Kelley Glover joined the Charles Butt Foundation in September of 2023 as a “Learning and Impact Fellow.” She is currently a doctoral candidate at Texas State University, where she works as a doctoral research assistant in the School Improvement department. She expects to graduate with a Ph.D. in School Improvement in May of 2024. Kelley has three peer-reviewed published articles in educational research journals and is currently working on a grant-funded study with the Greater Texas Foundation that focuses on the success rates of part-time community college students.
Kelley has music education degrees from Howard University and the Eastman School of Music. She was a music educator for 25 years, with nine of those years as a full-time music education entrepreneur. She is the creator of a culturally responsive music education cartoon and music game app called, “U BETTER Sing!” Her company also mentored youth interested in having careers in the arts. “U BETTER Sing”’ was featured on the PBS show, “Blackademics” where she discussed how culturally hegemonic practices affect students of color in the music education space while also featuring graduates of her program who became productive artists in their communities. Her company’s products were sent overseas to work with young Nigerian girls affected by the Boko Haram crisis in an initiative to educate and heal students through music.
Her childhood upbringing took her all over the United States due to her father’s career as a community college president. She comes from a family of educational leaders, medical professionals, entrepreneurs, and community builders. Her research interests include cultural somatics to heal microaggressions experienced by marginalized populations, and increasing access to higher education and the arts for minoritized students.