Erica King-Toler

Erica King-Toler brings more than 20 years of higher education expertise to her role as the Director and Chair of the Percy Ellis Sutton Search for Education, Elevation and Knowledge (SEEK) Department at John Jay College at the City University of New York.

As a senior member of the counseling faculty, she teaches courses about the connections between social justice and education with an emphasis on developing culturally and critically conscious practitioners. As a social change agent, she enjoys working with young people and seasoned professionals alike to share with them social justice principles, and the steps necessary to become fearless advocates for change connected to causes impacting their families, communities, and the global village.

Using the lenses of race, class, socioeconomic status, gender, and religious identity, she facilitates conversations that encourage students to think deeply about the influence of their own identities on creating diverse life experiences and the urgent need for these perspectives and their voices in the infinite spaces which they occupy. 

Erica holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Hampton University. She earned master's degrees in Student Personnel Administration and Higher Education Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University. She received a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.