Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Some define equity in education as fair and just opportunity to learn through access to high-quality programming, high-quality teachers, distribution of funding, just discipline procedures, and measure of achievement. Given this definition, what is the board’s role in assuring this for every child in the building? Learn more from our local and national experts on how boards might approach this work with an equity-focused lens. We have multiple pathways to do this work. Reach out to learn more about our Peer Learning Communities and individual assessments. Contact [email protected] for more information.
Purchase Board Webinar Series

What's Included?

  • 3 Videos

    Note: grateful to present this public and complimentary viewing of this important discussion.

  • 3 hours 25 Minutes to Complete

  • 3 Quizes

Course Curriculum

    1. Immigration, Education and Equity-Focused Governance

    2. QUIZ: Immigration Education and Equity-Focused Governance

    3. Cruz-Guzman Case Panel

    4. QUIZ: Cruz-Guzman

    5. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Planning Guide

    1. Federal Reserve Bank: Racism and the Economy: Focus on Education

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. QUIZ: Federal Reserve: Racism and The Economy: Focus on Education

About this course

  • $500.00
  • 7 lessons
  • 1.5 hours of video content

Instructors

CEO and Founder Khadija Ali

Khadija Ali is the CEO and Founder of Global Language Connections. GLC offers interpretation and language services to improve cultural connections. The accolades for her work are impressive from the Young American Leaders Cohort at Harvard University, to the Achievement award from the Minnesota International Leadership Institute to 2017 Women in Business from Minneapolis. She attended the University of Minnesota and her board service includes AEON, Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce and the Minneapolis Foundation.

Chief Operation Officer Priya Morioka

Priya has had vast marketing management experience with some of our local favorite brands from General Mills, Caribou and Schwann Food Company. She also received her undergrad from the University of Minnesota and a Masters from the University of Michigan. We also appreciate her service as a board member at the Harvest Network's Best Academy. She is the Chief Operation Officer of Global Language Connections, which provides assistance with interpretation, translation and closing cultural gaps for better results.

Executive Director, Paladin Career & Technical High School Brandon Wait

Brandon Wait joined Paladin’s team in 2008. However, his involvement within the field of education has spanned for over fifteen years and in many roles. Brandon has notable experiences in a variety of sectors including non-profits, public education, juvenile interventions, and social services. Brandon has a strong background in student social and emotional health and has helped with creating a supportive and brave learning community at Paladin. Brandon believes in a school community that empowers students’ strengths, instills unity, and meets the individual needs of each student. He is a leader in implementing trauma-responsive, restorative practice, social and emotional learning (SEL), and student-centered approaches in schools. As a school leader, Brandon utilizes a collaborative approach to make ethical, informed, and evidence-based decisions. He encourages the school’s staff, educators, and leadership team to put the interests of the students first and to make equity a priority. Brandon’s favorite part of any day (besides issuing a high school diploma) is his passion for giving school tours and talking about school innovative education practices. Brandon is passionate about his work and students, but when he is not at Paladin, you can count on him being outside (no seriously, he loves the outdoors). He is likely hiking, biking, skiing, climbing, playing broomball, or on his yoga mat.

Instructor(s)

Partner, Taft Law Jack Perry

Jack Perry is a senior trial attorney and litigator. He specializes in high-stakes litigation and regulatory compliance matters across a broad array of sectors. From his past and ongoing representation of industry leaders in retail (Costco), agriculture (Genus, PIC USA, Protein Sources, Barrick), mining (Shakopee Gravel), breathalyzer (LifeSafer, Smart Start), technology (Emerson), environmental consulting (Stantec), auto recycling (Copart), healthcare (Protégé, Biolyph), demolition (Veit, Frattalone), metal recycling (Northern Metals Recycling), fast food (Wendy's), solid waste (Waste Management, Veit, Morrison County), education (Higher Ground, Friendship Academy of the Arts), environment (Audubon, Smart Growth) and energy (Xcel Energy), Jack has a well-earned reputation for aggressively representing the interests of his clients in all manner of administrative and judicial proceedings, including jury trials, court trials, state and federal appeals, class actions, contested case hearings, and state and local governmental board proceedings. Jack is, as well, one of Minnesota's leading land use, including condemnations, and agricultural law practitioners. He has a degree from St. John's University and the University of Minnesota law school.

