FOCUS
Will seeks to create more affirming educational systems for gender-expansive students and students of color. K – 12 school systems (the interconnected network of educational policies, practices, physical spaces, and educators) can have a significant impact on the wellbeing of students. Will’s research explores how school systems, at times, can function as safe havens for students of color and gender-expansive students and, at other times, alienate, retraumatize, and pathologize students and their experiences through racism, cisgenderism, and heterosexism. His research specifically examines how educational leaders (e.g., principals, superintendents, and school board members) navigate complex policy landscapes and lead for gender-expansive students and students of color. Will empowers school communities with the knowledge and tools to create schools with greater racial and gender justice.
MORE ABOUT WILL
Growing up Black, queer, and hard-of-hearing informs Will’s commitment to cultivating racial and gender justice in schools. He leverages his personal background, his professional expertise as a former school counselor, and a human developmental perspective to build cross-sector collaborations, foster systemic change, and humanize education.
