Dr. Janice A. Byrd-Badjie (she/her), a native of rural South Carolina, is an assistant professor in the counselor education program at the Pennsylvania State University. She earned her Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision from the University of Iowa and an M.Ed. in counselor education (K-12 school counseling) from South Carolina State University. Dr. Byrd-Badjie has previous experience as a school counselor, career counselor, teaching in secondary settings and serving as a university-wide DEI affiliate. As a community-engaged, critical qualitative researcher, Dr. Byrd- Badjie’s areas of expertise include: (1) policies and practices that influence the development and social determinants of health of Black girls/women in educational settings; (2) college and career readiness (at the intersections of identities); and (3) research and teaching in counselor education and supervision. She has been nationally recognized for her scholarship, teaching, and service, and her work appears in various peer-reviewed journals, such as Review of Educational Research; Counselor Education and Supervision; Professional School Counseling; and Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Dr. Byrd-Badjie was bestowed The Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development’s 2022 Young Emerging Leader award, the 2022 AERA Review of Research Award for an article in the Review of Educational Research (e.g., the number one education journal in the world), and the 2023 Outstanding Junior Researcher award within the College of Education at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. serves as the Program Chair (2021-24) for the Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in Education special interest group within the American Education Research Association, the DEI Member-at-Large for the Association for Counselor Education & Supervision, and is the co-chair of the Advocacy Interest Network within the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) for three years.