Executive Director, Wayfinder Foundation, Civil Rights Attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong

Nekima Levy Armstrong is a civil rights attorney, activist, and Executive Director for Wayfinder Foundation. She previously served as a Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas Law School for thirteen years, where she founded and directed the Community Justice Project, an award-winning civil rights legal clinic. Nekima’s work has been featured in Associated Press, Crisis Magazine, MIC.com, Huffington Post, MinnPost, and the Star Tribune, to name a few. She has appeared on CNN, PBS, Democracy Now, Al Jazeera America, News One, and HuffPost Live. In 2017, she was named 100 People to Know by Twin Cities Business. In 2016, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the Governor’s Commission on Martin Luther King Day. In 2015, she was named one of “40 Under 40” by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. In 2014, she was named a “Minnesota Attorney of the Year” by Minnesota Lawyer and recognized as one of “50 Under 50 Most Influential Law Professors of Color in the Country” by Lawyers of Color Magazine. Nekima previously served as president of the Minneapolis NAACP and as an advisor to Black Lives Matter Minneapolis. She also ran for Mayor of Minneapolis in 2017.

Vice President of Legal Affairs, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Rob Reed, Jr.

Robert Reed, Jr., is the vice president of legal affairs for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, where he develops and implements legal advocacy efforts. He has over 14 years of experience as a litigator and policy leader. Prior to joining the National Alliance, Rob was a senior policy adviser with the Vera Institute of Justice. Before that, he was the associate director of legislative affairs for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). In that position, Rob served as a liaison to Congress, crafting and executing strategies to promote ONDCP’s policy and legislative objectives with Members of Congress and appropriate congressional committees. In addition, he prepared ONDCP’s director and deputy directors for participation in congressional hearings. Prior to joining ONDCP, Rob served as oversight counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee, where he worked on a variety of criminal justice issues pertaining to the oversight of the Department of Justice, the FBI, national security, and financial and mortgage fraud. Before serving on the House Judiciary Committee, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., where he indicted and prosecuted criminal cases. Earlier in his career, he also worked as a senior judicial law clerk for then-Chief Judge Annice Wagner of the D.C. Court of Appeals, and as a litigation attorney with Miller & Chevalier in Washington, D.C. Rob holds a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he received the James M. Shoemaker, Jr. award as a finalist in the Lile Moot Court Competition. He has served on the boards of the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition and Luke C. Moore Academy, as well as KIPP DC’s inaugural associate board

Instructor(s)

Executive Director, Friendship Academy of the Arts Dr. B Charvez Russell

Education has always been at the forefront of Dr. Charvez Russell’s life growing up in a family involved in education in many capacities. After graduating from Mississippi College in Clinton, MS with a B.S. in Biology, he started his professional career in Canton, MS as a math teacher in a high school alternative setting. He moved to Minnesota in 2002 where he continued to teach math and science to middle school students in the Minneapolis Public Schools at City View Community School. After teaching for three years, Russell decided to go after his passion for business and went back to school to get his MBA from the University of Phoenix. Upon graduation, he joined Avis Budget Group’s leadership team at the Minneapolis/St. Paul location where he remained for eight and a half years. During this time he obtained his Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. He returned to education in 2014 and is currently the Executive Director for Friendship Academy of the Arts.

