MnEEP’s 2024 Ron McKinley Award Winners

Each year, MnEEP identifies and confers a Ron McKinley, All My Relations- Equity in Action Award to true warriors for racial justice and education equity who work to impact systems, structures, and cultures to undo systemic racism and colonial settler harm in education.

Ron was a proud American Indian and MnEEP’s founder in the late 1980s. He spent his career advancing educational opportunities for Indigenous, Black, brown, and Asian students. He believed in cross-racial/cultural collective action and solidarity.

“All My Relations” is a powerful expression used by the many nations of American Indians to express the interconnectedness and oneness of humanity.

These awardees are people who have been driven by a desire to transcend their immediate community of people to connect with others different from themselves in creating an education reality that provides for equitable and quality opportunities for all people.

MnEEP is excited to honor our award winners at our annual event, Wayfinding Together, on December 18th!

Register now to join us for this inspiring event where we will honor these esteemed race equity leaders and deepen our connections and collaborations for advancing racial equity in education in Minnesota.

Suzan Ahmed Samaha

Suzan Ahmed Samaha (she/her) is a Muslim, Egyptian, Arab- American Woman of Color. She is a proud daughter to Amal Said and Ahmed Samaha. She is the eldest of four siblings. As a child, she enjoyed playing teacher with her siblings and younger cousins. She has a K-12 teaching license in ESL and Arabic. She received her Master’s Degree in Education, Administrative K-12 License and is currently a PhD Student in the department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development (OLPD) at the University of Minnesota. 

Suzan is the Assistant Director of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Center and Supervisor of the Safe and Supportive Schools Team at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). She has spent 14 years in education working across various districts and a charter school including MPS, SPPS, Osseo, and Fridley. She believes in Leading With Your Heart and honoring the humanity and dignity of each person.

As a lifelong learner, she is intentional about learning from elders and young people. She is on a journey of healing and liberation and practices these ways by volunteering in community, being present across multi-diverse spaces and prayer. She is mostly proud to be a mother of her daughter Maya, as she has been her greatest gift and light in life.

Dr. Nicola Alexander

Nicola A. Alexander is associate dean for undergraduate education, diversity, and international initiatives in the College of Education and Human Development and professor of education policy and leadership in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota. Her formal educational background is in public administration and policy, and her dissertation won the 1999 American Education Finance Association Jean Flanigan Dissertation Award. She is particularly interested in issues of adequacy, equity, and productivity as they relate to PK-12 education. Her interests and expertise focus on fairness and organizational capacity. She was honored with the Friend of Public Education award by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts.

In her current role as associate dean, Dr. Alexander has the privilege of overseeing the Common Ground Consortium (CGC), a program established in 1989 to form a consortium with Historically Black colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The primary purpose of CGC was to provide for the recruitment of Black graduate education students and to support them through their advanced academic journey. That support entailed financial assistance, as well as community support during their graduate studies, including regular check-ins and assistance with professional development. The program has since evolved to meet the needs of our time. Dr. Alexander also sits on the steering committee of Black Men Teach (BMT).

Dr. Alexander is a former board member of the American Education Finance Association and has served as a past president of the National Education Finance Academy. She was an associate editor of the Journal of Leadership in Education and has published articles and presented on issues of adequacy, equity, and productivity as they relate to PK-12 education.

Her publications include book chapters, monographs, and journal articles, including in American Educational Research Journal, Educational Policy, Journal of School Business Management, and Journal of Education Finance. She is the author of the text, Policy analysis for educational leaders: A step-by-step approach.

Dr. Sandy Pulles

Dr. Sandy Morán Pulles (she/her/ella) is deeply committed to advancing racial equity and inclusion work across education systems. She began her career as a school psychologist in the Osseo Area Schools, and wanted to have a larger systems impact in education. Dr. Pulles led design the Math Corps curriculum and coaching framework, an AmeriCorps program supporting K-8th grade students develop math skills needed for high school graduation. Since developing the program, Math Corps has reached over 63,000 students across 6 states and millions of dollars in state funding.

