Boston University

Bank Street College of Education

Director, Research and Development at Facing History and Ourselves

I am the founding Director of Re-Imagining Migration. Our mission is to ensure that all young people grow up understanding migration as a shared condition of our past, present, and future in order to develop the knowledge, empathy, and mindsets that sustain inclusive and welcoming communities.

We live in an era of mass migration. Young people – whether they are part of an arriving or receiving culture – strive to form their identities as learners, community members, and change-makers in the context of this global phenomenon. We are catalyzing a community of educational leaders and social organizations around making migration a part of their curriculum and culture so that all students can feel supported in their social, emotional, academic, and civic growth.

Re-Imagining Migration

Executive Director

My work is focused on bridging insights about history, identity and belonging, bias and human behavior from the academic world to teachers, students, and the broader public. Day to day activities includes community outreach, conducting face to face and online professional development for educators, participation in academic conferences as well as speaking to the broader public. I oversee the Facing History and Ourselves Board of Scholars which includes developing relationships with academics and subject matter experts to ensure the quality and relevance of our work and developing partnerships to extend our organization's reach. As part of my work translating scholarship for the classroom, I was the Executive Producer of over 50 mini-documentaries and short films for the digital revision of Facing History and Ourselves resource Holocaust and Human Behavior. Current areas of focus include civic education in the digital world, news literacy, and immigration. In my role, I serve as a member of the Massachusetts Task Force on Civic Engagement and Learning. In February 2017 I was a featured speaker at the Learn Launch Across Boundaries Conference which brings together an edtech community interested in driving innovation to transform learning and increase achievement using digital technologies.

Recent projects include work with the News Literacy Project, The Institute for Globalization, Immigration, and Education at the University of California Los Angeles, Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Listenwise, the USC Shoah Visual History Foundation, the Youth and Participatory Politics Action Frame, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston where I organized and facilitated several public programs to compliment "Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross."

Facing History and Ourselves

Director of Scholarship and Innovation

As a member of Facing History and Ourselves leadership team, I developed the content strategy that enhanced our reputation for courageous educational programming. Worked with our development staff to steward donors, develop proposals, secure funding and cultivate support for our work. Initiated the curation and digitization of over 35 years of Facing History content and developed the content plan for Facing History and Ourselves' digital revision of Holocaust and Human Behavior as well as the development of several transformational print and digital educational resources including Teaching Mockingbird, a resource guide for Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird,  The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy, and The Nanjing Atrocities: Crimes of War.

Planned and chaired professional conferences with scholars, educators and thought leaders on a wide variety of subject areas at the intersection of history and human behavior. Presented at several seminars and educational institutions including New York University, Harvard University's Advanced Leadership Institute and served on the faculty of Project Zero's "Future of Learning" conference.

Chief Officer for Content and Innovation

I led the internal team that wrote, edited and oversaw the development resources used by tens of thousands of educators and millions of students around the world. I was the editorial lead on several key film projects including  the landmark civil rights series Eyes on the Prize. I worked with our editorial staff to create and facilitate online and face to face professional development based on those resources and led workshops and seminars in the United States and Europe.  Managed several key projects including:

Civic Dilemmas in a Changing World: a collection of groundbreaking print and multimedia resources for educators exploring issues of religion, migration and belonging in our changing world.

The Making History Series: a series of three case studies illustrating the way individuals and groups can make a positive difference in society.

Led professional development seminars for educators in the US and abroad, including presentations for the American Academy of Religion, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, New York University, and the White House. Participant in a U.S. Department of State discussion on the role of education in teaching about issues of religion, migration, and belonging.

Before Facing History hired a Director of Communications, I led the team that planned and executed our organization's social media strategy.

Director of Research and Development

Worked with organizational leadership and Facing History's newly formed program technology team to develop new resources and online professional development. I was part of the team that developed  Facing History's first international online course and facilitated the course as well.  In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, I led a multiyear project exploring religion, violence, and peacemaking that culminated in the development of a series of resources for the classroom and several online learning experiences for educators. I also served as the primary researcher and writer for Facing History's resource book Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians.

Writer and Editor

Worked with public, parochial, and independent school teachers, first in New York and later in New England, on implementing Facing History and Ourselves content and methodology in the classroom. Responsibilities included curriculum planning with individual teachers and teams, meeting and presenting to school administrators, teaching model lessons in schools, planning and facilitating professional development, and interacting with scholars and museum professionals in key areas of Facing History and Ourselves' work.

Program Associate

I coordinated activities for the New York office of Facing History and Ourselves. Duties included scheduling meetings with educators, logistical administration for workshops and seminars, as well as curating a city-wide student art exhibition called "A Rage to Heal" which was displayed at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York.

Program Assistant

I ran public programming, gave tours, and educational lectures on immigration and the history of New York's Lower East Side to school groups and thousands of visitors.

Adam Strom