Senior National Legal Advisor, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Renita Thukral

Renita Thukral is the Senior National Advisor for Legal Affairs for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, where she leads and grows the Alliance of Public Charter School Attorneys; addresses civil rights, fiscal equity, and labor/employment issues confronting charter schools; assists with federal legal questions challenging the charter school community; provides legal technical assistance to state partners considering litigation; and offers support to state partners seeking to improve their regulatory and authorizing environments. Prior to her work with the National Alliance, she was the policy director at the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools and, prior to that, the director of policy and advocacy at New Schools for New Orleans. Renita was an adjunct professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and has been invited to speak at Harvard Law School, Columbia University Teachers College, and Johns Hopkins School of Education. In 2010, she published a law review article in the Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law titled “The Unique System of Charter Schools in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: Distinctive Structure, Familiar Challenges,” which examined the New Orleans charter school community. In 2013, she published a law review article in the ABA Journal of Labor and Employment Law titled “Federal Regulations of State Pension Plans: The Governmental Plan Revisited,” which explored the impact of federal rulemaking on the eligibility of quasi-public entities to offer state pension benefits to their employees. Before entering the charter school world, Renita was a public defender in New York City, practicing at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts. She clerked for the Honorable Robert W. Sweet in federal district court in the Southern District of New York. She earned her juris doctorate from Yale Law School and her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa during her junior year. She taught junior high school math in Los Altos, California, before attending law school. Renita proudly serves on three nonprofit boards. She is a founding board member of Harmony School of Excellence-DC, a charter school based in Washington, D.C. She serves on the board of Charter Board Partners, a national nonprofit that designs and drives high-quality governance for charter school operators around the country. And she is the vice president of the board of Global Charity Foundation, a United States-based nonprofit that provides health care and education services to women and children in India.

What You'll learn

Immigration, Education and Equity-Focused Governance

Learn from our guest experts, Priya Morioka and Khadija Ali, from Global Language Connections. Gain an understanding of our Minnesota foreign-born community and their important role in our educational system, economy, and future.  We will discuss why it is important for the board to understand their school community in order to make sound decisions at a board level. Explore why boards should govern with an equity lens for effective oversight. Consider key questions to discuss with your board.


Federal Reserve on Racism and The Economy: Focus on Education

Listen to this complimentary discussion of the Federal Reserve System’s recent installment of Racism and the Economy with Geoffrey Canada, co-founder, and President of Harlem Children’s Zone.  Hear from Minneapolis Federal Reserve President, Neel Kashkari and former Minnesota Justice, Alan Page. Understand the basis for the Page Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution.  Leaders from the public, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors present ideas for dismantling systemic barriers to educational opportunities for Native American children and children of color. These proposals will kick-start a wide-ranging conversation among researchers, policymakers, and community leaders who are committed to eliminate racial disparities in educational opportunity.

As this is a longer segment, we thought the following would help guide you:

00:00 Opening Remarks, Robert Kaplan, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

7:20 Keynote Speaker, Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children’s Zone

19:29 Q&A with Geoffrey Canada and Neel Kashkari, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

28:00 Proposal Presentations, moderated by Amy Scott, Marketplace – Myra Jones-Taylor, ZERO TO THREE; Alan Page, Page Education Foundation; and Michael Thomas, Colorado Springs School District

47:44 Response to Proposals and Respondent-Proposer Discussion – Cheryl Crazy Bull, American Indian College Fund; Gerard Robinson, Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation; Deborah Santiago, Excelencia in Education; Linda K. Smith, Bipartisan Policy Center

1:29:14 Q&A with Sal Khan, Khan Academy, and Raphael Bostic, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

1:44:04 Closing Reflections, Takeru “TK” Nagayoshi, New Bedford High School and 2020 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year; Robert Kaplan, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Neel Kashkari, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; Eric Rosengren, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

 

Cruz-Guzman Legal Case

Learn why Minnesota charter school leaders should care about the Cruz-Guzman case?  Many believe it will impact parent choice and the ability to choose a culturally-affirming school. Hear from our panel including the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools about how this could have national significance for other states.