Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Nao
Hi Kimberly, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am currently a Professor of Education at Mount Saint Mary’s University and an antiracism consultant with Nao & Associates, a consulting firm that I founded in 2021.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. I grew up in the West Adams/Crenshaw area. I went to schools in Westchester when the schools were predominantly white. This taught me about racism, discrimination, and inequality in America. Going to these schools left me starved to know more about my culture and history. I went to UC Berkeley as an undergrad, majoring in African American Studies with a French minor. As a study abroad student, I also studied French and Political Science for year in Lyon, France. My studies focused on Black women writers and Black history of the US and the African diaspora.
After my BA, I became a high school English teacher at Santa Monica High where I revived their African American Literature courses and made them eligible for CSU/UC credit. Those were some of the highlights of my career, teaching Black history and literature to high school students whose thirst for knowledge in an engaged and relevant curriculum enlivened the classroom. Some of my most transformative moments for both my students and myself occurred in English classrooms.
Teaching at the high school level made inspired me to engage in studies that would help me make an impact beyond my classrooms, so I pursued a PhD in Education at UCLA with an emphasis on Urban Schooling. There, my knowledge about inequality became more empirical than experiential as I studied inequalities in schools. Some of this research culminated in a co-authored book entitled Stuck in the Shallow End: Education Race and Computing as well as a dissertation on the experiences of students of color in AP English classrooms.
During graduate school, I returned to Samohi to work as a Student Outreach Specialist where I taught and advised students who struggled in school and created a mentor program for African American student leaders. Eventually, I left the high school when I became a professor at Mount Saint Mary’s University where I am a teacher educator with a strong focus on social justice and equity in school. In my work there, I merged my interest and certification in yoga with my work of schools by implementing yoga in classrooms at the secondary and post-secondary level.
I have been a consultant on race and gender since 2012 first with Peace Pros Los Angeles which was a collective of consultants focused on deconstructing race to prevent violence. We trained police officers, educators, parents, and community leaders. In 2021, I started Nao & Associates when the brutal killing of George Floyd increased the demand for antiracism and diversity equity and inclusion training. I have been able to draw on my experiences as a facilitator, my studies in gender and race, and my passion for social justice into my work as a consultant. I work with organizations to ensure that their policies and practices are equitable and that equity, inclusion, and justice are infused in their day-to-day practices as well as their strategic planning. I educator their workforce on DEI and antiracism principles, and I believe that mindful communication leads to effective learning and social and organizational transformation.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The largest obstacles in life have been at the beginning. I have had to unlearn much of the deficit thinking that was trained into me in schools, the media, and general society around my role in the world as a young black girl growing up. I have faced blatant racism and discrimination both in and outside of institutions of learning.
The second challenge was pursuing my post graduate degrees as a single parent. Through through the practice of yoga and meditation I learned powerful tools of resilience and sustenance. These practices ground me, balance my nervous system, and empower me to continue my own personal growth as I work to change my corner of the world to be more socially just. My son continues to be my inspiration and my teacher.
As you know, we’re big fans of Nao & Associates. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Much of this information is in the first section.
I would like to emphasize in addition to what I wrote previously that we at Nao & Associates provide more than one size fits all workshops with “one and done” topics on issues like implicit bias, microaggressions, and equity in the workplace. We also provide a comprehensive, reflective and reflexive approach to antiracist work. This means that we expect that individuals at all levels of the organizational hierarchy engage in personal and professional self-reflection on their daily practices within their various roles so that they can each work toward equitable and inclusive interactions with each other and with their clientele. My work as a mindfulness facilitator and yoga instructor aid me in remaining empathic and conscientious about how communication unfolds.
We engage in an organizational needs assessment so that leaders and community members can take an appreciative inquiry into both their assets and their areas of growth with regard to equity. We also train community members to facilitate their own dialogue in equity issues and continued work so that they can sustain the work upon our departure.
I am most proud of the space for authentic communication that we provide which allows individuals within the organization to engage with each other openly and honestly and, most importantly, productively so that they can rethink their practices and make the necessary moves toward justice within their organizations and even in their personal lives. We work with organizational leaders in the long term to support their initiatives rather than only training the workforce. We are your action oriented thought partners in the work of antiracism and equity at your organization.
As director of Instructional Leadership, I have instituted a scholarship and an excellence in Black teaching award. I have also founded the Bessie Bruington Burke Black Teacher Network at Mount Saint Mary’s University Education Department. I would love to see more teachers involved! If you know excellent Black equity- and social justice-oriented teachers, please tell me about them!
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My most important teachers and mentors have been those who have trained me in this work both by how they engage in their own professional work and in how they live their lives. These have been primarily Black women with whom I share a vision of social justice and who showed me the way either through direct instruction or by leading through example.
These include:
Dr. Sylvia Rousseau who was the first principal under whom I worked at Santa Monica High and who encouraged me to teach. She also went on to become a professor at both UCLA and USC, and under her guidance and mentorship I learned to always hold the students in mind, to act with integrity–walk the walk–to live what I teach, and to lean on my faith and spirituality when the work is difficult and to guide me when I am uncertain. She taught me that it’s okay to be the “angry Black woman” not as a stereotype, but as one who is unhappy with injustice and who is inspired to make change. Without her I would definitely not be where I am today.
I continue to be inspired by clients with whom I have worked to make their organizations more socially just and equitable and who really take on the work whole heartedly. Three such clients are Elizabeth Forer former CEO of Venice Family Clinic and Nancy Duranteau, Chief Learning Officer in Learning & Organization Development at UCSF, and Muriel Nouwezem, CEO of Saban Community Clinic. Each of these women understand the value of a longterm commitment to the work, bringing everyone along on the journey, and leading with vision and purpose through the process.
I continue to be inspired by the writing of Angela Davis, Alice Walker, and bell hooks who work at the intersection of scholarship and activism.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.naoandassociates.com/
- Other: https://www.msmu.edu/departments/education/graduate-programs/programs-for-experienced-teachers/instructional-leadership/
Image Credits
All photos by Nik Hampshire @nikshotthis https://www.nikhampshire.com/
