Micaela E Stafford

Education

  • Doctor of Education, Art and Art Education, Teachers College, Columbia University‍, (Expected 2029)

  • Master of Arts in Art, Education, and Community Practice, New York University‍, 2025

  • Master of Arts in Teaching, Urban Education and Social Justice, University of San Francisco‍, 2024

  • Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Emphasis in Critical Diversity and Social Justice, University of San Francisco‍, 2019

  • Associates of Arts in Sociology, Folsom Lake College, 2018

Research Interests

  • Murals as sites of memory, resistance, and learning

  • Arts Based Education

  • Public art

  • Abolitionist Teaching

  • Art education as a tool for social justice and critical consciousness

  • Community based and place based learning

  • Identity Centered Pedagogy

Teaching Experience

  • Visual Arts Teacher‍, New York City Public Schools, 2024-present

  • Elementary School Teacher‍, San Francisco Unified School District, 2022-2024

  • Elementary School Teacher‍, Hawaii State Department of Education, 2020-2022

Fellowships

  • Environmental Solutionary Teacher Fellow‍, San Mateo County Office of Education, 2023-2024

  • DWJ Policy Leaders Education Fellow‍, Training Institute for Leadership Enrichment (TILE) / Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), 2022

  • Social and Environmental Justice Fellow‍, National Equal Justice Association, 2019

  • Pell University Fellow‍, JFCS Holocaust Center, 2018-2019

Grants

  • Diversity, Community, and Social Justice Committee Micro-grant, Art & Humanities Department, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2026

Scholarships & Awards

  • TC Changemaker Award, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2026

  • Study Abroad Scholarship, Center for African Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2026

  • Innovating Education Scholarship, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2025

  • Rayburn Clark Scholarship, New York University, 2024

  • Global Study Scholarship, New York University, 2024

  • O’Shea Foundation Endowment Professional Leadership Scholarship, University of San Francisco, 2023 & 2024

  • Golden State Teacher Grant, California Student Aid Commission, 2022

  • Corps Member Scholarship/Award, Teach For America (Hawaii), 2020

  • P. Gmelch Endowment Scholarship, University of San Francisco, 2019

  • USF Academic Scholarship, University of San Francisco, 2018 & 2019

  • Bernard Oscar Scholarship, Folsom Lake College, 2018

  • California Retired Teachers Association Scholarship, California Retired Teachers Association, 2018

  • Selected Speaker, Celebration of Excellence and Achievement for Students of African Descent, Los Rios Community College District, 2018

Certifications

  • Visual Arts Teaching Credential, New York State Education Department

  • Childhood Education Teaching Credential, New York State Education Department

  • Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing

  • Project-Based Learning Certificate, PBL Works

  • CPR Certification