2026 Diversity Leadership Academy Members Announced
Arlington, Va., December 9, 2025 - The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is pleased to announce the 2026 cohort of the Diversity Leadership Academy. The Diversity Leadership Academy is a substantive professional development program designed for special education professionals committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the field.
Members of the 2026-2027 CEC’s Diversity Leadership Academy (DLA) are now part of a talented and diverse cohort of CEC members representing schools and universities who share a commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the field of special education. The DLA offers scholars the opportunity to attend quarterly virtual professional development programs, network, and benefit from mentorship. Each DLA scholar will receive one year of professional membership in CEC and the Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (DDEL), as well as funding to attend the 2026 CEC Convention & Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This group includes educators, consultants, and doctoral candidates from a range of educational roles, including teaching and coordinating special education programs, and providing expertise in reading and language acquisition, autism, and social work. They span a wide geographic area across the United States.
2026-2027 CEC Diversity Leadership Academy Members
| Alexis Patterson M.Ed. | Lansing, MI Doctoral Student, Michigan State University |
| Aryanne Young, Ed.D | Lanham, MD Language Acquisition/Special Education/Reading Specialist, D.C. Public Schools |
| Charles Snow, MA | Inglewood, CA Inclusive Education Coordinator, Bright Star Public Schools |
| David Johnny, Ed.D | Atlanta, GA Special Education Teacher, Cobb County School District |
| Dottie Vea, MS, M.Ed. | Salt Lake City, UT Special Education Teacher, Salt Lake City School District |
| Fang Xu, Ph.D. | Toppenish, WA Assistant Professor, Heritage University |
| Nikita Bates, M.A.T. | Lithia, FL Special Education Teacher, Hillsborough County Public Schools Clinical Intern Supervisor at University of South Florida |
| Reynafe N. Aniga, M.Ed., BCBA | Las Vegas, NV BCBA, Las Vegas; Research Associate, UNLV |
| Ruby (Roxanne) Humphris, M.Ed. | State College, PA Doctoral Candidate, Pennsylvania State University |
| Shameka Morris, LCSW-R, MS.Ed | Bronx, NY School Social Worker, New York City Public Schools |
| Tony Jackson, M.S. Ed, M.Ed. | Las Vegas, NV Special Education Teacher, Clark County School District, and Doctoral Student, University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
| Yunxuan Sun, M.Ed. | Madison, WI Doctoral Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison |