Meet Dr. Flake

I am a nationally recognized scholar in mathematics and STEM education, equity, and teacher preparation. My research examines how educational systems shape participation, power, and belonging in mathematics and STEM learning and leadership environments. My work is designed to support every learner, educator, and leader.

With over 25 years in the education community, I have served as a mathematics and science educator, school and district instructional leader, and higher education faculty member and program director. In addition to my expertise in cultural identity and equity, I am a strategic leader who has designed and led multiple large-scale initiatives focused on instructional improvement, educator development, and organizational change.

My work began in K–12 classrooms and educator preparation programs. Today, I shape how institutions design learning, leadership, and teacher preparation across local and national contexts.

I have led and launched educator preparation programs across multiple states, supported districts and institutions of higher education in rethinking mathematics and STEM learning through cultural identity, and partnered with national organizations to advance belonging and agency as design priorities, not add-ons.

Institutions work with me when they are ready to move beyond equity language and toward systems that actually function for students and educators.

My Approach

Efforts to improve inclusion in STEM education often focus on representation, access, or isolated instructional strategies without addressing how cultural identity is understood, valued, and enacted within systems. When identity is treated as peripheral rather than foundational, belonging remains fragile and agency unevenly distributed.

Sustainable change in STEM education requires moving beyond surface-level inclusion toward systems that recognize cultural identity as central to how learning communities function.

Areas of Expertise

I empower K-12 schools, districts, institutions of higher education, and organizations to center a research-based model in learning and leadership to advance every learner.
I work with universities and school districts from strategic planning through the implementation of educator preparation programs, including alternative-route and apprenticeship models.
I partner with educators and leaders to design mathematics and STEM professional learning experiences that are accessible and responsive to the needs of all learners.
I support K–12 and higher education leaders in advancing more humanizing leadership practices that align instructional priorities, professional learning, and institutional structures with the needs of learners and educators.