LCI Team & Biographies

Crystal Lee

PI, Project Director

Crystal Chen Lee (Ed.D.) is an associate professor of English language arts and literacy in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. Her research lies at the nexus of literacy, teacher education, community engagement and marginalized youth. She is the founding director and PI of the Literacy and Community Initiative (LCI), a collaboration among the College of Education, the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and youth-serving community organizations. Dr. Lee also has two appointments as a faculty fellow of the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and an NC State Community Engaged Fellow.

Her work has been featured nationally and internationally, and she has published in books and journal articles such as Urban Education, Teachers College Record, Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, English Journal, Teaching and Teacher Education and the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Her current work has been supported by grants from the National Council of Teachers of English, Engaged Scholarship Consortium and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Lee began her teaching experience as a high school English teacher in New Jersey and a literacy instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Montclair State University. She received her Ed.D. in curriculum and teaching from Columbia University.

Jose Picart

Co-PI, Co-Project Director

Dr. Jose Picart serves as a senior faculty fellow at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University.  He also serves as a professor of counselor education in the College of Education and as the executive director of the Wake Promise. The Wake Promise is a cross-sector community collaborative in Wake County with the mission to help increase the number of under-resourced youth in Wake County who graduate from high school and earn a postsecondary credential. Dr. Jose Picart completed his undergraduate degree at West Point, the United States Military Academy, where he majored in engineering and humanities.  Following his graduation from West Point, Dr. Picart served his country as a commissioned military officer for 28 years, rising through various command and staff positions to the rank of colonel. He earned his master of science and doctoral degrees in experimental cognitive psychology from the University of Oklahoma in Norman. In addition to his distinguished service in the field Army, Dr. Picart served for over 16 years on the faculty in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at West Point, culminating with his appointment as the director of psychology studies. In 1994, Dr. Picart was the recipient of a prestigious American Council on Education (ACE) fellowship. At NC State University, Dr. Picart has served in various leadership positions including the vice provost for academic programs and services, vice provost for diversity and inclusion, interim dean of the College of Education, and special assistant to the provost for university outreach and engagement. In 2015, Dr. Picart was recognized as a professor emeritus and distinguished faculty alumnus in a ceremony at West Point. His current research and writings are focused on intrinsic motivation, self-determination theory, and leadership for a diverse campus.

Angela Wiseman

Trauma-Informed and Arts-Based Research Specialist

Angela Wiseman, associate professor of literacy education at NC State University and affiliated faculty at the Center for Visual Literacies at San Diego State University, uses trauma-informed and visual methods in community settings. Her research employs trauma-informed, visual and multimodal qualitative approaches, with a particular focus on analyzing children’s literature and visual responses. She works with projects incorporating innovative professional development, community-based initiatives that bridge technology, literacy and international perspectives to create more inclusive and equitable learning environments.

Heysha Carrillo

Graduate Research Assistant

Heysha Carrillo is a doctoral student at NC State University. She is a Puerto Rican bilingual educator who has worked in North Carolina for eight years, teaching in schools and facilitating programs in community-based organizations. She received her M.Ed. in early childhood intervention and family studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her B.A. in elementary education with a concentration in teaching English to Spanish speakers and a minor in Italian and French from the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. As a doctoral student, her research focuses on community-based organizations, affinity groups and extracurricular programs as spaces for belonging, empowerment and activism.

Haleema Khalil

Graduate Research Assistant

Haleema Khalil is a second year doctoral student in the Teacher Education and Learning Sciences program at North Carolina State University. Before starting her doctoral journey, Haleema earned an M.Ed. in English language learners from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education as a Fulbright Scholar. Hailing from a linguistically diverse country, Pakistan, her academic interests focus mainly on multilingual learner literacy development with the aspiration to make the classroom inclusive and engaging for all learners. 

Majid Komasi

Graduate Research Assistant

Majid Komasi is a first-year doctoral student in the Teacher Education and Learning Sciences department at NC State University. With nearly 12 years of experience as a teacher and school assistant in high schools in Iran, he has worked closely with students and educators to foster supportive learning environments and contribute to school management. His academic interests include educational justice, the integration of immigrant and refugee students into host communities, and the development of inclusive educational policies.

Hannah Savariyar

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Hannah Savariyar is an undergraduate junior at NC State University in the Elementary Education program with a special education add-on. Originally from Cary, NC, Hannah aspires to be an elementary school teacher who promotes inclusive classrooms and allows all her students to share their unique life experiences with their peers and the world. Hannah currently works as an undergraduate research assistant for the Literacy and Community Initiative.