Maria Gadsden is a 2026–2027 Teach Plus California Policy Fellow and SANKOFA lead teacher at Hunt Elementary School in San Bernardino, California, providing leadership in culturally responsive teaching that affirms Black history, culture, and identity. She is also an adjunct professor at California State University, San Bernardino. Maria’s prior roles include master classroom teacher, community school teacher on special assignment, principal designee, and student success instructional facilitator. She was Granite Hill Elementary School’s Elementary Teacher of the Year (2009), a National Endowment for the Humanities Scholar for Saipan’s Land and Sea (2026), and a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms participant (2026–2027). Maria holds a BS from California State University (CSU), Fullerton, MA and PhD in education from Claremont Graduate University, and MA in educational administration from CSU San Bernardino, and is pursuing an MA in reading and literacy at CSU Fresno.
