Who is Courtney Bell-Duncan?
Dr. Courtney Bell-Duncan is 1 of 4 children born onto astounding mother and matriarch Tosha Bell-Wooten. She is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Courtney S. Bell Consulting LLC and works to co-create educational equity solutions with Pre-K-12 educational institutions.
Courtney was raised in the Sumner Neighborhood of North Minneapolis. Growing up on the Northside of Minneapolis afforded her the opportunity to attend North Community High School. In the fall of 2007, Courtney went on to attend the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities as a first-generation college student. Courtney completed her B.A in the Sociology of Law, Criminology, and Deviance in 2011 and went on to become an associate educator at North High School.
After witnessing the impact that caring relationships and high expectations had on children, Courtney decided to return to the University of Minnesota to pursue her M.Ed. and social studies teacher licensure. After completing her M.Ed. in 2014, Courtney returned to North High as the 9th grade African American History/ Human Geography teacher.
During her 4th year of teaching Courtney was nominated for and became 1 of 12 finalists for the 2018 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. In June of 2018, Courtney transitioned from the classroom to pursue educational leadership and consulting, with the goal of spreading her love of education more broadly.
Just a Woman Walking in Her Purpose.
I am not a philosopher, a scientist nor a statistician but I am an experienced veteran in the war for educational equity. I have endured and witnessed firsthand the atrocities of ill-prepared and resource deprived educational institutions. As a K-12 student overcrowded classrooms, inadequate curriculum materials, and under motivated staff wreaked havoc in my daily life. It is because of my lived experiences that I have dedicated my life to creating solutions to eradicate educational inequity.