An Initiative of WestEd’s Resilient and Healthy Schools & Communities
Funded by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation as part of the COVID Education Equity Response Collaborative, the year-long Equity Accelerator provided statewide professional learning sessions and an intensive fellows program for select county offices of education (COEs).
Professional learning sessions addressed issues of adult mindsets and biases underlying education policies and practices; stakeholder agency, voice, and choice; co-design and co-leadership; and culturally responsive, trauma-informed, healing-centered, restorative, and inclusive practices.
From January through November 2021, The Equity Accelerator Fellowship provided an intensive cohort-based experience that connected COE leaders (“Fellows”) looking to leverage existing agency efforts and priorities to dismantle biased and oppressive systems, cultivate healing and resilience, and ensure equity across their counties. Fellows learned the technical skills needed to affect change as well as the adaptive strategies necessary to create systemic and sustainable change.
In addition to participating in the Equity Accelerator PL Series, Fellows worked closely with subject matter experts, equity coaches, technical assistance liaisons, colleagues, and peers to design and begin to implement projects centered on shifting mindsets, improving policies and practices, and creating sustainable systems change to establish equity. The Equity Accelerator Fellowship provided a safe space to exchange and test new ideas, engage with seasoned and emerging experts in the field, and cultivate the skills and mindsets necessary for effective leadership in today’s complex education systems.
