We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Vangie Akridge a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Vangie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents separated just before I was born. Although they lived separate lives through out my upbringing and remained married until they were called hime to glory, not once did either one of them talk bad or down about the other. As a child, I was never privy to the circumstances that contributed to their separation. When they were around each other, they were always kind and respectful. Additionally, I was almost 10 years old before I understood that the woman that I referred to as my Auntie was actually my stepmother. The mother of father’s two oldest daughters was the sweetest and kindest woman. She and my mother also had a very endearing relationship that made my mother feel comfortable enough for me to be in her care up state for the summers. I was shocked to learn that they were not actually sisters! Ha! THIS is what co-parenting should look and feel like to our young people. My parents got this right!

Dr. Vangie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

There are less than 2200 Licensed Educational Psychologists in the state of California of which only approximately 250 serve the county of San Diego with less than 1% of this group being of African American descent. Recognizing this disparity, I was compelled to offer educationally related services to provide students and their families with an opportunity to engage with a service provider that could personally relate to the cultural factors that directly impacts the experiences that have occurred while navigating the educational system. It was important for me to serve as a representative of my community and serve as a conduit for collaborative conversations to mend the trauma associated with the quest of marginalized communities for inclusion and equitable education.

I particularly proud of the fact that I am in a place to provide a much needed service to families and can personally relate to their ethnic specific experiences. I am also grateful to serve as a role model for future educators, a consultant to schools that are eager to include an objective expert in their process and a change agent to school systems that are determined to improve positive outcomes for their students.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

If I could go back in time, I would still choose educational psychology, I enjoy working with families and collaborating with schools to ensure that all kids have a free and appropriate public education. I would, however, opt to complete my doctorate right after the completion of my masters and consider clinical psychology with a speciality in educational psychology. Having the clinical psychology credential would make me eligible for insurance panels and increase the number of lives that I am able to positively impact. (The speciality of educational psychology is not acknowledged by the medical field in the same way that other counseling and behavioral disciplines are, which means that services rendered by licensed educational psychologists are not accepted by insurance panels.)

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I gave birth to my oldest son when I was a sophomore at UCLA. Many people had counted me out and assumed that I would never complete my degree let alone have a productive career. I was written off as a statistic. I was fiercely determined to prove them all wrong! I ultimately graduated from UCLA in 4 years, with 2 degrees with a two-year-old. There was not a dry eye in the stadium where the African students’ graduation was held as I walked across the stage carrying my tuxedo wearing baby boy. I strive to inspire others to do the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.metroeducationalconsulting.com
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dr-vangie-akridge-49b5a013

Image Credits
Steve Cooper II of Electric Media Life Styles