Equity & Inclusion
Our Vision for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Our mission and theory of action describe our belief in the transformative power of education to play a critical role in combating systemic racism and all forms of oppression. We know that we can’t succeed –and that any perceived successes will ring hollow — without an active and explicit commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We will hold ourselves accountable to continuous learning and improvement as we work together to implement our vision with courage and humility. Read more about our commitment here.
KIPP Public Schools Northern California aspires to improve the quality of schools so that all students have affirming experiences that help them thrive in life. We will disrupt the presence and impact of racial inequities within the organization, our practices, and in educational access and outcomes by:
– Leading with racial equity by raising racial awareness, racial literacy, and racial humility.
– Committing to anti-racist leadership and liberatory consciousness mindsets in our decision-making, processes, practices, and interactions.
– Combatting anti-Blackness and all forms of oppression within KIPP Public Schools Northern California
Leading for Racial Equity
One needs to be anti-racist in order to pursue racial justice and achieve liberation.
For more information on how we define this work, view our glossary of terms. The terms in this glossary have been adapted from several sources and form the common language chosen by KIPP’s Leading for Racial Equity and CARE Teams.
Anti-racist schools move beyond the celebration of diversity and create communities in which it is possible for students to talk about how they experience unfairness and discrimination and to heal. In these healing communities, adults’ highest priority is caring about students and their learning.
Glenn Singleton, Courageous Conversations About Race
Nobody's free until everyone is free!
Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights Leader
Cultural racism---the cultural images and messages that affirm the assumed superiority of Whites and the assumed inferiority of people of color---is like smog in the air...how can we avoid breathing the air? We may not have polluted the air, but we need to take responsibility, along with others, for cleaning it up.
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, Author of "Why Are All of the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria”
To be pro-Black doesn’t mean to be anti-white. It means to be anti-white supremacy.
Arielle Newton, Black Lives Matter:NYC Organizer
Theory of Action
KIPP Public Schools Northern California is working to disrupt the presence and impact of racial inequities within the organization, our practices, and in educational access and outcomes.
We will achieve this aim by amplifying our impact through a commitment to operational excellence, together with engaged families and communities. Here are a few of our initiatives:
Diversity & Retention of Teachers
We recruit from a diverse landscape of talent pools to ensure a highest quality, diverse and mission aligned cohort of educators in our classrooms. All staff receive frequent and intentional coaching to further their practice, deepen their ties to their school and community, including career development, pathways, and promotion.
Our priority is for the majority of our staff and leadership to represent the visible and invisible identities, perspectives and experiences that are shared by our students and families.
Visit Teach at KIPP to learn more about joining our team.
How We Are Learning
Below is a sample of the materials our organization is using to grow, learn, and change. We invite you to join us.
Books
- Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy
- Mindful of Race by Ruth King
- Courageous Conversations about Race by Glenn Singleton
- Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum
- So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Podcasts & Articles
Videos
Race – The Power of an Illusion: How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Created from California Newsreel – What is this thing called ‘race’? This series helps set the terms that any further discussion of race must first take into account.
Verna Myers: How to overcome our biases? Diversity advocate Verna Myers looks closely at some of the subconscious attitudes we hold toward out-groups. She makes a plea to all people: Acknowledge your biases. Then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable.
Segregated By Design from Silkworm – The forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.