Leona Donaldson is a PhD candidate in the Drexel School of Education. She is majoring in Educational Leadership and Learning Technology and minoring in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Her research interests focus on social justice in STEM higher education in the United States. She worked at a local nonprofit organization, Women’s Campaign International, as a program director of Girls Advocacy and Leadership Series (GALS) program. She is currently teaching Japanese at a local nonprofit organization.

Leona was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. She earned two degrees—one in Japanese Language and another one in Education—from two universities in Japan. She earned a master’s degree in Education at Portland State University in Oregon. She is a certified teacher of PreK-12 in Oregon. Prior to joining the PhD program at Drexel, she taught five levels of Japanese and English Language Development (ELD) courses at public high schools in Oregon and Japanese calligraphy in Japan.