About Dr. Fadeyibi
Dr. Olufemi Fadeyibi leads change within schools. For the past 19 years, Dr. Fadeyibi has worked in both urban and suburban schools. As a school administrator, he has led schools to the highest growth in two critical metrics in the School District of Philadelphia:
- During the 2016-2017 school year, he led his school site to a 16.2 percentage point increase in the English Language Arts section (ELA) of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), making the school the top performer out of 243 schools within the School District of Philadelphia for total percentage point growth in the ELA section of the PSSA.
- During the 2021-2022 school year, he led his school’s 9th Grade Academy to the largest gain in the School District of Philadelphia with a 26.0 percentage point gain of freshman On-Track students. As the data was disaggregated, his school had the highest growth of On-Track students for Black and Latino males within the entire School District of Philadelphia.
Dr. Fadeyibi is also involved in action research; his passion and expertise focus on ways to help all students, specifically Black and Latino male students, improve their academic outcomes and realize their potential. He writes to strengthen educational leaders’ understanding of how to empower marginalized students to realize potential. As founder and CEO of the UpliftEducate Mentoring Program, Dr. Fadeyibi has observed firsthand how mentored students thrive in almost every academic outcome when mentored correctly. For 10 years, his mentoring program has been implemented in both charter and public schools in Philadelphia. In these schools, increased student outcomes have included statistically significant gains in GPA, academic self-competency, and possible future selves. While the mentoring program is uniquely created for Black and Latino males, males of all races have benefited from attendance in the program.
Most recently, Dr. Fadeyibi has completed a student-facing 25-lesson graphic workbook, journal, and facilitator’s guide (an offshoot from his dissertation) entitled “Donovan’s World.” The workbook highlights the contributions of Black and Latino men to United States society while uncovering the negative messages in society that influence Black and Latino boys to think that they are academically inferior to other groups. The workbook is designed to strengthen the academic confidence of our youth, help them overcome stereotypes and avoid situations that lead to violence and early death.
Dr. Fadeyibi has a Bachelor of Science degree in English and Education, a Master of Education degree in Urban Education, and a Doctor of Education degree in Policy and Organizational Leadership—all from Temple University. His dissertation focused on evaluating and creating high-leverage in-school mentoring interventions that improve the academic outcomes for adolescent Black boys.
About Joel R. Gaines
Joel R. Gaines is a strong advocate for education and community reform that centers around justice and shalom for all. As an author, administrator, mentor, educational consultant, superintendent, and a lifelong learner, he is passionate about seeing communities flourish economically, academically, emotionally, and spiritually. Joel’s experience in education spans over 20 years and includes serving in both urban and suburban contexts, as well as both private, charter and public schools. This diverse experience has uniquely equipped him to lead boards, teachers, students, parents and community stakeholders within a myriad of different educational settings. Currently in his role as executive director of the Hope Center he is preparing to merge education, social services, organizational leadership and a new non profit start-up together for the benefit of all people throughout Philadelphia.
About Tyrone “Ty” Johnson
Tyrone “Ty” Johnson is an educator and program leader whose career spans classroom teaching, school leadership, nonprofit school improvement, and higher education. He has held leadership roles at Penn GSE supporting teacher development and strengthening professional learning systems across Philadelphia. A proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Ty mentors youth — particularly males across Greater Philadelphia and beyond — through Uplift Educate, helping young men build scholarly identity, reject stereotypes, and choose life over violence.
He brings empathy and authenticity to this work, drawing on his own journey from the streets of Jersey City to studying at top institutions and living abroad.
Ty now contributes to education and certification programs at Swarthmore College, guiding future educators as they connect theory, practice, and community engagement. His earlier experience includes teaching Special Education, serving as a school leader, and coaching educators nationally. An endurance athlete, Ty brings the discipline, resilience, and intentionality of training into his mentoring and leadership with young men, modeling what it means to pursue excellence with purpose and integrity.
About Jeffers. D. Loperbey
Throughout his career, Jeffers has held a wide range of positions and roles, including a primary and secondary teacher for over 25 years having constructed and implemented gender-based curriculum that addresses the physiological, social differences, and pedagogical methods by which boys learn. Jeffers has developed and instructed specialized training curriculum in health, defense tactics and crisis intervention for law enforcement personnel. As part of a nationally known boys’ inner-city project, Jeffers was a program coordinator instructing at-risk youth in career, life management, social emotional learning, and cultural awareness.
While serving as the Dean of Students, Jeffers managed and implemented a restorative justice model with over 400 high school students and implemented school culture initiatives and extra-curricular activities for high school students utilizing management strategies and best practices to sustain a cooperative learning environment.
His passionate commitment to build communities and to help students realize that a strong sense of personal identity and the pursuit of excellence is vital to discovering a “sense of purpose” and being a productive global citizen.