STEM Influencer and House System Expert
Junior Bernadin is the dean of students, IT Director, and House System Expert at the highly-acclaimed Ron Clark Academy (RCA), an innovative middle school and educator training facility. He has helped to train over 100,000 educators from around the world to learn better ways to engage students, increase academic rigor, and create a climate and culture for success. Mr. Bernadin is the recent recipient of the nation's highest STEM mentoring award, the Presidential Award for Science, Mathematics, and STEM Mentoring. This prestigious honor was selected by President Joe Biden and the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation.
Mr. Bernadin is a Haitian-American from Miami, Fl. that has a B.A. degree in International Affairs from Florida State University and a M.S. degree in IT Management from Regis University. He has also held certifications as a Promethean Certified Installer, and Microsoft Certified Professional. In his role as the Dean of Students, he works with the cofounders in carrying out the RCA's culture and climate.
In his role as director of information technology, Mr. Bernadin provides all system support to the Academy as well as maintaining and managing all levels of technical support and integration within the school. In 2009, he organized students participating in RCA's Senior Tech program, a student-led program where senior citizens learn computer literacy skills.
In addition to these impactful roles, he also leads and empowers students by:
- Serving as one of the mentors and coaches of the RCA FLL Robotics Team
- Hosting and leading multiple STEM Camps
- Implementing and serving as the mentor for the RCA Jr. Tech Engineer's Program
- Coaching the 5-time National Champion RCA Step Team
- Advising the 5-time National Champion MATHCounts Video Challenge Team.
In 2017, his students designed apps with other students worldwide as part of a compassion-based engineering project called MAD About Mattering. In 2020 and 2021, Mr. Bernadin served as a TA for multiple cohorts of MIT Media Labs' classroom research pilots, which focused on testing new AI tools and methods for teaching AI material to K-12 students.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Mr. Bernadin is founder of the Bridge Builder NFT Foundation, is a non-profit foundation focused on a mission of creating awareness around the lack of representation of marginalized communities in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. The Bridge Builder NFTs Foundation is home to the Diversity Dollz NFT project, is a series of NFT collections designed to support varies causes. Mr. Bernadin has recently announced the name of the first NFT series, the Diversity Dollz. The Diversity Dollz is a collection of 10,000 diverse NFTs that are unique digital collectibles dedicated to supporting “women of color” in various causes like STEM professions, special needs, and HBCUs, and much more.
Mr. Bernadin continues to dedicate himself to serving youth and the Atlanta community. He serves on the board of directors for Dance Canvas, a nonprofit organization that provides opportunities and venues to increase the awareness of professional dance prospects in Atlanta. He also serves on the board of directors for Building Future Leaders, whose purpose is to establish a set of dynamic, experiential leadership development curricula targeting a wide range of audiences, including but not limited to, high school youth, university students, and professionals. He is a mentor for 100 Black Men of South of Metro Atlanta and life-member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. He is a loving husband, father, trusted advisor, an award-winning coach, motivational speaker, and just an overall role model for many.
For his dedication to service and pursuit of excellence, Mr. Bernadin has been recognized as:
- 2022 - Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring
- 2021 - Global Forum for Education and Learning (GFEL) Top 100 Leaders in Education
- 2020 – Leadership Atlanta Class of 2022
- 2019 – Georgia Trend Magazines 40 Under 40
- 2019 – VOYAGE ATL Feature
- 2020 – SHOUTOUT ATL Feature
- 2018 – Walmart Community Playmaker
- 2018 – Forbes Technology Council
- 2017 – People Behind the People sponsored by McDonalds & TVOne
- 2016 – Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert
- 2014 – NSL Sponsor of the Year
- 2012 – Creative Research Fellow for the 7th District of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
- 2012 Inductee of Alpha Sigma Nu National Honors Society
- 2012 – FSU Alumni Association’s “Thirty Under Thirty”
- 2012 – Denver Chapter of ISACA Award Recipient
- 2011 – Promethean Advisory Council
- 2006 – Haitian Culture Shining Star