Dana Stachowiak, Ph.D., is an expert in social justice and diversity education and in using literacy best practices to build teacher and student empowerment.  She is currently Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the Watson College of Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She has been a classroom teacher and literacy coach at both the elementary and middle school levels and has been a consultant for both urban and rural school districts.

She is contributing author to a number of publications, including Culturally Affirming Literacy Practices for Urban Elementary Students (edited by Lakia M. Scott and Barbara Purdum-Cassidy); Becoming and Being a Teacher: Confronting Traditional Norms to Create New Democratic Realities (edited by P.L. Thomas); as well as others on social justice issues in education; gender and sexuality; and arts and visual literacies for social justice. Additionally, Dana co-edited a special issue for the International Journal for Critical Pedagogy on teaching social justice in teacher education programs.