What DEI Work Means to Us

This work is not about knowing more than others: it’s about doing more together.

Change and growth demand we humbly and courageously acknowledge that all of us have blind spots across our thoughts and behaviors. In order to transform these blind spots into opportunities for collective change and growth, we need to explore and value our multifaceted experiences: we need to centralize diversity, equity, and inclusion. So, what “radical," from-the-roots change and growth are you curious to make, for yourself and in collaboration with the people around you?

DEI work is about helping people explore, experiment with, and eventually own that potential to change and grow, both on the individual and systemic levels. Having been teacher leaders in our schools, we have intimate experience with how systems and procedures have direct bearing on the daily lives of the folks who live in them. Changing those systems and procedures takes courage; by not approaching change as an “uprooting” of unhelpful behaviors and oppressive systems, the weeds of troublesome habits and systems will simply grow again.

As experienced classroom educators, we have implemented practices necessary to inspire actionable, fundamental change in students, peers, and leadership alike. We know how to create the building blocks of learning, and we know how to support folks in moving from the edge of their comfort zone into the learning zone.

We invite you to use your small landscape as the starting place for the world you wish to see. When folks see injustice taking place in the world, they often ask in the heat of the moment, “What can I do?” Frequently, this question becomes too big to tackle, and the momentum of change fizzles to apathy.

We can help you sustain that momentum of change. By giving you and your organization the tools to identify injustice and reimagine what justice and belonging could look like in your workplace, you can answer essential questions like:

• How do we exchange unhelpful impulses and oppressive behaviors for more thoughtful, deliberate, and healthier professional habits?

• What does it look like when folks come together to celebrate and create diversity, equity, inclusion, and subsequent belonging among one another?

• What does it feel like to collaborate in a work environment every day where each person feels and truly is part of something so much bigger?

• How can we adjust our policies, systems, and decision-making structures to create the most equitable, justice-driven outcomes possible?

For you and your communities, we are here to help you imagine, shape, and own the answers to these questions—all and always “by the roots.”