About
First Name:
Last Name:
Title and Organization:
Bio:
Dena Simmons, Ed.D., is the assistant director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI). She received her B.A. from Middlebury College, her M.S.Ed. from Pace University, and her M.A. and Ed.D. from Columbia University, Teachers College. Dena oversees training and education initiatives at YCEI. Prior to her work at YCEI, she served as an educator, teacher educator, diversity trainer, and curriculum developer. Dena's primary research interest focuses on assessing teacher preparedness to address bullying in the K-12 school setting. Dena brings with her a wealth of knowledge on teacher education and pedagogy and has published several popular articles on teacher education, social justice pedagogy, education reform, and bullying. She has been invited to speak nationally, including the White House, SXSW-Ed, United Nations, two TEDx talks, and a TED talk on Broadway. Dena has been profiled in the AOL/PBS project, MAKERS: Women Who Make America, and a Beacon Press Book, Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists. Dena is a recipient of a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a J. William Fulbright Fellowship, a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, an Arthur Vining Davis Fellowship, and a Phillips Exeter Academy Dissertation Fellowship among others. Dena enjoys cooking, practicing yoga, and writing creatively. She is the author of the forthcoming book, White Rules for Black People. Follow Dena on Twitter and Instagram: @DenaSimmons. She is a Fellow of the 22nd class of the Pahara - Aspen Education Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Fellowship Program
Class