Eshé P. Collins PhD

Director, Equity Assistance Center-South

Eshé P. Collins PhD is director of the Equity Assistance Center-South (EAC-South) at the Southern Education Foundation. She oversees the center’s operations and leads its work with public school systems to address long-term disparities in pre-K through 12 education across 11 southern states and the District of Columbia. Eshé also is responsible for identifying and establishing partnerships with like-minded organizations to advance equitable practices in education in the region. She brings a wide range of experience to the EAC-South, holding such roles as the senior director of programs for the education nonprofit Jumpstart, senior program director for the Georgia State University College of Education, and an educator with Atlanta Public Schools. She currently serves as a member of the Atlanta Board of Education. Early in her career she served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable James A. Winn, Jr., on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and a policy analyst for the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. Eshé has earned high recognition for her work, including the Andrew and Walter Young YMCA Woman of Innovation in Education award; Carl V. Patton President’s Award for Community Service and Social Justice; and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Torch of Peace Award. She also was named to Georgia Trend magazine’s and Georgia State University’s 40 Under 40. A civil rights lawyer, Eshé earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Spelman College, master’s degree in educational leadership from Georgia State University, and her Juris Doctor from the North Carolina Central University School of Law, where she graduated cum laude.