About the Author
Nicol Russell, EdD, is the chief academic officer at Teacher Strategies in Phoenix, Arizona. Her greatest ambition in life is to leave a legacy of love in action. Her professional interests are grounded in the ethics of knowledge— how we know what we know, and how we use that knowledge responsibly in systems that affect people( children and adults).
This piece is excerpted from the NAEYC book No Single Story: Amplifying the Voices of Asian American and Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Early Educators, edited by Debbie LeeKeenan, Iris Chin Ponte, Caryn Park, and Sandra Baba. It will publish in Fall 2026.
References
Meyer, M. A. 2001.“ Our Own Liberation: Reflections on Hawaiian Epistemology.” The Contemporary Pacific 13( 1): 124 – 48. doi. org / 10.1353 / cp. 2001.0024.
Photograph: courtesy of the author Copyright © 2026 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See permissions and reprints online at NAEYC. org / resources / permissions.
Stories. Identity. Community. Change.
More than 30 AANHPI early childhood educators share the cultures, communities, and lived experiences that shaped them and their practice. No single book can capture every experience. But this one opens a window and offers a mirror in pursuit of more fair, just, and inclusive communities.
COMING FALL 2026
Summer 2026 Young Children 21