Iheoma U. Iruka (pronounced EE-OMAH EE-ROO-KAH) is a tenured full professor in the department of maternal and child health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, a faculty fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and the founding director of its Equity Research Action Coalition.

She is leading projects and initiatives focused on ensuring that minoritized children and children from low-income households, especially Black children, are thriving. Her work is focused on ensuring excellence for young diverse learners, especially Black children and their families, through the intersection of antibias, anti-racist, culturally grounded research, programs and policy.

Some areas of focus include family engagement and support, quality rating and improvement systems, and early care and education system and programs. She serves and has served on numerous national and local boards and committees, including the National Advisory Committee for the U.S. Census Bureau; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; the American Psychological Association’s Board of Educational Affairs; the Brady Education Foundation; and Trust for Learning. She is also the author of the book “We Are the Change We Seek.”