Cheyenne Batista
Adjunct Professorial Lecturer
SOE Faculty
Degrees
EdD, American University (Education Policy & Leadership)
Ed.M., Harvard Graduate School of Education (Education Policy & Management)
B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Communications Studies)
Bio
Cheyenne E. Batista, EdD (she/her) is the Founder & CEO of Firefly Worldwide Inc., a professional learning community and consulting practice where she supports education and social impact leaders with leadership development, strategy, change management, school and program design and improvement, and equity-driven practices. She previously served as a founding principal and superintendent, co-designing and scaling a Pre-K to 12th grade network of community-based charter schools in New York City where she coached and managed school principals and other school leaders while serving in senior leadership of the founding nonprofit. Previously, Dr. Batista taught in K-8 public and private schools in New York City and in São Paulo, Brazil. She has also managed various programs within the education nonprofit and corporate sectors.
Dr. Batista's dissertation entitled "'I Am Not Scary. I Am Strong. There's a Difference.' Disrupting Misogynoir and Transforming Interpersonal Conflict For Black Women Education Leaders: A Multiple-Case Study" examines interpersonal conflict within interracial teams and focuses on the experiences of Black women leaders in these contexts through intersectional qualitative inquiry. It was awarded the 2023 Outstanding Dissertation Award by American Education Research Association (AERA) Division A and the 2022 Dissertation of the Year Award by the Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate (CPED).
Dr. Batista teaches Collaborative Inquiry Through Systems Thinking in the doctoral program at the School of Education.
