Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul
is the founder of Red Clay Educators. Her research and work stem from an unyielding commitment to anti-bias and antiracist pedagogy and practices. Sonja leads professional development with educators around the world spotlighting the relationship between teaching, literacy, and equity. She supports educators in developing the capacity and will to continually examine themselves and to critically inquire into their own practices.
In the world of professional development, Sonja is unique. As a former middle school classroom teacher for twenty-years, she recognizes the common and local challenges that educators face. She also understands kids, specifically, how to use asset-based pedagogies that honor their identities and support their individual needs. Further, Sonja knows what it takes to forge relationships with caregivers and communities in order to cultivate trusting learning environments where all students thrive. Sonja’s expertise is in using her scholarship to develop curricula that advances the work of antiracism in all aspects of schooling. She spotlights and centers issues related to race and racism, providing faculty and staff with the language and tools to facilitate transformational conversations and instruction with students about race.
Sonja leads professional development for classroom teachers, coaches, and administrators and guides the development of culturally responsive and antiracist teaching and curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students. She is the host of The Black Creators Series, a collaboration with Candlewick Press, where she leads educator-focused discussions and highlights the powerful ways the work of Black authors and illustrators can live in classrooms. Sonja is the co-founder of the Institute for Racial Equity in Literacy, an annual institute that provides professional development that supports educators around the globe in using their power and position to transform systems including individual classrooms, districts, and communities. Sonja has been the Director of Diversity and Equity at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. And as Senior Advisor of the Heinemann Fellows, Sonja supported an accomplished group of educators as they engaged in individual action research that addressed pressing issues and challenges in the field of education.
Sonja has adapted the #1 New York Times Best Seller Stamped (For Kids), published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, which has earned starred reviews by Kirkus and School Library Journal, and was selected as one of the best nonfiction/informational books of 2021 by Parents Magazine, School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, and the Chicago Public Library. Stamped (For Kids) was selected by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) as a 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. She is the co-author of four books published by Heinemann: Teaching Interpretation: Using Text-Based Evidence to Construct Meaning (2014), Flip Your Writing Workshop: A Blended Learning Approach (2016), Breathing New Life into Book Clubs: A Practical Guide for Teachers (2019) and Critical Literacy: Unlocking Contemporary Fiction (2020).
Sonja is a frequent keynote speaker and presenter at national and international conferences.