Michael O'Key is a PhD student in Race, Inequality, and Language in Education (RILE) at Stanford's Graduate School of Education, and a recipient of the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) fellowship. Michael holds a Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University, a B.A. in Public Administration from Auburn University, and a B.S. in Environmental Design from Auburn University. His research interests examine relationships between school access and student assignment policies, school segregation, and juvenile delinquency. In 2020, Michael was appointed by Governor Roy Cooper to serve on the Juvenile Justice Planning Committee of the North Carolina Governor's Crime Commission.