I’ve been teaching for the MSED program since 2002 and working in P-12 learning since 1981. When I’m not teaching an MSED course, I’m teaching high school English full time. I am a National Board Certified teacher, seeking the maintenance of certification credential as of 2021. 

Dr. Briellen Griffin (she/her) is a critical educator, researcher, and scholar of education. Her work is dedicated to Black humanity and the uprooting of antiblackness in all of its forms and manifestations.Dr. Griffin's identity as a multiracial Black woman informs her approach to collaborative teaching and learning. She is committed to nurturing conversations and projects that encourage anti-racist action. Her research interrogates mechanisms of antiblackness in the classroom, with a focus on teacher-student interactions. Her most recent project examines how teachers' ideas and beliefs about race manifest in their behavior toward and interactions with students. She is most interested in understanding how teachers can confront racism in their practice and learn to create humanizing educational experiences for every student. Research Interests Race & racism in education Black & African American studies Education policy & practice Urban education Resistance/Social change History of American education (US) Qualitative research methods

As the first woman elected mayor in Highland Park, Illinois, Nancy Rotering reformed city government and built a culture of transparency, collaboration, and ethics. An attorney for over 30 years, Nancy is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, has an MBA from Northwestern University and a BA from Stanford University in economics. She practiced law with McDermott Will & Emery in Chicago, focusing on health care fraud and abuse before being elected Mayor of Highland Park three times.

In 2015, Nancy founded the North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic, providing free legal services and equal access to justice for northeastern Illinois residents navigating housing, immigration, and domestic violence matters. In 2014, Today’s Chicago Woman named Nancy to their “100 Women of Inspiration,” and Forbes included her in their “Forty Over 40” list. In 2022, she received the Lake County, Illinois Harriet Tubman Award, the Lake County Democratic Women Resist Award, the Blue Crescent Outreach Foundation Social Action Sapphire Award, and the New Trier Democrats Defender of Democracy Award. She was proud to be recognized as the 2022 Outstanding Instructor by Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy.

Nancy is an Executive Committee member of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, is a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is a Board of Directors member of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, and is the immediate Past President of the Northwest Municipal Conference.

Nancy and her husband Rob have four sons and live in Highland Park, Illinois.

• Women and American political leadership
• Social media treatment of women in politics
• Effective advocacy methods
• Political campaign strategy