Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons, Ph.D., National Director of the CDF Freedom SchoolsⓇ program
Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons possesses experience in K–12 education, higher education, and nonprofit management. Before assuming the role of national director of the CDF Freedom Schools program, she was an assistant professor of Educational Leadership at Virginia State University. Prior to this role, she served as an assistant clinical professor at Florida State University, a visiting assistant professor at Florida A&M University, and an assistant professor at Tallahassee Community College. In her academic leadership, she has effectively shaped and influenced curriculum, fostered positive academic experiences, and curated high-quality face-to-face and online course work. She also has a breadth of academic leadership focusing on social foundations of education, women’s and gender studies, and distance learning pedagogy. Dr. Clemons is a native of Chicago, Illinois and a graduate of DePaul University, where she earned her B.A. in Women’s Studies and Political Science. She earned her M.A. from Washington State University in American Studies, her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Education-Culture, Curriculum and Change, and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Duke University.
In addition to her extensive experience in academia, Dr. Clemons has also been involved with CDF Freedom Schools programs over the last two decades. Beginning as a Servant Leader Intern, Dr. Clemons went on to serve as the project director and co-founder of the CDF Durham Freedom School site, a CDF Freedom Schools partner at North Carolina Central University. Dr. Clemons also co-founded the CDF Freedom Schools site at Florida A&M University. There, she served as co-executive director and managed the daily operations of three local CDF Freedom Schools sites. Most recently, Dr. Clemons has served as the co-founder and co-executive director of the CDF Freedom Schools site at Virginia State University. Dr. Clemons’ expansive work and leadership within CDF Freedom Schools is supplemented by the historic perspective she cultivated in focusing her doctoral dissertation on the 1964 Freedom Schools movement. Dr. Clemons will act as lead point person for the first week at Haley Farm and help coordinate CDF’s involvement.