Partners

The Doctorate in Educational Leadership at Sacramento State presents the Torchbearers series in partnership with: Sacramento State College of Education and the Multicultural Center at Sacramento State.

Participant Highlights

“The exposure because I'm also trying to obtain my doctoral degree and having an early exposure to what it takes to obtain one gives me the tools and the insights. Adding, knowing that Sac State and Coordinators (Cathy) are willing to help me achieve my educational goals by exposing me to events such as this one, creates a "Si Se Puede" (Dolores Huerta) mindset.”

“I enjoyed hearing the information these women who hold doctorates where able to share. I felt they were an inspiration to me. I enjoy getting to know how they got to where they are. It was empowering to see two high achieving women of color.”

Torchbearers Series Upcoming Dates & Times

• October 10, 2024, from 12PM-1:30PM
• February 6, 2025, from 12PM-1:30PM
• April 17, 2025, from 12PM-1:30PM

FEB 6 | Dr. Cassandra Henderson & Dr. Jenni Murphy

Dr. Cassandra Henderson

Dr. Cassandra Henderson is a dedicated advocate for justice and equity, deeply believing that a robust education is a fundamental civil right. Her research focuses on affordable housing, education policy, achievement, and wealth disparities, culminating in her award-winning dissertation, Priced Out of Opportunity: Investigating the Impact of California's Housing Burden on School Segregation and Black Student Achievement. As the Chief Operating Officer at Child Action, Incorporated, Dr. Henderson leads efforts to subsidize childcare for low-income families, license childcare providers, and deliver services that aim to lift children out of poverty.

With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Henderson is an equity-minded, solutions-driven leader known for implementing transformative strategies in workplace environments, engaging diverse stakeholders, and building community partnerships. Her leadership has been instrumental in developing the first early childhood formative teaching performance assessment in California and co-authoring the PreKindergarten-3rd grade Teaching Performance Expectations, which continue to shape the educational landscape. Dr. Henderson's journey is one of resilience, overcoming challenges related to race and gender, and her commitment to lifelong learning is unwavering. Returning to academia in her forties to earn her doctorate profoundly changed her, reinforcing her belief that it's never too late to pursue a dream or reinvent oneself.

Through her speaking engagements, Dr. Henderson inspires others to make meaningful impacts in their communities and to embrace leadership roles, regardless of their starting point. Looking ahead, Dr. Henderson aspires to empower businesses to hire and evaluate staff constructively, fostering environments of trust and equity. Her vision includes coaching workers to recognize their leadership potential and guiding organizations toward sustainable growth and fair compensation practices.

Dr. Jenni Murphy

With 30 plus years in a variety of industry sectors, Dr. Jenni Murphy spent the past 23 years at Sacramento State. As a scholarly practitioner, she works at the intersection of higher education, workforce development, and community impact. She applies her professional background, personal characteristics, and academic training to build and implement strategies that move organizations and communities forward.

Dr. Jenni’s policy and practice research focuses on state and institutional policies impacting the shortage of postsecondary completions and degree attainment in California. In addition to her role as dean for the college of continuing education, she also serves as the Sr. Innovation Fellow for Workforce and Education Partnerships. As a Sr. Fellow, she is responsible for establishing models to develop, implement, and foster strategic partnerships, alliances, and programs. She works across the university as a member of the President’s Council and the Academic Affairs Leadership Team.

Dr. Jenni currently serves as the Regional Cabinet Chair for the Online and Professional Education Association, is a previous commissioner for the CSU Commission on Professional and Continuing Education, a board member for Impact Foundry, and is the past board chair for Girl Scouts Heart of Central California. She is a recipient of the Chester A. Newland Academic Excellence Award from the American Society for Public Administration, the Edward M. McAleer Jr. Excellence and Innovation Award from the California State University, the Distinguished Service Alumni Award from Sacramento State, and was also recognized in the Sacramento Business Journal’s 2020 cohort of Women Who Mean Business.

Dr. Jenni earned a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Sacramento State, a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a baccalaureate degree in Communication from Arizona State University.

