Speaker Series: Meet the North Shore’s new NAACP President, Kenann McKenzie-DeFranza

Dr. McKenzie-DeFranza is the Founder of Aspiring Spirit, LLC which includes the well-known podcast, and she also serves as the inaugural Director of the Generous Listening and Dialogue Center, Tufts University.

In her civic life, she is a Rotarian, serves on several non-profit boards, is an elected official on the Beverly Massachusetts School Committee, and now serves as President of the North Shore Branch of the NAACP ‘23-’25.

Her background and expertise include civic engagement research & practice, organizational consulting, PreK-12 schools and higher education professional development on subjects such as educational practices, policy, administration, and leadership. She has authored numerous papers and peer reviewed publications.

At the Federal education level, she served as Executive Director for the National Board of Education Sciences in the US Department of Education for several years during the Obama Administration.

In 2022, she was recognized with the Heroine Award by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Commission on the Status of Women.

Her education includes: a B.A., Cornell University Master of Education (M.Ed.)., University of Virginia, Ph.D., Columbia University, TC Harvard Kennedy School, Nonprofit Leadership certificate & Meditation & Yoga Training/certification.