Dr. Shawanda Stewart teaches writing and rhetoric courses at Huston-Tillotson University, a private liberal arts HBCU, where she is also Chair of the Department of English and Communication. Dr. Stewart has a genuine interest in research and scholarship that examines and promotes asset-based writing, transfer, and identity authenticity through language in the college composition classroom. Her passion for youth, adult, and family literacies fuels her commitment to community outreach and programming geared toward improving literacy capacities in rural communities.