Let’s start where we should always start, with joy and gratitude. I wish you an incredibly special holiday season and a wrap-up to the calendar year. I wish you great joy, love and wellness!
As we head into the holidays and into a new year, it’s hard to unpack this year. It’s been full of emotions, expectations, and political strife. Some of us had great expectations that we would be celebrating the swearing in of our nation’s first woman president, changing the course of history. Unfortunately, the data shows that segments of our population are still not ready for this. Instead of going down that rabbit hole, I will leave that conversation for a future issue because there is some serious gender-unpacking needed.
Our democracy worked. People voted and politicians running for office to represent our voices were elected. Now the hard work begins of ensuring representative governance and government. Fundamental to this work, is not losing momentum nor boldness in our equity, civil rights and justice work. We are sixty years post the 1964 Civil Rights Act of this nation, a landmark law that was hard fought, which needs to remain a fundamental assumption of our democracy today and tomorrow.
Public education is a system that has been key to democracy. From the teaching of civics, to the right of every child to receive an education, to public schools serving as critical hubs for services in communities across our nation, this is a system that has served as the backbone to our nation. The hope that we hang on to is that we will be able to come to a point in our nation’s history where our co-constructed school design, teacher workforce and leaders are truly reflective of the students in seats. We have a lot of work to do here, and must boldly remain at this table.
I invite you to listen to this issue’s interview with Dr. Talisa Dixon, two-time superintendent in Cleveland Heights School District located in University Heights City, Ohio, and in Columbus City Schools in Ohio, an urban school district of over 46,000 students. She brings enlightening perspective from her current work with the Girls Policy Network, a program that prepares high school girls of color for engagement in policy work in areas that matter greatly to them. You will be inspired by what she has learned about their passion and focus on sustainability, women’s health rights, and elimination of food deserts. As Talisa and I both agree, they are so much more savvy about these policy issues than we were at that age! They are hope, joy and love!
It is programs like this with our youth that bring us great hope in the good work that lies ahead that help dissipate our adult fears around speaking up and speaking out for equity and justice.
I also invite you to register for a women leadership empowerment conference in Phoenix, Arizona this January 23-25, 2025. This conference will focus on our learning and growth in understanding the opportunities we have with AI and technology, creating a welcoming space for women to share and learn from each other. You don’t want to miss this networking event!
As we go into the holiday season, the Voice4Equity team and our broad network of amazing women leaders and allies, encourage you to take care of yourself, bring renewed focus on your wellness, and center joy in all that you do!
With gratitude to have you in my life,
Christina
