➡ Where: University College London (UCL) and Online (Zoom)
➡ Date: Wednesday 24th June 2026
➡ Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm (UK time)
We invite you to the next event from the Gender and Educational Leadership RIG: ‘Disrupting Leadership Discourses’.
To mark the momentous event when one of the GEL RIG Co-Convenors, Professor Victoria Showunmi, is giving her professorial inaugural lecture, we are privileged to be hosting three distinguished colleagues from the USA on our UK soil.
This event is unique in bringing together three distinguished African American colleagues whose scholarship systematically disrupts social injustice in all its shapes and forms, resonating strongly with the objectives of the Gender and Educational Leadership RIG.
We hope you can join us.
Please note, this event is free to BELMAS members and £5.00 for non-members. To ensure you receive your free ticket, please log in on the BELMAS website before booking.
If you pay the non-member fee to attend and then become a BELMAS Member within a month of the event taking place, please let us know and we will refund the £5 fee.
Registration for in person attendance will close at midnight (UK) on Wednesday 17th June 2026. Registration for online attendance will close at midnight (UK) on Monday 22nd June 2026
Professor Victoria Showunmi
University College London
Read more about Professor Victoria Showunmi here.
Dr Mark Anthony Gooden
Christian Johnson Endeavor Professor in Education Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University
Dr. Mark Anthony Gooden’s research focuses broadly on culturally responsive school leadership with specific interests in the principalship, anti-racist leadership, urban educational leadership, and legal issues in education.
Title of talk: Does Culturally Responsive Leadership Speak in a Time of Trouble?
Dr Stephen Hancock
Shirley T. Frye Distinguished Professor of Urban Teacher Education at North Carolina A&T State University, Director of CEEER and ICUE
A former early childhood educator, Dr Stephen Hancock uses critical, qualitative methodologies and justice research to examine race, identity, curriculum trauma, intersectionality, and equity in AI.
Title of talk: Leading in Urban Schools: A Case for Companionate Leadership
Dr Richard Greggory Johnson III
University of San Francisco
Dr Richard Greggory Johnson III is a Tenured Full Professor and past Department Chair in the Department of Public & Nonprofit Administration (PNA), School of Management. He is the author/editor of over twelve books and close to 50 journal articles, and is the co-founder of the International Journal of Disability Policy & Advocacy and he one of the three Founders of JSEPA (Journal of Social Equity in Public Administration) established in 2021. Dr. Johnson holds membership in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and several honor societies including the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Title of talk: Still doing the heavy lifting: Faculty of Color in Higher education during the Trump Administration
Joining instructions will be sent out the day before the event, so please keep an eye on your inbox for these. We look forward to seeing you at the event!
We record our online events for sharing purposes on the BELMAS website and YouTube page. Please tick this box in your registration to acknowledge you are happy for us to record.
The Gender and Educational Leadership Research Interest Group (RIG) hosted an event on Wednesday 24th June 2026, entitled ‘Disrupting Leadership Discourses’.
During the event, GEL RIG Co-Convenor, Victoria Showunmi, gave her professorial inaugural lecture.
We were also joined by three distinguished African American colleagues, Mark Anthony Gooden, Stephen Hancock, and Richard Greggory Johnson III, whose scholarship systematically disrupts social injustice in all its shapes and forms, resonating strongly with the objectives of the Gender and Educational Leadership RIG.
In case you missed the event or would like a recap, you can now watch it in full below.
Our huge thanks to the RIG’s Co-Convenors for organising the event, to Pontso Moorosi for Chairing, to our speakers, Victoria, Mark, Stephen and Richard, for their insightful presentations, and to everyone who joined us. We hope to see you again at the next one.
Professor Victoria Showunmi
University College London
Read more about Professor Victoria Showunmi here.
Dr Mark Anthony Gooden
Christian Johnson Endeavor Professor in Education Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University
Dr. Mark Anthony Gooden’s research focuses broadly on culturally responsive school leadership with specific interests in the principalship, anti-racist leadership, urban educational leadership, and legal issues in education.
Title of talk: Does Culturally Responsive Leadership Speak in a Time of Trouble?
Dr Stephen Hancock
Shirley T. Frye Distinguished Professor of Urban Teacher Education at North Carolina A&T State University, Director of CEEER and ICUE
A former early childhood educator, Dr Stephen Hancock uses critical, qualitative methodologies and justice research to examine race, identity, curriculum trauma, intersectionality, and equity in AI.
Title of talk: Leading in Urban Schools: A Case for Companionate Leadership
Dr Richard Greggory Johnson III
University of San Francisco
Dr Richard Greggory Johnson III is a Tenured Full Professor and past Department Chair in the Department of Public & Nonprofit Administration (PNA), School of Management. He is the author/editor of over twelve books and close to 50 journal articles, and is the co-founder of the International Journal of Disability Policy & Advocacy and he one of the three Founders of JSEPA (Journal of Social Equity in Public Administration) established in 2021. Dr. Johnson holds membership in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and several honor societies including the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Title of talk: Still doing the heavy lifting: Faculty of Color in Higher education during the Trump Administration
