Brandi Hinnant-Crawford, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Educational Research at Western Carolina University. As a mixed-methods methodologist, she believes in the complementary nature of quantitative and qualitative research, and seeks to use research in transformative ways (such as with improvement science). Dr. Hinnant-Crawford's work has been published in diverse venues such as Urban Education, the Journal for Multicultural Education, and Black Theology. She holds a PhD from Emory University in Educational Studies, a master's degree in Urban Education Policy from Brown University, and bachelor's degrees in English and Communication (media concentration) from North Carolina State University. While she loves research and teaching, her first priority is being the mother of her seven-year-old twins, Elizabeth Freedom and Elijah Justice Crawford.