CARE-Ed - Leadership

CARE-ED, the California Alliance of Researchers for Equity in Education, is a statewide collaborative of educational scholars committed to equity, democracy, and justice. Our goal is to speak collectively and publicly to reframe conversations about education and advocate for equity and justice in policy and practice. CARE-ED was founded in 2016, and as of 2025 has approximately 600 members. Recent members of the CARE-Ed Steering Committee and leadership team include:

Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath, University of San Francisco, CARE-Ed Executive Director (2024-present)
Margarita Ines Berta-Ávila, Sacramento State University
Brian Charest, University of Redlands
Alison G. Dover, California State University, Fullerton
Annamarie Francois, University of California, Los Angeles
Nick Henning, California State University Fullerton
Kevin Kumashiro, Independent Scholar
Christine Sleeter, Professor Emertia, California State University Monterey Bay
Miguel Zavala, University of California Riverside

We profile CARE-Ed board members in our monthly newsletter. See below for recent member spotlights, and click here to join our mailing list.

Dr. Margarita Inés Berta-Ávila

Board Member, CARE-ED | President, California Faculty Association | Professor of Education, Sacramento State University

Dr. Margarita Inés Berta-Ávila is a union organizer with the California Faculty Association (CFA), where she holds the position of President, and is a Professor of Education at Sacramento State University. She is active in testifying at the state's capitol, organizing on campus, in the community, and statewide regarding access, equity, and justice in education for Ethnic Studies, bilingual education, BIPOC students, undocumented students/families, and other marginalized communities. Margarita pursues scholarly work in the areas of participatory action research, critical pedagogy, critical race theory, anti-racism/social justice education, and Chicana/o/x educators in the field.

As a board member of CARE-ED, Margarita is proud of the three-pronged approach the collective has taken to move critical initiatives forward: (1) on-the-ground coalition building and organizing; (2) research dissemination — encompassing briefs, fact sheets, and more; and (3) legislative work, be it testifying at capitol hearings or helping move and sponsor legislation. She believes strongly that the latter allows members of CARE-ED to engage in ways that uplift their expertise, skill set, and conviction for equity and social justice. Moreover, given the current political climate, she affirms the importance of engaging as Scholar Activists.

Articles:

Agarwal-Rangnath, R., & Berta-Ávila, M. (2026). California Alliance of Researchers for Equity in Education (CARE-ED). In Kumashiro, K. (Ed.), Collectives and the Commons: The Role of Educational Scholars in Movement Building for Justice.
Berta-Ávila, M. (2023). Significance of a Race-based Approach to Teacher Mobilization. In Darder, A., Hayes II, C., & Ryan, H. (Eds.), On Class, Race, and Educational Reform: Contested Perspectives. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Berta-Ávila, M., Rivera, M., Ayala, J., & Cammarota, J. (2021). Living Praxes and Principles in PAR EntreMundos. In Cammarota, J. (Ed.), Liberatory Practices for Learning: Dismantling Social Inequality and Individualism with Ancient Wisdom. Palgrave Macmillan.

Books:

Ayala, J., Cammarota, J., Berta-Ávila, M., Rivera, M., Rodriguez, L., & Torre, M. (Eds.). (2018). PAR EntreMundos: A Pedagogy of the Américas. New York: Peter Lang.
Berta-Ávila, M., Tijerina-Revilla, A., & Figueroa, J. (Eds.). (2011). Marching Students: Chicana/o Identity and the Politics of Education — 1968 and the Present. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press.

Dr. Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath

Executive Director, CARE-ED | Associate Professor, University of San Francisco

Dr. Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath is Associate Professor of Teacher Education at the University of San Francisco, where her research centers on critical literacy, social studies, Ethnic Studies, and justice-oriented learning and teaching in elementary education. In the classroom, she is deeply committed to centering Ethnic Studies and humanizing practices in teacher preparation.

As Executive Director of CARE-ED, Dr. Agarwal-Rangnath is most proud of the ways we have organized to speak collectively and publicly, engaging in coalition building with communities, policy-makers, educators, unions, and organizations to advance equity and justice in education. Under her leadership, CARE-ED has lobbied at the state level for key initiatives including Ethnic Studies and ending high-stakes testing in teacher credentialing, and produced a growing body of research briefs, newsletters, fact sheets, open letters, academic papers, webinars, and petitions.

Books by Dr. Agarwal-Rangnath:

Planting the Seeds of Equity: Ethnic Studies and Social Justice in the K–2 Classroom
Social Studies, Literacy, and Social Justice in the Elementary Classroom: A Guide for Teachers
Preparing Teachers to Teach Social Studies for Social Justice: Becoming a Renegade
California Alliance of Researchers for Equity in Education CARE-ED: Advancing Equity Through Coalition and Organizing (co-authored with Dr. Margarita Berta-Avila)

Journal Article: Identifying the Invisible Barriers to Diversifying the Teacher Pipeline: Dismantling Racialized Gatekeepers in Teacher Education

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