Sandra Kalu brings over 5 years of experience as a social worker in private, public, and the non profit sectors. She has supported marginalized individuals in increasing their social power and resisting systemically oppressive practices and policies. She has also partnered with leaders and practitioners to develop culturally-responsive practices and programs to promote socio-emotional skill development among children and adults alike. She is known for her unwavering commitment to equity, social justice, and empowerment, and for leveraging her commitment to effectively advocate on the behalf of those who are often silenced, marginalized, and overlooked. 

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Prior to co-founding Planting SEEDS, Sandra served as a Community Psychiatric Treatment Worker, constructing holistic systems of support for disadvantaged children. These systems of support included alliances between children, families, schools, and communities to promote positive development among children. In this position, she also created the organization's initial evaluation program, designed to inform the CEO, board members, and other stakeholders of individuals' progress and outcomes. This program helped to lead future program enhancement and development, and fund allocation. Sandra presently serves as Community Education Specialist with the Black Child Development Institute-Atlanta, in which she plans, moderates, and facilitates various trainings for educators, practitioners, administrators, and leaders who work with Black children. She also founded Black Girls Achieve PhDs, a non profit organization focused on improving the academic experiences of Black girls and women, and increasing the number of Black women with terminal degrees.

 

Sandra received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 2013. She then obtained her Masters of Social Work from The Ohio State University in May 2017. Currently, Sandra is a social work doctoral candidate at the University of Houston. In her research, she focuses on examining, advocating, and intervening to promote educational equity for Black students. Specifically, her research seeks to investigate gendered racial bias within education (system and structure), and to examine protective factors. She aims to construct a critical social theory that explains the process of academic success among Black women and girls, with hopes to expand this research to support other marginalized groups. Sandra uses her research expertise and her previous experience to guide her practice in ensuring that all people are given equitable opportunity to achieve academic success and positive life outcomes.

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