OCT 10 | Dr. Wicondra Stovall & Dr Prisila Isais

OCT 10 | Dr. Wicondra Stovall & Dr Prisila Isais

Dr. Wicondra Stovall
Dr. Wicondra Stovall is a proud wife and mother of three and completed her dissertation on othermothering as a framework for cultural brokering for Black students and families. While enrolled as a doctoral student at Sacramento State, she transitioned careers from a private school principal to launching Just Like a Mom in July of 2019. The work was designed to combat the Black teacher deficit gap, the Black student achievement gap and to create a place of belonging for Black students and their families at school, and is still active today. Dr. Stovall has collaborated with Berkeley Unified School District, Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, Twin Rivers Unified School District, Sac City Unified School District and San Francisco Unified School District. She is most passionate about maximizing the essence of how Black women in education have historically and intrinsically tended to the needs Black students, and how these efforts enhance the academic experience for Black students and consequentially, everyone. Dr. Stovall is a children’s book author and wrote My Schools Moms which calendars her personal experience with women in education who 'mothered' her at school from PK through obtaining her first college degree. The book is available on Amazon. She also co-wrote Repairing the Fractures: Steps Forward in Building Bridges Across the Racial Divide which is published in the International Journal of Psychological Studies. Lastly, Dr. Stovall is also a Community Schools Coordinator within San Francisco Unified School District where she approaches the work from an othermothering lens. She serves the Bayview Hunter’s Point community professionally and in ministry alongside her husband, the minister of the Bayview Church of Christ.

Dr. Prisila Isais
Prisila Isais was born and raised in Sacramento, Ca. Proud of her Mexican roots and proud of her Sacramento community. For the past 10 years, Prisila has served the community through home visitation programs, empowerment workshops and through various in-person events. In her current role, she supports families in becoming advocates in their children’s education and achieving their educational goals. Prisila’s parents migrated from Zacatecas, Mexico in search of opportunities for the children they would later have. Regardless of various challenges and with support from her parents, Prisila completed her undergraduate degree at UC Davis and completed graduate level work at California State University, Sacramento. Prisila’s research interests include Latinx parent/family engagement, in particular Latina immigrant mother’s engagement and leadership development.

APR 18 | Dr. Derek Bradley & Dr. Margaret Hwang

APR 18 | Dr. Derek Bradley & Dr. Margaret Hwang

Dr. Derek Bradley

Derek Bradley is a first-generation college graduate from San Bernardino, CA. One thing about Derek, you will always see him either smiling or laughing, he has an infectious smile. Derek currently serves as the Interim Director of Belonging Education and Support. In this role, Derek ensures our campus promotes and fosters an inclusive and welcoming environment where all identities and cultures feel they belong and have agency at Sac State. Derek focuses his research around using Hip-Hop as an empowerment model to close the opportunity gap for Black males attending Historically White Institutions.

Dr. Margaret Hwang

Margaret Hwang has 18 years of experience within higher education. In her current capacity as the Chief of Operations for Administration and Business Affairs (ABA) at Sacramento State, she works in tandem with the Vice President for Administration/CFO and the ABA leadership team where she manages and implements strategic initiatives, develops leadership communications, and oversees the operational rhythms within the ABA division. Margaret also works closely with other campus colleagues to support several university-wide responsibilities including upkeep of the University Policy Manual and Records Management Program. Margaret is three time graduate of Sacramento State, obtaining a undergraduate degree in business administration, an MBA, and a doctorate in educational leadership. Her research pursuits explore the career paths of Asian American leaders within higher education.

Watch the Torchbearers Series Video with Dr. Bradley & Dr. Hwang

FEB 8 | Dr. David Gutierrez and Dr. Ashleigh Pane

FEB 8 | Dr. David Gutierrez and Dr. Ashleigh Pane

Dr. David Gutierrez

Dr. David Gutierrez has been a principal and educator for over 15 years. He is a bilingual educator whose doctoral research focused on the role of Xicanx 'torchbearers' in education. He recently received his EdD and is an instructor at Sacramento State teaching courses such as multicultural counseling and providing Trauma Informed Peer Support for the Center for Social Resilience.

