Kay Fujiyoshi

Dr. Kay Fujiyoshi is a dedicated educator and scholar with over two decades of experience across K–12 classrooms, higher education, and teacher preparation in the city of Chicago. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago.  

Dr. Fujiyoshi’s philosophy of education centers on the belief that meaningful teaching is grounded in place, identity, love, and hope. Her practice is informed by diverse teaching experiences that range from a rural middle school to Chicago’s urban high schools and universities.  For over a decade, Dr. Fujiyoshi served as a Foundations Instructor at the University of Chicago’s Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP), where she designed and taught the cornerstone Foundations Seminar for first-year teacher candidates. This course series challenged pre-service teachers to grapple with the complexity of education in Chicago’s public schools through critical engagement with federal, state, and local policy, human development, and the sociopolitical conditions that shape urban schooling. Central to this work was UTEP’s Soul Strand, which Dr. Fujiyoshi taught and helped shape.

She also served as a Residency Year Instructor and Advisor, where she mentored and assessed pre-service teachers, led professional development for Clinical Instructors, and strengthened school-university partnerships. She currently serves as an Induction Coach and Instructor, where she coaches early-career teachers in CPS schools and facilitates professional development opportunities that bridge theory and practice. Her career reflects a deep commitment to educational equity, social-emotional development, and transformative teaching rooted in community partnerships and critical reflection. 

As a mentor, coach, and lifelong learner, Dr. Fujiyoshi is passionate about supporting educators at every stage of their journey. She believes in the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and the need to continuously reimagine learning spaces where all students can thrive. Her work is deeply informed by the belief that teaching is a relational, place-based practice that must be
anchored in justice, empathy, and a commitment to growth—for both educators and the communities they serve.