Angella M. Dunston

NC Justice Center

Ms. Dunston is the director of the NC Education and Law Project an initiative of the NC Justice Center. The Justice Center is North Carolina's leading private, nonprofit anti-poverty organization. Its mission is to reduce and eliminate poverty in North Carolina by helping to ensure that every North Carolina household gains access to the resources, services and fair treatment that it needs in order to enjoy economic security.

Dunston has worked as an advocate in early childhood and youth development for over a decade. In addition to serving as director of the Project, she is also the education policy analyst/lobbyist for the North Carolina Justice Center. She joined the Justice Center's Education and Law Project in 2000 to spearhead a new effort to inform and empower rural parents about their child/children's educational rights. Since that time, she has helped lead several important initiatives, including the Project's signature grassroots program, the Education Leadership Institute (ELI). In her role as director, Dunston serves as a direct, easy-to-access link between parents, the education advocacy community and state policymakers. As a policy analyst, she sees to it that parents and those without adequate representation fully participate in the whole spectrum of education advocacy and policy reform.

Ms. Dunston is the education chair of the NC State Conference of the NAACP, and co-chair of the education committee of the NC Covenant with Children. She is a former school board member in Warren County and vice chair of the Warren County Democratic Party. In her spare time, she volunteers with various civic organizations and serves on numerous boards. She also mentors at risk youth and is presently creating a youth leadership development initiative to empower and train students to advocate for themselves in the local, state and national political arena.

Barbara Olshansky

University of Maryland School of Law