I am a secondary school teacher and a higher education lecturer. I deliver continuous professional development training for teachers that is aimed at raising their awareness of the issue of adultification of Black girls within the education system.

My Fellowship is aimed at exploring the strategies that are being used in the USA to address the issue of the adultification of Black girls in state care. My interest in the adultification of Black girls that have had an adverse childhood experience has been inspired by both my personal experience and the high-profile death of Ma'Khia Bryant (a Black girl in state care in the USA) in 2021. My interest in the education attainment levels of children in state care started while I was completing my Postgraduate Certificate in Education in 2016, when I learnt about the alarming 2009 statistic of only 14% of children in state care in England obtaining the equivalent of an A* to C grade in five GCSE subjects (Department for Children Schools and Families, 2009, p.1).

I hope that my Fellowship will enrich the continuous professional development sessions that I give to professionals that work with Black girls in state care.