Our Commitment
Commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
SustainED Leaders will strive to make educational equity and excellence a reality for all students. This aspiration compels us to center Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at our core as we build our organization and develop and support educators in schools who are committed to the pursuit of equity and excellence. Acknowledging and addressing inequities associated with race and culture are essential parts of this work and require challenging the status quo and fostering new ways of thinking. Our organization seeks to build authentic relationships with diverse stakeholders and community members so we can work together to help educators ensure every child succeeds. Perspectives from communities most impacted by educational inequities must imbue every level of our organization if we hope to realize our vision for equitable and excellent schools for all children.
Guiding Principles
Our Organization
We strive to create an inclusive organization where diverse teams of individuals work collaboratively to build trust, challenge assumptions, and seek solutions that center the experience of those we serve. Each member of our team commits to engage in ongoing reflection and introspection to examine how biases, beliefs, and behaviors influence the way we see and interact with others - and to work courageously to improve behaviors that increase trust. In addition to supporting interpersonal growth, racial literacy, and cultural competence, we commit to design and refine systems that promote equitable practices within our organization while working with stakeholders to disrupt systems that perpetuate inequities.
Our Engagement In Learning
We strive to create inclusive learning environments for our participants that honor and value each individuals' diverse identities, experiences, and beliefs, in particular those members of our community that have been marginalized. Recognizing that this work is both deeply personal and never finished, SustainED Leaders will ask, in addition to its board members and organizational leaders, that educators who engage in its programming commit to continual reflection and ongoing dialogue to further their development of equity practices. To foster a spirit of collaborative learning, we strive to create conditions where educators can be their authentic selves, sharing and learning from one another while experiencing a sense of belonging and empowerment.
Our Community of Leaders
We strive to support and develop an ongoing community for education leaders who are working to create equitable and inclusive school communities where adults and children are supported and challenged to realize their full potential. We believe that to do this it is essential to recognize the inherent worth and value of the diverse beliefs, strengths, and perspectives that inform the educators in our programs. Drawing from these personal experiences allows educators to develop unique individualized leadership identities and equips them to work toward equity and excellence in their schools.
Our Approach to Design
We commit to building cultural proficiency into our design process, and to research best practices that have been identified and utilized by diverse leaders, practitioners, researchers, and community members from across the country and around the world. In designing and developing professional learning and coaching experiences, we acknowledge that the use of curriculum and practices lacking in cultural competence have in some cases perpetuated the inequities we seek to address. We are committed to the ongoing evaluation of these practices to continuously refine and optimize practices that promote educational equity and excellence.
This statement is a living document that reflects our current commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We recognize that this work is ongoing. As we learn and grow individually and as an organization, we will continue to re-evaluate and review our commitments, strategies, and practices related to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.