The PALNYC Founders
Angelique LeDoux is a writer and picture editor turned education advocate based in New York City. She is the founder and executive director of PALNYC and The P.A.L. Workshop Series in NYC, that helps parents of advanced and high potential learners navigate gifted education and quality educational resources for their children in New York City and beyond.
She is also the founder of Jade’s ToyBox, an educational and eco-friendly children’s toy company, that helps parents identify and support their child’s strength and talent areas with safe and engaging learning tools. The products combine carefully-vetted, theme-based toys, books and games and were named to Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products of 2010 and listed on Dr. Toy’s Socially Responsible Products for 2010.
Formerly an editor at TIME for Kids Magazine, LeDoux remains passionate about quality children’s media and educational content. Prior to TIME, LeDoux worked as an editor and photographer with the Associated Press in New York City, as well as numerous news organizations throughout the 1990s. She received an MA in both Journalism and Fine Art Photography from New York University; and went on to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Gifted Education from Rutgers University to better support her own advanced learner.
Shamir A. Khan, Ph.D. is a psychologist with over 15 years of experience across the fields of psychology, education, research, and online publishing. In his clinical practice for adolescents, adults, and couples, Dr. Khan primarily works with underserved and underrepresented mental health populations (e.g., South Asians, Asians, Muslims, Caribbean groups, men of color, etc.) and members of the United Nations, diplomatic, and international communities.
He served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology & Education in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, and was a member of the Consulting/Part-Time faculty in the Psychology Internship Training Program at Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility.
Dr. Khan founded the NYC Private Schools Blog in 2008, an online family resource that provides information on over 800 pre-K-12 independent, religious, and private schools across the 5 boroughs of New York City. In 2011, HighBeam Research named the blog a Top 10 Education Research Blog. Dr. Khan has also been a partner and an organizer of the Parents of Accelerated Learners (P.A.L.) Workshop Series since its inception. He is a current advisor to Manhattan Media’s Blackboard Awards, which honors excellence in public, independent, and religious education in New York City.
Dr. Khan is a co-founder and former Board member of Global Youth Connect, an international youth human rights organization. Currently, he is a Global Advisor to the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation, which supports young global leadership impacting positive change and the NGOs that support them, and a member of the Board of Directors of South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS), which addresses the social service needs of the underserved South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities of New York City. In 2010, he was one of the recipients of the Global Citizens Award from Orphans International Worldwide, which honors individuals who personify global citizenship in their leadership in helping humanity.
Dr. Khan has co-authored peer-reviewed articles in such journals as Schizophrenia Research & Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology and has been quoted in the areas of psychology or education in The New York Times, AM New York, New York Family Magazine, The New York Observer’s Scooter Magazine, and West Side Spirit.
Dr. Khan earned his B.A. from Haverford College, M.S. from Teachers College, and Ph.D. from Columbia University, holds a post-graduate certificate from the International Trauma Studies Program at New York University and from 1996-97 was a Raoul Wallenberg Scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, one of 10 graduate students awarded full funding to focus on Leadership in Democracies.
Originally from Guyana, Dr. Khan currently resides in NYC with his wife and children, ages 9 and 6.
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