Kiarra Ambrose (She/Her)
Leadership Education Lead || Core Team
Kiarra Ambrose is a mother, educator, and dancer native to Detroit, who values creativity, curiosity, community and God as a presence. She spent the early part of her career as a high school math teacher, dance coach. She later transitioned to a math training and support coordinator where she coached classroom teachers. She first attended PIE’s RIDA Institute in 2017, where she began the journey to embody the essence of teaching the whole human being. She believes every experience is an opportunity to learn and she strives to create brave spaces for humans to explore what it means to learn as a human while being in community. Kiarra has worked with PIE as a facilitation fellow since 2020 and now leads PIE’s Leader Education work.
Cyrah Dardas (They/them)
Art Education Lead || Core Team
Cyrah Dardas ( They/them) is a Queer, ecological, intuitive artist and care worker living in Detroit /Waawiyaatanong MI. Dardas uses their art practice as a tool in remembering the forgotten networks between humans and the earth for the purpose of regulation and healing across species to restore a collective ecological body and heal. Their practice is deeply rooted in process + ritualizes art making as a tool for personal and collective liberation. Cyrah joined PIE as a teaching artist in 2018 and has led PIE’s Art Education work since 2020.
José Rivas (He/Him)
Teacher Education Lead || Core Team
Jose is a father, educator, and writer from Detroit. For over 15 years he has sought to foster deeper connections for young people and educators to engage in intentional personal growth in mathematics classrooms and creative learning spaces. As a Detroiter, José has spent his career realizing educational spaces that support young people in answering the question “How do I become more myself?” Asking the same of himself and those that hold space with him. José has been a part of several Rida Institute since 2018 and now leads PIE’s Teacher Education work.
Nathaniel Mullen (He/Him)
Special Advisor
Nate Mullen is a parent, artist, educator and facilitator born in Detroit and shaped by a close knit creole family and public school. His work is shaped by his work as and with young people in classrooms and under trees. Nate’s work thrives at the intersection of art, education and people. For over ten years, he has worked with youth and adults to develop learning spaces that move us all towards wholeness. Nate joined Allied Media Projects in 2011 as part of the founding team of Detroit Future Schools. Nate served as the Director from 2014 until 2019, and under his leadership the organization rebranded to People In Education in 2017. He is now supporting PIE’s work as a Special Advisor. You can learn more about her here.
Siobhan O’Laoire (She/Her)
Radical Wellness Facilitator
Siobhan served as PIE’s Director from September 2019 until 2022, as the organization's third director. She loves working at the intersection of youth development, education and social justice. Prior to this role, she served as a program officer for The Skillman Foundation and as an evaluation and learning fellow with the Council of Michigan Foundations. Additionally, she's held a variety of roles in the social sector, ranging from conducting early childhood research to working as a summer camp counselor. She has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in social work and education from Michigan State University. She is a lover of yoga, cooking, and keeping up on the latest research on the science of learning. You can learn more about her here.
Sheena Crenshaw (She/Her)
Facilitation Fellow
Sheena was born and raised in Philly and it was there that she developed a commitment to educational justice. She arrived in Detroit several years ago to teach high school English, where her practice as an educator was truly transformed through working with teaching artists and staff at People in Education. In her words, it felt like a calling to make change through collective work and community, and she’s done this as an organizer formally and informally over the years, both in and outside the classroom. Along the way, she also added on cherished identity-- mom, to a wonderfully bright and brilliant six-year-old. Sheena is also a member of the PIE Advisory Board.
PIE Advisory Board
Ever Bussey
Ever Bussey is a researcher and media maker in the city of Detroit. Ever is one of the founding youth of People in Education’s Out of School Project, where they worked with a team of youth and artists to investigate and develop solutions for big picture issues facing Detroit's school system. Ever is currently studying the ins and outs of digital fabrication and the beginning of the third digital revolution at the Detroit based fab lab Incite Focus. They are also a newly-enrolled grad student at the New School in New York where they are working toward a Master's in Media Studies.
Bobby Colombo
Bobby Colombo is a practicing artist trained as an educator, with extensive experience in classroom arts integration. Working mostly within the realms of digital media, Bobby has collaborated on films, music videos, podcasts, original songs, participatory action research and countless other project models with youth of all ages, bridging content with themes of social justice and humanizing schooling. He has also spent three years as a teaching artist with People in Education.
Sheena Crenshaw
Sheena Crenshaw was born and raised in Philly and it was there that she developed a commitment to educational justice. She arrived in Detroit several years ago to teach high school English, where her practice as an educator was truly transformed through working with teaching artists and staff at People in Education. In her words, it felt like a calling to make change through collective work and community, and she’s done this as an organizer formally and informally over the years, both in and outside the classroom. Along the way, she also added on cherished identity-- mom, to a wonderfully bright and brilliant six-year-old
Jim Dwyer
Jim Dwyer is a Latin teacher at a Catholic high school in Southwest Detroit. He has been a participant in People in Education’s Rida Institute for several years. Accordingly, he uses creativity, curiosity and reflection to create humanizing classrooms, also modeling them after his own favorite teacher.
Allie Gross
Allie Gross is a reporter for the Detroit Free Press and former teacher with People in Education. Her work has also appeared in Jacobin, VICE, Slate, GOOD, The Atlantic, FiveThirtyEight and Mother Jones. Prior to pursuing a career in journalism, Allie worked as a 5th-grade teacher in Detroit, where she co-founded Detroit Charter Data, a website aiming to bring accountability, transparency, and coherence to the city’s education landscape.