Dr. Courtney Bell-Duncan’s career represents more than a decade of dedicated work at the intersection of education, equity, and systemic transformation. Her journey began in the classroom, where she discovered that teaching was not just about delivering content—it was about seeing and honoring the full humanity of every student and family she served. This revelation became the driving force behind everything that followed: a relentless commitment to creating educational experiences that franchise the disenfranchised.
As the Founder and CEO of Courtney S. Bell Consulting — answering the call for educational justice— Dr. Bell-Duncan has evolved into one of Minnesota’s most sought-after facilitators for professional development that actually changes how educators think and practice. Her workshops are legendary not for their comfort, but for their power to create genuine breakthrough moments. Participants often describe her sessions as “life-changing”—not because she tells them what they want to hear, but because she guides them toward truths they didn’t know they needed to face.
This same unflinching commitment to transformation now shapes her work as Senior Director of Collective Impact at Black Men Teach, where she leads the Thrive by 2035 Coalition. The coalition unites 27 multi-sector partner organizations around an audacious goal: increasing Black male elementary school teachers in Minnesota from 50 to 450 by 2035. For Dr. Bell-Duncan, this isn’t simply about recruitment—it’s about fundamentally reshaping who children see when they walk into a classroom. It’s about ensuring that Black boys, and all students, encounter educators who reflect the fullness of their communities and possibilities.
Through strategic partnership building, policy advocacy, and the kind of truth-telling that has defined her career, she orchestrates collective action that transforms aspiration into measurable change, proving that when diverse stakeholders align around equity, systemic transformation isn’t just possible—it’s inevitable.
