Dedicated to educating and supporting the success of staff and education leaders to enhance K-12 and higher education science outcomes. Experienced leader with a proven track record in reducing systemic barriers for Black woman in STEM education work environments. Strong background in curriculum and instruction best practices, skilled in creating equitable learning environments and overseeing mentoring opportunities. outcomes.
Hi, I’m
Christina Alston
Erie,CO
Summary
Overview
17
years of professional experience
1
Certification
Work History
University of Colorado Boulder
Director, Colorado Diversity Initiative
07.2023 - Current
Job overview
- Led a team focused on recruiting and retaining historically marginalized graduate students by providing mentorship, guidance, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Managed program development and implementations and ensure effectiveness aligned with CDI's mission
- Enhanced team collaboration through regular communication, goal setting, and performance evaluations.
- Implemented innovative solutions to solve complex problems, resulting enhanced recruitment strategies and streamlined operations.
- Strategically planned grant proposals and data collection measures for program development and implementation.
- Cultivate relationships with national partners such as the Leadership Alliance and GEM Fellowship Consortium
- Manage financial activities and serve as principal administrator for CDI's programmatic initiatives
- Develop and instruct hidden curriculum session and Sista Circles to support the educational experience of Black students
- Collaborated with HR to recruit a diverse workforce, ensuring fair hiring practices and equal opportunities for all candidates.
- Assisted in developing company-wide diversity goals, objectives, and metrics to track progress over time.
- Managed budgets allocated for various diversity-related activities such as trainings, workshops, or events sponsorship.
- Prepared and submitted internal and external reports.
- Increased awareness of diversity issues by organizing educational workshops, seminars, and training sessions.
- Mentored employees from underrepresented groups to support their professional growth within the organization.
- Supported senior leadership in driving a culture of accountability for diversity and inclusion by integrating D&I metrics into school and department performance evaluations.
William Marsh Rice University
Associate Director for Equitable Research, Evaluation, and Grant Development
06.2013 - 06.2023
Job overview
- Encouraged equity for the 12 R-STEM staff and over 400 annual K-12 participants within our STEM programs through evaluation.
- Developed workplace practices guidebook for promoting positive workplace culture.
- Instructed and mentored 60 K-12 Math, science, and engineering teachers annually on how to cover science and engineering concepts using inquiry and project-based methods.
- Raised science community awareness of the gaps in STEM fields among marginalized populations and empower educators to bridge the gap by creating inclusive classroom environments and incorporating peer mentoring and STEM role models through the annual research publication.
- Used advanced inferential statistics (regression modeling) and feminist qualitative methods to triangulate data and provide comprehensive descriptions.
- Created, wrote, and submitted grants and reports to NSF and NIH-sponsored projects.
- Prioritized tasks and allocated resources appropriately to keep teams focused and productive.
- Mentored junior staff members, providing guidance on professional development opportunities and career progression paths within the company.
- Utilized student-centered initiatives have been improved, offering transparency into the program's efficacy for K-12 teachers at each offer.
- Developed and implemented 10 STEM programs, 15 workshops, multiple short courses, and online seminars.
- Established administrative controls, managed operating expenses, tracked budget usage and explored financing sources for K-12 educational programs through grant writing, sponsorship, and donations.
- Fostered strategic relationships with over 300 K-12 teachers, graduate students, and colleagues at ten different K-12 educational institutions in the Houston area to improve student achievement.
Cypress Fairbanks ISD
High School Biology Teacher and Team Lead
08.2007 - 07.2012
Job overview
- Evaluated and facilitated results-based professional development training and tracked employee efficacy in implementing new skills.
- Improved student comprehension by incorporating real-world examples and hands-on activities into lesson plans.
- Established a positive learning environment by maintaining clear expectations and providing consistent support for all students.
- Enhanced students'' critical thinking skills through project-based learning and scientific inquiry methods.
- Mentored new teachers, sharing best practices and providing guidance on effective teaching strategies for high school biology.
- Evaluated the impact on student learning and incorporated strength-based modifications.
- Aligned teacher competencies with educational goals through collaboration with principals and school service officers to identify potential gaps and prioritize meeting such development gaps across campus.
- Lead group learning opportunities to boost teacher effectiveness, drawing on school-based resources such as mentorship, modeling, facilitation, and training.
- Researched and enhanced awareness of opportunities to improve novice teachers' instructional, subject, and developmental knowledge.
