About me
Dr. Kia Darling-Hammond (she/they) is a phycologist, researcher, educator, and coach, as well as creator of the Bridge to Thriving Framework©, co-author of TheCivil Rights Road to Deeper Learning: Five Essentials for Equity, and co-editor of T*Is for Thriving: Blueprints for Affirming Trans* and Gender Creative Lives and Learning in Schools.
As CEO of Wise Chipmunk LLC, a research and education firm, she leverages over25 years of experience in organizational leadership, education, and youth development to offer research, advising, coaching, and public speaking, as well as designs for professional learning, curriculum development, and organizational growth.
Dr. Kia’s work emphasizes the importance of combining the science of learning and development with healing- and transformative justice to promote an evolution toward true thriving for all. This approach is grounded in the knowledge that innovation driven by the wisdom of those furthest from power is key to improving everyone’s lives.
Dr. Kia has published work in Equity and Excellence in Education, Liberal Education, Nonprofit Quarterly, and The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, and holds service commitments as a member of Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman’s Black Mental Health Brain Trust, as a contributing scholar and advisor to the Sports Equity Lab, and as a member of the Wild Seed Liberation Land Board of Directors. Her contributions to the Congressional Black Caucus’ Suicide Prevention Taskforce supported the advancement of the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act.
