Dr. Martha Daniels - Executive Director /Co-Founder

Working with students first in k-12 public education and now as full-time faculty for Kent State University, Dr. Marty Daniels has 48 years of educational experience working with at-risk and first-generation students. As a middle school classroom teacher, she worked with remedial reading students and taught language arts and history. She served as a peer mentor for six years, working with new middle school and high school teachers by providing feedback and assistance as they began a career.  She led numerous in-service and professional development sessions for district educators around Northeast Ohio on classroom management and instructional strategies. She was a part of the Ohio Department of Education Lead Teachers as the Common Core objectives were introduced.

​

When her youngest daughter started college, Marty decided to complete a long-standing goal and returned to the classroom herself to earn an EdD in Teacher Leadership through Walden University. This degree, as well as her Master’s in Reading from the University of Akron, led to the opportunity to start to teach for Kent State University as an adjunct.  When she retired from k-12 education, she became a full-time associate professor for Kent State University, teaching at the Stark Campus.  She has the additional responsibilities of Coordinator for Developmental Reading Programs for Kent State.

​

As a reading specialist, Marty has focused instruction on critical reading strategies and incorporated activities that are designed to strengthen student resilience and persistence. She has presented at local, state, and national conventions, including the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) International Convention, Teaching Academic Survival and Success (TASS) International Convention, Association of Regional Campuses of Ohio (AURCO), Ohio Association of Developmental Education (OADE), and National Organization for Student Success (NOSS – Ohio). In addition, Marty works closely with the Stark County ASPIRE program to provide literacy instruction for underprepared Kent State students, to help them place into Kent coursework in pursuit of a degree.

​

Marty and Chris have collaborated on student success, first in the K-12 setting and then in programs and professional development trainings throughout Ohio. When The Grace Project was founded, Marty was the “left brain” to Chris’s “right”.  Currently, Marty monitors the budget, works with Chris on grant writing, and provides a sounding board for implementation of new initiatives and programs. Within her college classroom, Marty incorporates the elements of resilience, perseverance, and grit that needs fostered for developmental, first generation, and non-traditional college students. There’s a bit of GRACE here for them all.