Meet the owner: Jen Brooks
Jennifer N. Brooks is former 8th grade history and ELA teacher. She is currently working as an assistant professor in the College of Education at Illinois State University. She holds a Master's in Education, Policy, Organization and Leadership and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Literacy, Language and Culture at the University of Illinois Chicago
She is the co-founder of Project S.E.E. (Students Entering Education); a teacher of Color Recruitment Program that utilizes a mentorship model encouraging Black and Brown elementary students to become educators.
Most recently she is a 2022 Illinois Teacher of the Year - Early Career Educator of Excellence recipient, a YWCA Woman of Distinction (2021); and chair of the Obama Literacy Fund for the Illinois Reading Council.
Most recently she is a 2022 Illinois Teacher of the Year - Early Career Educator of Excellence recipient, a YWCA Woman of Distinction (2021); and chair of the Obama Literacy Fund for the Illinois Reading Council.
Brooks has contributed and authored work pertaining to issues in education and literacy. Publications include: Why doesn’t anyone want to teach us?: Concerns of teaching urban Students published with NCUR, Montana State University in January of 2022, Turning white: Co-opting a profession through the myth of progress, an intersectional historical perspective of Brown v. Board of Education in Educational Considerations (June, 2019), followed by Mentoring
the Mentor Mentoring the mentor: Celebrating the intersection of learning together, a reciprocal journey written with Dr. Jennifer Martin.
the Mentor Mentoring the mentor: Celebrating the intersection of learning together, a reciprocal journey written with Dr. Jennifer Martin.
Conference presentations have included: The Joy of Representation: Celebrating Identity and Equity for Readers through The Ages with Dr. Julie Hoffman and Melissa Wheeler with the Illinois Reading Council and Where did all the Black Teacher Go? With Brandon Thornton at the Future Teacher
Conference.
Conference.
Jen is also one third of The Collective Curates, the team responsible for hosting over 30 Black Authors at the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture. Her team is also the power force behind Black book tours that have led celebrity clientele to the New York Times Best selling list.
For booking rates and inquiries please email jen@asebookboutique.com
