Dr. Ayana T. Hardaway is a writer, scholar, educator, and creative founder of Wildflowers & Co. Publishing — a restorative storytelling firm dedicated to helping individuals and communities heal through writing, creativity, and truth-telling.

As an independent scholar-practitioner and Research Administrator at Stanford University, Dr. Hardaway supports interdisciplinary scholarship, equity-centered initiatives, and innovative research and discovery.

With more than 18 years of experience in higher education, Ayana brings together her expertise in research, teaching, and Black feminist thought to reimagine how learning and healing happen. Her scholarship centers the experiences of Black women and girls, examines the structures that shape their educational journeys, and illuminates storytelling as a form of resistance, recovery, and restoration.

Her groundbreaking book, From Crack Mother to Wildflower: Writing to Transgress—The Sankofa Writing Method, offers a new framework for using writing as a sacred, transformative practice. Through it, Ayana reclaims the stories of Black women and families impacted by the crack era, challenging stigmatizing myths and celebrating the resilience of community.

Dr. Hardaway’s work has been featured in Introduction to Afrofuturism: A Mixtape in Black Literature & Arts, the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, the College Student Affairs Journal, the Journal of African American Women and Girls in Education, and Investing in the Educational Success of Black Women and Girls.

Through both her academic and creative practice, Dr. Hardaway continues to cultivate spaces where storytelling becomes a pathway to liberation, learning, and collective healing.

She holds a Master of Education (M.Ed.) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Urban Education from Temple University.