The People

Richard N Rhodes | Brand & Operations Director
Richard is the Chief Executive and Creative Officer of RNR Creative Enterprises and Founder of The Collective Social Enterprises. He has more than 20 years of experience creating, developing, and implementing brands and integrated strategic communications to advance organizational identity.

Antwan Jefferson | Editor in Chief & Executive Director
Husband of a DPS principal. Father of two DPS-enrolled students. Former DPS teacher. Nearly 20-year Denver resident. Clinical Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Relations (HDFR) in the School of Education and Human Development at CU Denver. Founder of Denver Journal of Education and Community. DJEC Editor in Chief.

Shanta Johnson | Editorial Board Member
Mother of DPS middle schooler. Raised in APS. Former DPS educator for seven years. Former ECE Educator for over 15 years. Survivor and thriver over homelessness with a Masters of Educational Administrative Leadership. Director of Family and Community Vitality for Adams County Housing Authority.

Spencer Childress | Editorial Director
Dr. Childress has worked in public education for ten years, including eight in his current role as a school counselor. He finished his dissertation on ethnic-racial socialization in school settings in May of 2021. He believes in an education that centers on community, dignity, and love. He is a lover of books, basketball, and music.

Ali Monroe Larson | Editorial Board Member
Ali Larson currently serves as a Family and Community Liaison in Denver Public Schools. She has a background in government, politics, and education, with a passion for community activism. She served on the Washington, DC staff of a US Senator before returning to Denver to work for a philanthropic organization whose interests included issues from early childhood education to recovery from substance abuse. She went on to receive her teaching license through the University of Colorado at Denver’s Graduate Urban Community Teacher Education Program and taught social studies to students in Adams 12 Five Star Schools. 

Elijah Huff | Editorial Board Member

Elijah Huff was born and raised in the Five Points community in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Manual High School before earning his bachelor’s degree at Fort Lewis College. Elijah was led to community work after the passing of a close friend due to gang violence during his freshman year of college. His desire to be a mentor who could help youth avoid the same fate led him to the education sector. Elijah serves as a College Advisor for the College Access Program at Bruce Randolph High School. He also serves as a street team member for Ednium: The Alumni Collective. Everyday he looks forward to helping youth use education to help them discover their inner brilliance and life purpose. In his free time he enjoys watching sports and coaching boys high school sports.

Lameese Makkawi | Editorial Board Member

Lameese Makkawi (She/Her) is a community leader and activist from Aurora, Colorado. She was a part of both her school and district’s student advisory boards. As well as founder and president of her school’s Racial Equity club. She was also a co-chair for our past annual Youth Celebrate Diversity conference along with more. She has fought for equity and inclusion since she could remember and has never been scared to be challenged by the adults in her life when it came to rejecting respectability politics. She believes each and every person should never be robbed of a right to be their authentic selves. She is now attending university and figuring out what career she’d like to pursue by learning about all aspects of social change and inclusion.

Allan Tellis | Chief Writer
Reporter covering issues of social equity and a doctoral candidate studying radical black politics—also an amateur food, music, and sports critic.