Ayanna Taylor, Ed.D, Mpa, Shrm-Scp is a Chief Growth Officer at GirlTREK. She possess expertise in teaching, tutoring, staff development, program development, classroom and 34 more skills. Colleagues describe her as "I highly recommend Ayanna and her team at Access Education Advisors. The team was so helpful and effective in delivering a timely and beneficial strategic plan for our newly formed organization. This critical time in the life of our organization was greatly benefited by their level of knowledge, understanding of the communities we want to serve and engage, and professionalism. I particularly appreciated their collaborative approach and willingness to create material for me and my team to react to while also providing helpful resources during the strategic planning process.", "Ayanna was one of my most gracious and patient professors at NYU. She was such an amazing professor who provided me with the skills to be a phenomenal educator. I could still reach out to her even after grad school to get insight on best practices with students. I am still forever grateful for having her as a resource and professor. Thank you for all your hard work and service !", and "In August of 2012, I embarked on my journey as an English and Language Arts teacher right after college. I was placed in a newer charter school in Newark, New Jersey through the Teach for America program where I received a variety of supports. However, the most important factor in my growth as a new educator was the coaching I received from Ms. Ayanna Taylor from 2012 to 2014. Ms. Taylor observed my instruction multiple times a month and provided me with live feedback and a debrief after each observation. Her feedback was always bite-sized and actionable but incredibly impactful in the long-term and helped propel me on my path as a hopeful life-long educator. One specific piece of feedback Ms. Taylor provided me with early on in my career was around lowering my register during specific moments of instruction to force students to listen to me as opposed to fighting for their attention and speaking at a louder register. This helped me develop my "quiet power,"and this is a technique that I still use today and practice with the teachers I coach. Ms. Taylor's feedback was not only geared toward management but also rigor which is something I struggled with as a new teacher who had to create lesson plans from scratch. To assist me in writing stronger lesson plans that increased the quality of thinking my students had to do, Ms. Taylor provided me and the rest of the English and Language Department at my placement school with professional development sessions tied to questioning/checks for understanding. This session completely transformed the way I viewed teaching. Prior to this session, I had the erroneous belief that kids were learning if I was talking. After that session with Ms. Taylor, I finally understood that student learning happens when they have to answer rigorous questions and that good teaching is essentially good questioning. I am now in my 5th year as an English and Language Arts teacher and Instructional Leader, and I am eternally grateful for the coaching I received from Ms. Taylor early on my career. Without her guidance, experience and profound wisdom as an educator, I am not sure I would still be in this profession today."