Angel Acosta is a doctoral candidate in the Curriculum and Teaching Department at Teachers College, Columbia University. For the last decade, he has worked to bridge the fields of leadership development, youth advocacy, social justice and mindfulness.

He’s a faculty member for the upcoming Mind and Life Institute’s Summer Research Institute. With an emphasis on contemplative and restorative practices, his consulting focuses on developing learning experiences that enable organizations to have heartfelt conversations about leadership, inequality and healing. As a former Trustee for the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, he participated as a discussant at the Asia Pacific Forum on Holistic Education in Kyoto, Japan. As he finishes his doctorate, Angel continues to consult for organizations like the NYC Department of Education, UNICEF, Columbia University and others.

His dissertation explores healing-centered education as a promising framework for educational leadership development and for addressing entrenched racial inequality in the U.S.A. His example as a servant leader was featured in the second edition of Kouzes and Pozner’s book The Student Leadership Challenge. He is a proud Dominican American from the Bronx, NY.