Sessions at PolicyLink’s national Equity Summit 2018 around inclusion, diversity, equity and access across various sectors challenged participants to advance racial and economic equity at a greater scale. As a former educator, I found it impossible to disentangle the monumental task of creating a more equitable society across sectors from the work of the education…
Conversations about equity, diversity and inclusion are popular in the organizations and systems where StriveTogether interacts, and I’ve been thinking a lot about this question: What will it take to make racial and economic equity the work itself instead of part of the work? On April 13, I’ll have the honor of speaking at PolicyLink’s…
Ever wonder why housing in most major metropolitan communities is segregated by race? Take Chicago — my hometown — where there is a clear north/south and east/west racial divide. Gaps in wealth, income and access to education, especially between whites and African-Americans, become increasingly apparent as you cross the invisible dividing line between the city’s affluent and economically deprived areas.…
Often, educators and education services leave parents out, expecting families to feed, clothe and shelter students but remain separate from the education process. While directors, educators and administrators are heard, parent voices are often ignored or silenced. Bridge to Success in Waterbury, Connecticut, strives to uphold those voices, believing that family engagement is essential to…
Six months after becoming an independent nonprofit, StriveTogether has launched a bold and ambitious plan for building stronger systems for better outcomes. Our vision — Every Child, Cradle to Career — has been clear since the beginning, when the local partnership in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky began to take shape in 2006. Since then, change…
At StriveTogether, we are still riding high on the energy and ideas generated at the eighth annual Cradle to Career Network Convening. I hope you are feeling that high too if you were among the 400-plus champions of change who gathered in Phoenix last week for Be the Change: Getting Results for Every Child. Amid…
“It’s time for us to lay it all down on the line for entire populations.” This was PolicyLink President Michael McAfee’s closing call to action for attendees at the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network Convening last week. His keynote — which galvanized everyone in the room — was a reminder of what’s at stake and…