Cassandra Herring, PhD, founded Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity (BranchED) and serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. She established BranchED as a national nonprofit organization aimed at maximizing programming and driving innovation in preparing highly effective diverse educators for all learners. Dr. Herring’s passion about equity-driven education reform fuels her work. Her career spans all levels of education, with professional experiences in Head Start through higher education and leading state education policy.
BranchED is the first and only nonprofit organization in the nation dedicated to strengthening and growing educator preparation at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), with the larger goals of both diversifying the teaching profession and intentionally addressing critical issues of educational equity for all students. The organization has been recognized as a national Teacher Preparation Transformation Center and as one of the Top 10 Game-Changing Ideas in Education.
Prior to founding BranchED, Dr. Herring served as Dean of the School of Education and Human Development at Hampton University for nearly 10 years. Under her leadership, struggling education programs were transformed, earning state approval and highest commendations by accrediting bodies. She doubled her school’s enrollment through strategic recruitment efforts and secured external resources for student support.
Dr. Herring has served on numerous national and international boards, including the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) Equity and Diversity Committee, the Board of Directors of Data Quality Campaign, the Board of Directors of the international Online Learning Consortium, the External Advisory Committee for the North Carolina Educator Quality Data Dashboard and the advisory board for the Jandris Center for Innovative Higher Education.
Dr. Herring earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Policy from Georgia State University and Master of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.