The doctoral journey; support structures for women of color S1E2
Special guest spotlight:
Dr. Nakisha Castillo’s roots stem from her Jamaican and Filipino heritage.
She is an educator and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.
Not only is Dr. Castillo a self-described “survivor of a doctorate degree,” she sought mentorship throughout that process.
She now pays it forward by mentoring.
She fondly remembers one of her mentors telling her “your current experiences and trials will prepare you for the future.“
Dr. Castillo strives to mentor others through their own trails — being a student and beyond the gates of the education system.
Dr. Tamara J. Frazier has boasted more than 23 years in the field of Education, in which 20 of those years were with Riverside Unified School District.
She currently teaches in Special Education, working with students with emotional and behavior challenges.
She also serves as the Black Student Union Advisor, the Coordinator of the J W North High School HBCU Influencer team and the HBCU Tour Lead coordinator.
In recognition of her tireless commitment to the youth, Dr. Frazier was honored as the 2015 Citizen of Year Award Recipient by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the 2017 Riverside Unified School District Site and District Teacher of the year, and was also honored in 2019 as the 61st Assembly District’s Teacher of the year by Jose Medina.
To learn more about her research, you can find her Dissertation entitled “The Voices of African American Female First-Generation College Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities” on the web.
Dr. Mallanie Harris began her journey in education nearly 23 years ago as a middle school teacher and now serves as a middle school principal.
She is quite the chameleon and is often described as too busy balancing her career, financial services business, involvement in her sorority and women’s group.
She notes that “her passions are her faith, family and friends…ok, and fashion, but people who really know her knows she truly wants to see everyone she comes into contact with to win.”