In her current role at ServeMinnesota, she serves as the Chief Impact Officer overseeing the research and expansion of AmeriCorps programming ensuring that programming needs are resulting in high-quality and equitable outcomes for students.

She also has partnered with local organizations such as the Minnesota Alliance with Youth and Ampact to launch Youth Mental Health Corps, an initiative with 50 youth serving 500+ students to address chronic absenteeism, social/emotional engagement, and support youth navigating substance use disorder. Dr. Pulles is currently working on creating a teacher apprenticeship through AmeriCorps designed to recruit and retain teachers of color across the state of Minnesota.

Prior to joining the MnEEP Board, Dr. Pulles served as Co-Chair for the College Race Equity Advisory Committee where she worked with community members and higher education leaders to develop policies that remove financial aid barriers and increase student support. As the first in her family to obtain her bachelor’s degree, she remains deeply committed to advancing access to high quality education, from early childhood services through higher education pathways with a focus on students of color and American Indian students. She is a proud Puerto Rican and so proud to share her vibrant Boricua culture. She is truly honored to receive this award.

Jesus Gonzalez

Jesus Gonzalez, a senior finance student at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, proudly calls the neighborhood of East 

Phillips in Minneapolis his home. Inspired by his mom, teachers, mentors, and friends, Jesus has embraced advocacy and leadership, serving in the past as Concordia’s Student Body President, President of the Latinx Organization for Achievement, and founder of the Tri-College Alliance of Latinos Conference, which celebrates culture and fosters Latino leadership in Fargo-Moorhead.

Believing that education can transform a person’s life, he has partnered with the Minnesota Private College Council, testifying and advocating for programs like the Minnesota State Grant and Promise Equalization Scholarship to improve access to higher education. In his final year of undergrad, he leads a student organization focused on building the career readiness of his peers at Concordia.

Beyond campus, Jesus is a member of the College Race Equity Advocacy Advisory Council (CREAAC), where he works to amplify student voices. He’s also a member of C.A.S.A., a Moorhead-based Latino non-profit, co-chairing a professional development group and supporting fellow leaders.

Nate Smith

Nate Smith is an Anishinaabeg Ojibwe community leader enrolled with Miskwaabikaang, the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, from his fathers side, and a descendant of Zagaakwaandagowininiwag, the Bois Forte Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, from his mothers side.  Nate is Bear clan, Mukwa dodem, a traditional medicine gatherer for his community whose spirit name is Mino Animikiikaa, meaning Good Thunder.  Nate is the proud father of two children, ages 12 and 14 and expecting a third child in the beginning of January 2025.

Nate is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth and serves as the Education Equity Coordinator for the Duluth Public School District, leading the implementation of Achievement and Integration programming in the Duluth community.  With the support of Nate’s leadership and partnership with internal and community partners, including MnEEP, the Duluth Public School district recently led a historic professional development day on equity, inclusion and indigenous education for 1,800 staff, the district’s first ever required inclusion training for all staff. 

Nate serves on the executive board of Minnesota’s largest NAACP, where they have successfully advocated for policy changes, including ending pretextual stops in Duluth.  Nate is also a current and founding board member of Ignite, Empower, Transform, a 501c3 nonprofit organization deeply committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive community by operating from a profound commitment to provide comprehensive social, entrepreneurial and cultural support in the upper midwest region.  

Nate is an administrator with the Men of Color Group, sits on the board for Great Lakes Aquarium, UMD CITS Advisory Board, American Indian Parent Advisory Committee, American Indian Title VI Committee, and leads the Education Equity Advisory Committee, amongst many other services for the community.

Jason Marque Sole

Jason Marque Sole (he,they) is a formerly incarcerated abolitionist. He has been a criminal justice educator for 15 years and is currently an adjunct professor at Hamline University in the Criminal Justice & Forensic Science Department. He has facilitated hundreds of circles in jails, prisons, and communities across the nation. 

Jason is also the co-founder of the Humanize My Hoodie Movement in which he challenges threat perceptions of Black people through clothing, art exhibitions, documentary screenings, and workshops.

In addition, he is a Core Member of Relationships Evolving Possibilities (REP) where several abolitionists respond to community harms in the Twin Cities.