Tiffany Lachelle Smith, doctoral student in the Comparative and International Development Education program in OLPD, has been awarded the Leadership in Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity (LEID) Fellowship by the University of Minnesota Graduate School. The year-long fellowship honors PhD candidates who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or social justice through scholarly activity and/or climate enhancing initiatives.

The award offers PhD candidates the opportunity to devote full-time effort to write and finalize their dissertations during the fellowship year.

Smith’s dissertation examines teacher turnover through the life histories of African American educators and their subsequent decisions to leave US PK-12 schools for schools in the United Arab Emirates. Her work and research aims to respond to the lack of contemporary studies that investigate migration and mobility through Black subjects; particularly Black subjects who leave developed countries for developing ones.

Smith also publishes a podcast: (A)Broad in Education, which focuses on “Edpats” and their international experiences within education. With nearly 50 episodes and listeners in more than 80 countries, the podcast was recently selected to be part of the Colorcast Podcast Network.