Practitioners

Giovanni Dazzo is a doctoral candidate in George Mason University's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), with a primary specialization in research methodology and a secondary emphasis in in peace, rights, and justice studies. Over the last decade, he has worked within human rights nonprofits and federal funding agencies, collaborating with community-based organizations and social movements on the research and evaluation of rights and justice initiatives around the world. He has taught university-level and nonformal education courses in program evaluation, introductory and advanced qualitative methods, and participatory action research. His research interests include understanding the restorative/healing potential for inquiry; utilizing decolonial, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive research methodologies; exploring how minoritized and silenced communities use counternarratives to build collective memory and educational lessons, during and after conflict/war; learning from Indigenous communities to document and abolish oppressive structures while imagining new systems that not only respect justice and rights but are culturally responsive; and understanding how social movement actors learn and apply strategies to advance social justice.

Sharrell Hassell-Goodman is a PhD candidate at George Mason University pursuing a degree in Higher Education with a concentration in Women and Gender Studies and Social Justice. Sharrell is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio earning a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Curriculum Development and a Master of Science in College Student Personnel. Sharrell has taught courses on identity, social justice, career development, leadership, and diversity at George Mason University, Miami University, and The Ohio State University. She served as a student affairs professional in the areas of sorority & fraternity life, residence life, and academic advising. Sharrell has always had a passion for teaching and began her career teaching middle school students in inner city charter schools in Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio. Sharrell has conducted workshop sessions around diversity, equity, and inclusion for current working professionals, college professors, undergraduate college students, sorority and fraternity advisors, and alumni volunteers. Her current research interests are first-generation college students, Black women in higher education, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) pedagogy, anti-racist research approaches, social justice advocates in higher education, identity and leadership, and critical participatory action research.