Why MathTrust?

I grew up seeing the world through a mathematical lens because my dad made sure of it. By the time I was 2, he had his PhD in Electrical Engineering, and my older sister and I were his students for life. Although it led to an impressive high school transcript full of honors and AP math courses, which helped me earn a spot at UCLA, I never found my voice as a student in the mathematics classroom. 

After graduating from UCLA in 2000, I became an elementary school teacher in South Los Angeles. I recognized early that trusting students to meet high academic expectations is hard but necessary for students' success. I saw how systemic racism in education and our unconscious biases get in the way of that trust, and I wanted to make a difference. 

Dionne Aminata has served over 24 years in education as a teacher, researcher, instructional coach, math content specialist, curriculum writer, and curriculum implementation specialist, and has taught at the elementary, middle school, undergraduate, and graduate levels.

Dionne founded MathTrust, a math education consulting firm, in 2020. MathTrust offers practical ways to develop a mutual trust between students and educators, and increase opportunities for student achievement in mathematics. Through a customized and responsive approach, MathTrust provides actionable steps for educators to recognize Black brilliance, and trust all students engage in grade-level math mathematics.

As a Lead Author at Illustrative Mathematics (IM), Dionne led the work of embedding curricular supports for culturally responsive instruction. She successfully supported Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest school district, to pilot IM K–5 Math in 2020–21, a pandemic year. She most recently served as IM’s Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, where she oversaw research and outreach efforts to IM's community of users, and supported math leaders nation-wide to successfully implement IM K–12 Math.

Dionne spent 9 years with UnboundEd (2016–25), supporting teachers and leaders to disrupt patterns of injustice in mathematics education through strong curriculum, deep content knowledge, and belief in students. In addition to supporting schools and districts across the US through her consulting firm, she advised the CCSSO Math Collaborative (2022–25), a network of state math leaders dedicated to affecting change in systems and policies in order to promote mathematics as a subject for all students.

In 2023, Dionne was appointed to the Board of Directors at the National Council for Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM) to help advance the organization’s mission to support, sustain, and inspire high quality mathematics teaching and learning by engaging and empowering math leaders. She currently serves as the Social Media Chair (2023–27). 

Dionne earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Business from UCLA, her MBA in Entrepreneurship and Global Marketing from Babson College, and her Masters in Math Education from CUNY Brooklyn College. Dionne is currently pursuing her PhD in Math Education at Stanford University.