Education Equity

Parents and youth have the wisdom and power to lead, shape, and transform our education system. We organize in coalition with community partners, and uplift parent leadership through our training cohorts.

Ensuring students of color are represented and supported in the classroom

Our priorities:

Disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline

Growing the skills and support networks of parents of color

Our cohorts

  • Parents of color are coming together to support each other, their students, and to defend education equity. For the past 5 years, our Education Equity Parent Fellowship has equipped BIPOC parents with the skills, knowledge, and community needed to navigate education systems and advocate for our children. This paid opportunity continues our longstanding racial justice organizing training.

    Graduates of our Education Equity Parent Fellowship have advanced their leadership skills as equity liaisons, teachers, Education Support Professional of the year, and have been appointed to advisory boards and policy coalitions. Other successes include:

    • Two alumni ran for and were appointed to the Saint Paul Public School Board and the North Saint Paul School Board

    • Parent Fellowship alumni continue to work on the Teachers of Color Act

    • Fellows successfully interrupted the school-to-prison pipeline and organized opposition to the Joint Powers Agreement between Ramsey County, Saint Paul, and the Saint Paul Public Schools

  • Our Early Childhood Parent Fellowship is a space for shared learning and policy advocacy for BIPOC parents. We advocate for racial and health equity, to make early childhood education more accessible and culturally responsive to BIPOC families in Minnesota.

    This cohort training model celebrates the voices, power, and knowledge of parents and caregivers, and prepares them to organize and advocate for their children.

  • Our Alumni Expansion Cohort continues the engagement, relationships, and skill development of our cohort alumni, and grows the leadership and facilitation capacity of communities of color.

    Our alumni go on to facilitate for our cohorts, and have grown their skills into consulting businesses, leadership roles, and facilitation offerings for their communities and workplaces.

The application for our 2025-26 Education Equity Parent Fellowship will be open August 1 - September 16, 2025.

Resources for action

The Pathway to Education Equity requires the participation of community stakeholders, including students and parents, the commitment of school leaders, and a sustainable process that leads to transformative change. This framework informs that path, offering a guide that addresses racial disparities in schools through an intentional process of assessment, inquiry, developing and implementing solutions, and measuring progress.

Coalition partners