Shayla Ivezzy
Fellowship Placement: Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District
Shayla Ivezzy (she/her/hers) is an educator and equity advocate with experience in facilitation and outreach, and she is motivated to address inequalities by building coalition and addressing systemic racism in structural and relational ways.
Shayla holds a B.A. in Philosophy (Pre-law) from Spelman College and a M.S. in Educational Studies from Johns Hopkins University. As a first-generation college graduate, Shayla is committed to being a continuous learner and demonstrating to inner-city youth that success is possible, no matter their circumstances.
Shayla’s professional experience began as a Louis Stokes Scholar at the Cleveland Municipal Court, where she collaborated on juvenile diversion programming and was motivated to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline in her community. Shayla later began her work in Cleveland schools as a mentor, tutor, and substitute teacher in 2017 and soon recognized the gross educational disparities and inequities, fueling her decision to go into the classroom full-time. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Shayla joined Teach for America as a 2019 Cleveland Corp Member, and since then, she has taught Special Education in Cleveland schools. Shayla was recently rated as an “Accomplished” teacher and nominated for the Ohio Educator Standards Board for her commitment to collaboration, professionalism, and educator quality.
Shayla is motivated to continue her work in educational equity and systems change and believes that school transformation is possible when a diverse coalition of leaders pursues educational equity for all children. Through BRIGHT, Shayla plans to build her capacity as an educational leader, and she is committed to helping others understand their unique gifts and potential to achieve great things.
On a personal level, Shayla loves to travel, write poetry, and indulge in all the activities of being a sports mom.