In this episode, Franchesca interviews Kwame Sarfo-Mensah from Identity Talk for Educators to discuss how toxic school cultures weigh on the mental health of educators.
Kwame Sarfo-Mensah is a 14-year veteran urban educator and the founder of Identity Talk Consulting, an independent educational consulting firm that provides professional development and consulting services to K-12 school districts, educators, colleges & universities and educational non-profit organizations. He is also the author of two books: "Shaping the Teacher Identity: 8 Lessons That Will Help Define the Teacher in You" and "From Inaction to 'In Action': Creating a New Normal for Urban Educators". As a staunch ambassador and advocate for teacher empowerment, Kwame has spoken at numerous national education conferences and worked diligently to support the recruitment and retention of teachers of color in the education system. In January 2019, he was selected to be in the inaugural cohort of the InSPIRED (In-Service Professionals Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity) Fellowship, an initiative organized by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education for veteran teachers of color to recruit students of color to teach in Massachusetts. As an InSPIRED Teaching Fellow, Kwame facilitated professional development workshops for aspiring teachers at universities such as Boston College, UMass Boston, and Worcester State University and has served as a guest speaker for non-profit teacher pipeline programs such as Generation Teach and Worcester Public Schools’ Future Teachers Academy. A proud graduate of Temple University, Kwame holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics and a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. He was honored as the 2019 National Member of the Year by Black Educators Rock, Inc. for his unwavering commitment to the advancement of the teacher profession. Kwame's work has also been featured in Teaching Channel, Edutopia, Education Post, WGBH News, The Educators' Room, and Medium.