Dr. Toshiba Adams is a professor, researcher and leader in the field of early education with more than two decades of experience in higher education and workforce development. She currently serves as a Professor of Early Childhood Education at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. At these institutions, she teaches courses in child development, valuing diversity, educational policy and urban education.

 

Dr. Adams began her journey in the field as the co-owner of a Milwaukee-based, NAEYC-accredited early education program, which she operated with her parents between 1997 and 2006. Located on Milwaukee’s northwest side, the program offered a culturally responsive and family-centered learning environment that served the educational needs of children and families in the community.

 

In 2022, Dr. Adams founded Sankofa Consulting & Training, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the workforce needs of early educators and the state leaders who serve them. Through Sankofa, she leads qualitative research studies, provides professional development and offers technical assistance to inform equity-centered policies and practices across states.

 

Her research explores the intersections of race, gender and labor within the early education workforce, examining how historical systems of colonization, racial capitalism and policy inequities continue to shape educators’ lived experiences. Guided by Black Feminist Thought (BFT), Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and community-based participatory approaches, Dr. Adams centers the voices and expertise of early educators - particularly Black women - to transform systems and advance racial and social justice in early education.