacy program for the Texas legislative session.

Christina Muñoz

Christina Muñoz is a second-generation, Latina master’s student studying quantitative methods in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. As an IDRA Education Policy Fellow, she will identify and pursue advocacy opportunities that address both the new and the existing systemic needs that schools, students and families have due to COVID-19.

Dr. Nino Rodríguez

Dr. Nino Rodríguez received his Ph.D. in education policy, organization and leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a scholar-practitioner, Nino seeks to use his knowledge, skills and abilities to liberate Black males of maladaptive notions of what it means to be a Black man in the United States. As an IDRA Education Policy Fellow, Nino will identify and pursue advocacy opportunities that address the harms of school discipline and policing, which disproportionately impact Black students, students with disabilities and LGBTQ students in Texas.

[©2020, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the October 2020 IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]