Education
University of HoustonHouston, TX
Ph.D. from Education - Curriculum & Instruction
05-2023
University Overview
- Dissertation: Breaking the Silence: Black Female Former Science Teachers' Experiences with Racial Battle
- Urban Education
- Science Education
University of HoustonHouston, TX
Master of Science from Education - Curriculum & Instruction
05-2009
University Overview
- Awarded Science Education
Texas A&M University - Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi, TX
Bachelor of Science from Biology
01.2005
University Overview
- Awarded Biomedical Science
Skills
- Multitasking
- Initiative Evaluation
- Microsoft Office
- Teamwork
- Crucial Conversations
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Grant Writing
- Instruction and Coaching
- Relationship building
- Strategic planning
- Verbal and written communication
- Decision-making
- People management
- Project management
- Employee development
- Budget management
Affiliations
Affiliations
- Journal of Teacher Education
- American Association of Blacks in Higher Education
- American Society for Engineering Education
- National Association for Research in Science Teaching
Certification
- Urban Education, University of Houston, 2023
- Essentials of Effective Proposal, American Society for Engineering Education, 2022
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, LinkedIn Learning, 2022
- Entering Mentoring, Rice University, 2018
- Fundamentals of Business Writing, 2017
- Crucial Conversations I & II, Rice University, 2015
- Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification, EdX, 2013
Peer Review Publications
Peer Review Publications
- Henríquez Fernández, C., Barr, C., Antoine, A., Alston, C., & Nichol, C. (2023). Long-Term Impact of Teacher Professional Development on Black Female Students' Engagement in STEM. Journal of STEM Outreach, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v6i1.01
- Crawford, C., & Sundrani, A. (2023). Gun violence and urban education. In C. White, & University of Houston (Eds.), Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education: Framing Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice Education in a Local to Global Context. Information Age Publishing. ISBN 979-8-88730-007-8
- Alston, C., Mirghassemi, F., & Gist, C. D. (2022). A Course in Academic Writing as a Vehicle for Personal Growth and Transformation. Multicultural Perspectives, 24(3), 138-146.https://10.1080/15210960.2022.2127396
4.Crawford, C., Obenland, C., & Nichol, C. (2021). An Analysis of the Effect of Long-Term Professional Development on Teacher Engineering Self-Efficacy and Its Impact on Classroom Instruction. Journal of STEM Outreach, 4(1), 1- 10. https://doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v4i1.01 - Crawford, C. (2020). How to Stop Internalizing Microaggressions. Women in Higher Education, 29(10),6–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/whe.20900
- Antoine, A., Crawford, C., and Nichol, C., (2019) Local High School Students Learn How Computer Science Can Improve Health, Rice At Large, Fall, 40. https://ral.rice.edu/stories/2019/fall/local-high-school-students-learn-howcomputer-science-can-improve-health
- Enemchukwu, C., Crawford, C., Mei, H, Verduzco, R. & C. Nichol, (2019) Designing Polymers to Clean Water -Activity, TeachEngineering.org, University of Colorado Boulder. https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/rice2-2347-polymers-clean-water-design-activity
- Crawford, C. (2019) Bringing Cutting Edge Research into the Classroom, Rice At Large Fall, 40, Online. https://ral.rice.edu/stories/2019/fall/bringing-cutting-edge-research-classroom
- Crawford, C. A., and Nichol, C., (2018) Nanotechnology Scavenger Hunt! - Activity, TeachEngineering.org, University of Colorado Boulder. https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/rice2-2121-nanotechnology-qr-code-scavengerhunt
- Crawford, C. A. (2018). Principles of Biotechnology. Salem Press. ISBN 978-1-68217-678-8
- Crawford, C. A. (2017). Principles of Biology. Salem Press. ISBN 978-1-68217-324-
- Crawford, C., Nevils-Noe, G. & Szymczyk, A. (2014). R-STEM reaches out. Rice at Large, Issue 26, p. 4.
- Crawford, C., Beason-Abmayr, B., Eich, E., Scott, J., & Nichol, C. (2014). Going Viral. The Science Teacher (National Science Teachers Association), 81(6), 51–. https://doi.org/10.2505/4/tst14_081_06_51
Timeline
Director, Colorado Diversity Initiative
University of Colorado Boulder
07.2023 - Current
Associate Director for Equitable Research, Evaluation, and Grant Development
William Marsh Rice University
06.2013 - 06.2023
High School Biology Teacher and Team Lead
Cypress Fairbanks ISD
08.2007 - 07.2012
- Urban Education, University of Houston, 2023
- Essentials of Effective Proposal, American Society for Engineering Education, 2022
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, LinkedIn Learning, 2022
- Entering Mentoring, Rice University, 2018
- Fundamentals of Business Writing, 2017
- Crucial Conversations I & II, Rice University, 2015
- Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification, EdX, 2013
University of Houston
Ph.D. from Education - Curriculum & Instruction
University of Houston
Master of Science from Education - Curriculum & Instruction
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
Bachelor of Science from Biology
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