Biography

Biography  

Dr. Helen Bond is a university professor in the School of Education at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She is also a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar to India, co-chair of The Sustainable Development Solutions network (SDSN USA) and faculty liaison to the Center for African Studies at Howard University. The UN SDSN was set up in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General as a network of researchers working together to mobilize the world's universities, think tanks, and national laboratories to identify and develop solutions for action on the world's most critical sustainable development challenges.  Her work with SDSN USA ties with Howard’s mission of empowering students toward creating a sustainable and more equitable future. 

With a Ph.D. in Human Development, Bond's research and teaching focuses on transformative teacher education, Education for Sustainable Development and peace and human development. She authored Making Peace with Children in Peace Studies for Sustainable Development in Africa published by Springer's prestigious publishing house. Bond was also invited by the International Centre for UNESCO ASPnet (ICUA) based in Hainan, China to speak and serve on their Expert Committee with their campaign “Collaborating to Improve and Protect our Planet (CIPP).” 

As co-chair of SDSN USA and professor in the School of Education at Howard University, Dr. Bond has a deep interest in Education for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She recently coauthored Why 2025 Must Be the Year of Leaving No One Behind published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, where authors explore the urgency of advancing sustainable development by Leaving No One Behind. She also authored Advancing Climate Action Through Justice-centered Climate Education where she argues that climate change education is a powerful driver in mobilizing individuals to translate their knowledge into action, especially for young people. 

Bond is also the author of two exciting new book chapters being published in 2025 in two peer-reviewed edited book collections by academic presses. Song of the Land celebrates the works of Mildred D. Taylor and is being published by the University Press of Mississippi. Bond's chapter, "Beyond the Veil: In Search of the Duboisan Double-Consciousness in the Works of Mildred D. Taylor," chapter traces W.E.B. Du Bois’s concepts of the Veil, double consciousness, and second sight in the novels of Mildred D. Taylor. Bond argues that Du Bois’s Veil is a common thread throughout Taylor’s works and is useful as an interpretive lens to understand the lived experience of the Logan family. Mildred D. Taylor has won numerous awards including the Newbery Medal (for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry), four Coretta Scott King Awards, and a Boston Globe—Horn Book Award. 

Bond's second chapter, "Future Tense: The Role of Race, Risk, and Environmental Justice" is being published in an edited collection on environmental justice in the era of COVID-19. This peer-reviewed collection is organized as a part of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project “Air and Environmental Health in the (Post) COVID-19 World” and will be published by Michigan State University Press in 2025.

Her other research on sustainability includes the following reports with SDSN USA and Howard University, “Never More Urgent: A Preliminary Review of How the US is Leaving Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous Communities Behind,” and with SDSN, "In the Red: The US Failure to Deliver on a Promise of Racial Equality."  

Along this line of research, Bond conducted a research study with The Smithsonian Science Education Center and the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative focusing on students' changing attitudes towards sustainability. The study was featured at the 2023 Smithsonian National Education Summit and highlighted as the “Top Five Can’t-Miss Elements of the 2023 Smithsonian National Education Summit.”  

Bond and colleagues from the Smithsonian Science Education Center also published Conceptions of Environmental Justice and Imagining a More Just Future in NORRAG Special Issue 10 that explores the critical role of education in shaping a more just world. NORRAG is the Global Education Centre of the Geneva Graduate Institute and a global network of more than 5,800 members for international policies and cooperation in education and training. 

Bond also participated in a multidisciplinary panel that coauthored The Learning from Crises series, which asked, "What we could learn from the COVID-19 pandemic that could be applied for climate action?" This publication and panel consisted of two cross-sectoral, expert discussions and concluded with a May 2022 publication with Springer Nature and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN). The publication featured some of the most compelling ideas explored in a series of interdisciplinary roundtables which examined diverse approaches to global crises and the role of the SDGs. 

In addition to the above, Dr. Bond co-authored “Trash Hack Action Learning for Sustainable Development” in conjunction with UNESCO’s Section of Education for Sustainable Development.  Trash Hack Action Learning will be used by UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet), which consists of over 11,500 educational institutions in over 180 countries, as well as other schools and organizations. Trash Hack Action Learning for Sustainable Development helps educators engage students in action-oriented activities that increase awareness and action around waste. The book was launched in January 2021 by ASPnet in partnership with the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).  

Her work in this area was featured in Howard’s Bison Beat published from the desk of the President of Howard University.  Dr. Bond was also inducted in the Alumni Hall of Fame by The Ohio State University-Mansfield for her international work in education and human development.

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Dr. Bond accepted an invitation in 2017 to participate in the international expert group meeting convened by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Education for Justice (E4J) initiative in Vienna to provide insight into innovative teaching methods for students. In 2018-2019, she received a grant from UNODC on behalf of Howard University School of Education to develop a non-electronic educational game entitled Labyrinth and accompanying Teacher’s Manual on violent extremism. The Labyrinth has been translated in three different languages: English, Russian, and Uzbek. The accompanying Teacher’s Manual has also been translated in three languages. 

She developed (under the guidance of UNODC and E4J) additional Teacher Manuals accompanied by videos on anti-corruption, firearms trafficking, human trafficking, justice for children (still in press), smuggling of migrants, organized crime, and violent extremism designed for secondary school students. These materials were part of UNODC’s E4J initiative that received the Secretary-General of the United Nation’s 2020 Innovation Award.  

Dr. Bond was also one of the co-authors of the UNESCO publication, Teaching Respect for All outlines a critical framework to promote respect which countries can adapt to their respective contexts and needs. The guide was piloted in Brazil; Côte d’Ivoire; Guatemala; Indonesia; Kenya and South Africa.  A Teaching Respect of All Video was developed by UNESCO where policy makers, teachers and students of partner countries shared their testimonies. The multilingual version of the Guide can be found here. Teaching Respect for All has been published in three languages.  

Teaching Respect for All was used in a workshop in February 2015 facilitated by Dr. Elbedour from the Department of Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies at Howard University. The workshop was designed to help promote dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis. Dr. Elbedour said “The use of the Teaching Respect for All materials was instrumental in helping both rival parties (Israelis and Palestinians) understand their psychological barriers, and overcome their deep-seated mistrust, fears, victimology, stereotypes and self-defeating policies.” 

CITATION 

Bond, Helen; Crete, Elena; Khung, Delaney; Kuester, Arend; O’Riordan, Tasmine; Torres, Gerald; et al. (2022): Lessons from COVID-19 for Climate Change. figshare. Journal contribution. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19745623.v1