Kristal Moore Clemons

Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons comes to CDF with experience across K-12 education, higher education, and non-profit management. Previously, she was an assistant professor of Educational Leadership in the Department of Educational Leadership at Virginia State University who. 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.

In addition to her extensive experience in academia, Dr. Clemons has also been involved with CDF Freedom Schools 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 Durham Freedom School, a CDF Freedom Schools partner at North Carolina Central University. Dr. Clemons also co-founded the North Florida Freedom School, a CDF Freedom Schools partner at Florida A&M University. There she served as Co-Executive Director and managed the daily operations of three local Freedom School sites. Most recently, Dr. Clemons has served as the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Virginia State University Freedom School. Dr. Clemons’ expansive work and leadership within Freedom Schools is supplemented by the historic perspective she cultivated in focusing her doctoral dissertation on the 1964 Freedom Schools movement.

Dr. Clemons is a native of Chicago, Illinois and a graduate of DePaul University having earned her B.A. in Women’s Studies and Political Science. She earned an M.A. from Washington State University in American Studies, her PhD 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. She and her partner reside in Virginia with their children.