Countering PUSHOUT Series: Skills to Support Black Girls 2023

Monique Couvson, EdD, Author/President & CEO, Grantmakers for Girls of Color
Monique Couvson, Ed.D. (she/her), is an award-winning author and social justice scholar with three decades of experience in the areas of education, civil rights, juvenile and criminal justice. She envisions a world in which all girls and gender-expansive youth of color are healthy, safe, thriving, and fully empowered to dream and shape their desired reality on their terms, while dismantling structural barriers created by racism, sexism and ageism, and other forms of oppression that prevent their healthy development. Her research intersects race, gender, education and justice to explore the ways in which Black communities, and other communities of color, are uniquely affected by social policies.

Dr. Couvson is an Executive Producer and co-writer of the documentary film, PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, which is based upon two of her books, Sing A Rhythm, Dance A Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls (The New Press, 2019) and Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (The New Press, 2016). She has authored books, dozens of articles, book chapters, and other publications on social justice issues, and lectured widely on research, policies, and practices associated with improving juvenile/criminal justice, educational, and socioeconomic conditions for girls and women of color. Her 2018 TED talk(nearly 2 million views) on ending the criminalization of Black girls in schools has been translated into 18 languages.

A former educator, researcher and scholar-advocate, Dr. Couvson has worked in partnership with and served as a consultant for federal, state and county agencies, national academic and research institutions, and communities throughout the nation to develop research, comprehensive approaches and training curricula to eliminate racial/ethnic and gender disparities in justice and educational systems. Her work in this area has informed legislation, and the development and implementation of improved culturally competent and gender-responsive continua of services for youth.

Dr. Couvson’s work has been profiled across a spectrum of national and local print, radio and television media, including by MSNBC, CSPAN2, The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, and PBS., among other national and local print, radio, and television media. Her research intersects race, gender, education and justice to explore the ways in which Black communities, and other communities of color, are uniquely affected by social policies. She also frequently lectures on the life and legacy of the artist Prince.

Tyffani Monford Dent, PhD, Author/psychologist
Dr. Tyffani Monford Dent is a licensed psychologist, trainer, and author. Her primary areas of interests are sexual violence prevention and intervention on the continuum, the role of intersectionality in the lives of Black and Brown girls/women, racial trauma & radical healing, social justice work within the mental health profession, culturally informed work with those within the juvenile justice and Child Welfare systems, and diversity, equity, inclusion practices within nonprofit organizations. She has been featured on local and national news programs addressing the importance of emotional wellness in Black communities, mental health in times of national crisis, and the school-to-prison pipeline’s impact on Black Girls. She is a former recipient of the Visionary Voice Award by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, has been recognized by Who’s Who In Black Cleveland twice, is a 2022 Career Mastered Emerging Leader Honoree,  as well as being deemed a Radical Truthteller by the Truth Telling Project in Ferguson, Missouri.

Dr. Dent is the author of four books: Girls Got Issues: A Woman’s Guide to Self-discovery & Healing,  Black Girl: Unapologetically, Reclaiming Me: Beginning My Journey to Overcoming Human Trafficking, and You Got This! A Girl’s Guide to Growing Up and the co-author of two others: Becoming Who I Want to Be: A Good Lives Workbook for Young Women and its accompanying Counselor’s Edition.  In addition, she has developed two curricula focused on the needs of Black women survivors of sexual assault, both available from the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence: Safe Space: Support Group Curriculum for Black Women Survivors of Sexual Assault, and Sisters of Tamar Support Circle Guide. 

Dr. Dent is the Owner of Monford Dent Consulting & Psychological Services, LLC through which she provides ongoing mental health consultation, trainings, and assessments. In 2020, she co-founded Centering Sisters, LLC, an organization dedicated to projects that center the needs of Black Women, Girls, and Femmes.

Thalia González, Senior Scholar, Center on Poverty and Inequality, Georgetown University Law Center
Thalia González is an Associate Professor (Politics Science) at Occidental College and Senior Scholar at Georgetown Law (Center on Poverty and Inequality). At Georgetown Law she leads national research on restorative justice outcomes, implementation, practice, and policy. She is a nationally recognized expert in the field of restorative justice whose cross-disciplinary work focuses on civil and human rights, the school-to-prison pipeline, race, gender, and inequality, and juvenile justice. On these topics, she conducts research, publishes articles and reports, and provides guidance to policymakers, educators, lawyers, and advocates at the local and national level. She is a frequent expert speaker at conferences and commentator on law and policy. Her research has been featured on NPR, in the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and Ed Week. Professor González has published in leading law reviews and peer-reviewed journals, including Contemporary Justice Review, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, Ecology Law Quarterly, Fordham Urban Law Journal, Journal of Law and Education, and New York University Review of Law & Social Change.