Dakeyan Chá Dré Graham
Award-winning and GRAMMY-nominated educator, Dr.3 Dakeyan Chá Dré Graham, travels throughout the United States as an acclaimed motivational speaker, author, and clinician and advocates for student, educator, and parent empowerment and opportunity as the Assistant Principal at Talbot Elementary School, formerly holding the position of Director of Educational Equity and Outreach for Alachua County Public Schools. CEO and Founder of Re-Imagining Equity and Learning LLC (R.E.A.L.), he actively travels the nation delivering keynote speeches, professional development seminars, and workshops in the music education and performance, general educational, instructional, and DEIAB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, and Belonging) spaces.
He is also widely sought out as a music clinician, having worked with band and orchestra students and ensembles across the southeastern United States. The 2019 Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year, Dr.3 Graham was selected in July 2019 as the 2020 Florida Teacher of the Year, representing 74 school districts and more than 195,000 teachers. During the 2019-2020 school year, Dr.3 Graham was on sabbatical from teaching and served as the Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education. In this role, he toured the state delivering motivational speeches and workshops focused on empowering teachers to create the most impactful learning experience possible for their students.
A product of Hillsborough County Public Schools, Dr.3 Graham served as the Director of Instrumental Studies at his alma mater, C. Leon King High School in Tampa, FL, where his teaching responsibilities included leading the KHS Marching Lions, conducting the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic and Concert Bands, Jazz Bands, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber, Symphonic, and Concert Orchestras, Percussion Ensemble, and supervising the Lionettes Dance Team. During his 11 years in HCPS, his students consistently demonstrated determination, focus and tenacity as they earned a performance position in the prestigious Carnegie Hall. He has also worked on the teaching and conducting staff for the University of Florida, University of South Florida, and University of Tampa.
Having served as a past president of the Hillsborough Secondary Music Council and founder of the Eastern Coalition of Music Directors, Dr.3 Graham travels around the state as an adjudicator for both the Florida Bandmasters and Orchestra Associations. In 2012, Dr.3 Graham was a finalist for Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and a semi-finalist and quarterfinalist for Grammy Music Educator of the Year in 2013 and 2020, respectively. He was acknowledged as a 2020 LifeChanger of the Year award recipient by National Life Group. Dr.3 Graham has been honored as a 2020 USF Outstanding Young Alumni Award Recipient, one of 40 Gators Under 40 in 2021 for his work in the field of education, and was inducted into the King High School Hall of Fame as a member of the Wall of Pride in 2023.
Dr.3 Graham holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Music Education (University of Florida), a Master’s in Educational Leadership (Concordia University), a Doctorate of Philosophy in Music Education (University of South Florida), a Doctorate of Education in Learning Design and Performance Technology (Florida State University), and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Instrumental Conducting (University of Florida).