Pacific Resources for Education and Learning

Sharon Nelson-Barber, EdD is Pacific Resources for Education and Learning's newly elected President & CEO for PREL. For the last 12 years Dr. Nelson-Barber directed WestEd's Center for the Study of Culture and Language in Education. She was also a lecturer in Stanford University's Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, teaching Native American studies and cultural and social anthropology. She is active in major organizations and meetings in anthropology and education and serves on a number of national advisory boards. She holds a doctorate in human development from Harvard University.

She combines expertise in qualitative research and culturally competent assessment and evaluation with years of experience providing equity assistance to schools, organizations, and service agencies serving diverse communities. A particular focus of hers is cultural issues in the teaching and learning of mathematics and science. Among her extensive publications, she is co-editor and contributor to the 2009 book titled, Culturally Responsive Mathematics Education.

Dr. Nelson-Barber is a sociolinguist with ample experience in the Pacific. Her work explores ways in which teachers can more effectively teach the full spectrum of students in today's classrooms. It centers, in particular, on the teaching knowledge and abilities of educators in nontraditional contexts, spanning indigenous settings in the lower 48 states, Alaska, the northern Pacific Islands of Micronesia, and many areas of Polynesia. She is co-founder of Pacific/Polar Opportunities to Learn, Advance and Research Indigenous Systems (POLARIS), a research and development network that encourages social and educational transformation.

Mr. Dumas oversees the CLT, which offers high-quality programs and services designed to assist education professionals and communities create conditions in which all learners can succeed and develop the knowledge and skills necessary to lead productive, healthy lives. He holds an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction and has worked in the Pacific for over 30 years. Mr. Dumas has held a variety of positions during his 16 years at PREL, including Director of the Pacific Mathematics and Science Regional Consortium and Director of the Pacific Comprehensive Assistance Center.