Are you asked to leave your ethnic culture at the door when you go to work? I was listening to the latino USA podcast a few days ago and was struck by the interviewee’s experience of being told to leave her cultural stories at the door. The concern? She might introduce bias to her decisions at the office. This caused me pause as I listened to her story about the pressure to “mainstream” herself. It made me think about how important it is to teach our young people that their stories are not a bias that disrupts their studies, but rather an important set of personal experiences that serves as their knowledge base. Their stories provide valuable perspective and context to learning. Discriminatory bias and personal stories are not the same thing. So, where do you learn about other people’s stories?
At Voice4Equity, we are a community of thought leaders that love to elevate the stories of the diverse leaders serving across the United States. In this month’s edition of Under the Flamboyan we share with you an interview of a long-serving superintendent in Michigan from the Battle Creek School District. Dr. Carter was recognized as Michigan’s Superintendent of the Year, and we applaud her! In a nation where the average tenure for School Superintendents is under four years, Kimberly has been in the seat for over ten years. Listen to what she has accomplished and how she continues to lead innovatively leveraging the benefit of longevity, which has allowed her the time to develop deep trusting relationships in her community.
Do you want to meet others like Dr. Carter, and expand your network with equity-focused leaders? I invite you to join us at our national conference in June being held in Vancouver, Washington, a beautiful river-front community. We have created a unique convening to celebrate, listen and learn from one another. The When Women Lead conference is a space for leaders to share effective educational practices for children and youth, while coming together in friendship. We focus on continuously building our policy leadership capacity to lead bold justice-focused changes, by working with one another across districts and states.
I am excited about the policy conversations that we are preparing to have in June. For those of you who will be joining us for the first time, you will find that we are a partnership of passionate leaders who believe that our differences is what brings us together in joy for student impact.
Enjoy the article on emotional and social intelligence, and reach out if you would like to explore individual or group coaching for your leadership team. Also, don’t forget to take advantage of our latest Wellness Corner video by yogi Tiana Hill. And yes…Tiana will once again be at the June conference providing an in-person yoga session and leading a pacific northwest hike with Superintendent Barbara Mullen!
Stay Connected!
Christina
