Tracey A. Benson

Dr. Tracey A. Benson is the Founder and CEO of Tracey A. Benson Consulting and the Anti-Racism Leadership Institute (ARLI). A Harvard-trained scholar, author, and keynote speaker, he partners with school districts, state education agencies, and education organizations across the United States and internationally, including in the United Kingdom, Australia, and China, to help leaders turn equity commitments into real changes in policy, practice, and student outcomes.

Dr. Benson is the author of Antiracism Phobia (Harvard Education Press, 2026), his newest book, and the co-author, with Sarah E. Fiarman, of Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism (Harvard Education Press), now in its revised edition and used by educators nationwide to examine how race and racism operate in schools.

His work is grounded in experience at nearly every level of the education system. Dr. Benson began his career as an elementary school teacher and went on to serve as a proficiency specialist, district leadership trainer, assistant principal, principal of Pittsfield High School in Massachusetts, and principal coach. As an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he taught supervision, school law, and policy to aspiring school leaders.

Dr. Benson’s research examines how structural racism continues to shape educational opportunity and achievement in K-12 schools. His scholarship identifies the organizational policies, practices, and beliefs that sustain racial inequities and equips leaders with practical strategies for building more just, effective, and high-performing schools. His TEDxUNCCharlotte talk, “The Binary Code of Racism,” brings this work to a public audience, and his scholarship on structural racism in education.

Through ARLI, Dr. Benson leads anti-racism leadership institutes, executive coaching, equity audits, and needs assessments that strengthen organizational capacity and produce lasting change. He believes that student success, teacher effectiveness, and thriving schools depend on courageous, skilled leaders who are willing to confront inequitable systems and build cultures where every student can excel.

Dr. Benson earned his Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and his Master of School Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.