ABOUT ME
“Tezeru is very accommodating. She’s very easy to work with - which is very nice because we all come from different backgrounds, yet we all are able to work really well with her and each other.”
— DCDS STUDENT
Hello! Selam! Peace and Welcome!
My name is Tezeru (Teh’zeh-roo), which means “harvest” in Amharic, Ethiopia’s major language. Over time, I have come to see that meaning as a reflection of both who I am and how I work and create.
Growing up, I was a quiet kid with a very active imagination. I fell in love with writing in third grade and later found theatre, improvisation, and dance. At first, art gave me somewhere to express all the things I was thinking and feeling. It gave me permission to experiment, play, take risks, and imagine lives beyond my own.
But over time, the practice of making art began shaping the person I was becoming:
Acting required me to pay attention to people - their choices, emotions, contradictions, and circumstances.
Writing taught me to sit with questions and imagine perspectives outside my own.
Rehearsal taught me patience, discipline, listening, and the willingness to try again.
Creating with other people taught me how to collaborate, communicate, and make space for ideas that were not mine
Today, I bring those experiences together through Developing Character, Developing Self. Beyond becoming better artists, I am interested in how theatre and literary arts can become accessible tools for young people to become more curious, compassionate, creative, and connected to one another.
For more than a decade, I have worked as a university theatre faculty member, program leader, researcher, and mentor to young people. I have also served on a juvenile probation oversight commission and developed/led county-wide juvenile probation research and inspection reports across San Diego, California.
I hold a PhD in Drama and Critical Theory and have published research on performance, childhood, theatre, and civic engagement.
Learn more about my work below!
— ADVOCACY
Bringing Youth Voice into
Juvenile Justice Oversight
For nearly a decade, I served as a court-appointed member of the San Diego Juvenile Justice Commission, where I participated in annual inspections of juvenile detention centers, group homes, and lock-up facilities across the county.
These inspections informed formal findings and recommendations reviewed by the courts and probation before being released to the public.
WATCH & LEARN MORE BELOW
THE CHALLENGE - Young people are frequently discussed, evaluated, and represented within juvenile justice systems. Yet they are rarely given meaningful opportunities to speak directly about their experiences or influence the policies designed on their behalf.
THE INITIATIVE - I led the Commission’s first pilot initiative designed to survey young people about their experiences within the system. The survey created a structured opportunity for youth to share their perspectives on safety, services, education, treatment, communication, and daily life. The initiative recognized young people as knowledge holders whose experiences can reveal institutional strengths, gaps, and possibilities for reform.
THE IMPACT - The initiative marked an important shift in how the Commission approaches oversight. It created a pathway for young people’s experiences to become part of our research and decision-making while laying the groundwork for more participatory approaches to juvenile justice accountability.
— TEACHING
EDUCATOR BACKGROUND
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Developmental College Writing; Core 1000 (English Literature)
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Flourishing in STEM (College Orientation); Making Legislative Theatre; Creative Minds: Making Legislative Theatre; Introduction to Theatre and Society; Applied Theatre; Play Analysis; Creative Minds: Theatre of the Oppressed; Introduction to Theatre and Society; Creative Minds: Theatre, Math & Engineering
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Introduction to Black Theatre and Film - 20th Century
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Latinas in Film (w/Dr. Jade Powers); Playing Indian-Native Am Cinema (w/ Dr. Julie Burelle); Black Girls in Film (Instructor on Record); Cult Films: Weirdly Dramatic (w/Julia Fulton); Cult Films: The Films of Spike Lee (w/Dr. Grace Shin Hae Jun); Glimpse into Acting (w/Todd Salovey); Ethnic Images in Film Studies (w/Dr. Ashvin Rathnanand Kini); African-American Performance (w/Dr. Nadine George-Graves); Introduction to Play Analysis (w/Dr.Nadine George-Graves); Ancient and Medieval Theatre (w/Jason Bogaard Dorwart); Twentieth Century Theatre (w/Dr. John Rouse); Professional Theatre 1500–1900 (w/Dr. Janet Smarr); Introduction to Theatre (w/Todd Salovey)
University
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Kearny Mesa High School 2022; Herbert Hoover High School 2021; Teaching Artist, STEAM Summer Academy 2019 - 2023; Lindsay Community School 2019 - 2021; Graffiti Zone 2013; City Year, Harper High School 2012-13
High School
— REFLECTIONS
Testimonials
“Dr. Teshome sees student success not as an abstract institutional outcome, but as something built through recognition, relationship, structure, and sustained belief in students’ capacity to thrive…She is a strong proponent of equity over equality and passionately defends the point that when students are at different levels of preparedness, many times due to factors outside of their control, they should be given the support needed to succeed, which may not be the same for all.
She has a welcoming, enthusiastic, relaxed, and authentic personality that makes students comfortable engaging with her, while still holding them to meaningful expectations…Her leadership in the AnchorSTEM Scholarship program is one of the most memorable contributions she made at USD because its legacy is still unfolding in the success of the cohort she helped bring together.”
— Dr. Odesma Dalrymple
Professor, Integrated Engineering
University of San Diego“Dr. Teshome notices the student standing quietly in the corner, the community member whose voice has not yet been heard, and the colleague whose idea deserves further exploration. Whether working with university faculty, community organizations, public agencies, or young people, she listens deeply, values multiple perspectives, and helps others discover their own capacity to contribute.”
— Dr. Perla Myers
Executive Director, Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education
University of San Diego
“Working with Dr. Tezeru Teshome during my tenure as a San Diego County Juvenile Justice Commissioner, after having been a federal prosecutor, was truly refreshing. Tezeru brought a creative vision, scholarly rigor and strategic leadership to her position as a Commissioner. Although her background is in theatre and doctoral research, she brought together judges, probation leaders, attorneys and policymakers to create a new way to hear youth voices in our juvenile justice system.
Her collaborative leadership resulted in the Commission's first-ever youth survey pilot project, creating a direct pathway for young people's voices to inform both our work on the Commission and the work of other entities in the juvenile justice system. She patiently worked with each stakeholder, helping them to see the value of her vision for including the voices of young people in decisions about juvenile justice policies and practices. Tezeru’s perspective was extremely valuable, and her contributions were both distinctive and deeply impactful.”
— Kimberly Allan
Attorney, retired“I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Teshome on the first ever youth in juvenile facilities report done by the JJC and I was extremely impressed with how
she ensured the report was grounded in the youth's experience we conducted interviews with and placed their narrative front and center for our work.
As a lecture in the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University and a published author of research on civic engagement of youth in Washington D.C.
it was also apparent Dr. Teshome strived for a high level of academic excellence with our work, while also producing a report that would be easily accessible
and useful for the county entities we interacted with in the JJC and also for the general public who wanted to learn about youth in the San Diego
juvenile facilities.
This trail blazing work provided openings for the JJC that had not been pursued before and made our organization more accountable and effective in our
court mandated mission. I was extremely impressed with how Dr. Teshome navigated our committee through the process of producing this report and working
not just with the entire JJC body, but with our Court and County Administration oversight entities. The leadership skills Dr. Teshome exhibited during this
multi year process I believe speak well to her true character, as well as the innate leadership and communication skills she also possesses.”
— Dr. Darwin Fishman
Educator, Equity Strategist, Community Engagement Leader