His work effectively transforming school climate and culture in some of the most underperforming schools in California has set a foundation for his work advocating for trauma-informed practices in schools with a focus on equity and community collaboration.

Dr. Ashleigh Pane

Dr. Ashleigh Pane, a devoted member of the Hornet community, boasts a comprehensive academic background, having obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree, Master's in Curriculum and Instruction, and Doctorate in Educational Leadership, all from Sacramento State. Her doctoral research was centered on investigating the determinants influencing the text selection practices of high school educators, with a particular focus on determining the underpinnings behind the underrepresentation of certain demographic groups among the authors selected, as compared to the student population in California.

With a career spanning 17 years, Dr. Pane has devoted 15 of those years to teaching eighth-grade English and AVID. Presently, she teaches high school English in West Sacramento. Driven by a commitment to fostering an inclusive learning environment, her overarching goal is to cultivate a classroom atmosphere wherein each student experiences a sense of value, support, and resonance within the curriculum.

OCT 12 | Dr. Isabel Acosta and Dr. Konstantina Caster

OCT 12 | Dr. Isabel Acosta and Dr. Konstantina Caster

Dr. Isabel Acosta

Dr. Isabel Acosta, an English Learner and a first generation college graduate is the eldest of six children. She has Mexican roots and is a proud Chicana. She grew up in Chico, Ca working with her parents in their family business, a taco truck. Out of high school, she attended Butte Community College to pursue her EMT certification and begin working on her general education. At the age of 21, she married her boyfriend of 4 years, Ismael, and moved to Sacramento. Once married, She took time off school and was hired full-time as a clerk in the Department of Student Services in the now Twin Rivers Unified School District where she has dedicated the last 19 years of her career. There, two of her supervisors saw her potential and encouraged her to return to school to become a teacher. At the age of 23, as a wife and a mother of a toddler, Dr. Acosta returned to school and attended American River College where she earned her Associates. Dr. Acosta transferred to Sac State while continuing to work full time. Over the span from 2008 to 2020, she earned 3 degrees and two credentials. She earned a Bachelor of the Arts in Spanish with a minor in Education, a Teaching Single-Subject credential with a Bilingual Authorization, a Master of Arts in Multicultural Education, an Administrative Services Credential, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy, all from California State University, Sacramento. She was the first doctoral student to take on another full time program in order to obtain her administrative credential, which began the conversation of creating a reasonable pathway for doctoral students to obtain their Admin credential. Today, Dr. Acosta is 19 years happy with her husband Ismael and is the proud mother of 18-year-old Isaiah and 11-year-old Isaac. She is currently a TK-8 Principal in the same district where she was encouraged to start her teaching career. Her doctorate has opened other doors for her as well. She uses her principal lens to develop future administrators and future teachers at Sac State. She is a single subject supervisor in the Teaching Credential program and is a Lecturer, Supervisor and an Advisory Board member of the graduate TK-12 Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Program. Her research and contributing publications focus on various leadership styles, social dominance, Impostor Phenomenon, racial micro-aggressions in the workforce among women with higher education degrees, and the resilience of Torchbearers. Dr. Acosta’s journey has not been easy and has made it her mission to be her family’s social capital, and the Community Cultural Wealth for others. The following is Dr. Acosta’s quote about her place in the world:

“I am empowered to continue to thrive, to take my torch, and to relentlessly, unapologetically, take my place, be heard, and academically and professionally reproduce female leaders so to

Dr. Konstantina Caster

I was born and raised in Athens, Greece where I completed a bachelor's degree in Education. My pursue for graduate studies brought me in Sac State, where I completed a master's degree in Special Education and later my Ed Specialist teaching credentials. For the last 22 years I have been serving San Juan Unified School District as a special education teacher, new-teacher support provider, as well as an administrator. My research area involves developing new teacher support systems that could increase retention in schools serving students from underprivileged backgrounds.

About The Multi-Cultural Center

At the Multi-Cultural Center, their mission is to foster an empowered campus that is committed to building bridges, promoting social justice, honoring diverse perspectives, and advancing social awareness and cross-cultural understanding.

Learn More About the Multi-Cultural Center