Ben Tellie Email & Phone Number

As President and Principal Consultant at Tellie Collaborative, LLC, I specialize in guiding businesses, organizations, K-12 schools, educational institutions, and individuals through transformative Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), visual arts, and research consulting. My role is dedicated to empowering clients to cultivate inclusive environments and advance educational excellence through targeted strategies and expert guidance. Together, we work to foster environments where diversity is celebrated, equity is upheld, and opportunities for growth and learning abound. I currently work with Dr. Valaida Wise Consulting, where my focus is on resource development, assessment design, data collection, curriculum equity auditing, and focus group and interview facilitation.My current research and scholarly work as a doctoral student at GWU take place in curriculum studies on autobiography, art education, curriculum theory, social trauma, psychoanalysis and education, and emotion and aesthetics. These topics matter to me for a number of reasons. Too often, traditional education and instructional approaches can harm youth in many ways, including marginalizing Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ youth. These educational approaches include excluding or shutting down conversations about race or gender identity, frontal instruction, not addressing mental health or difficult histories and events, limited or no opportunity for self-expression and the expression of emotions, a one-size-fits-all instructional model and many more. As an Visual Art and Graphic Design Educator, I work with many open-ended prompts, choices, and paths for students as they co-construct the curriculum with me, and explore dialogue, reflective writing, and art-making about various topics and projects. My art and design curriculum offers unique opportunities to explore in-depth histories and issues overlooked in education, such as grief and loss, racial oppression, environmental calamity, social justice, and many other topics.Beyond teaching and consulting, I am a husband, father, and dog owner in the vibrant community of Paradise, located in Catonsville, MD, outside of Baltimore city.