A Network on Racism Borne Out of My Need to Learn

How can you lead anti-racist practices and thinking when you are learning alongside everyone else?

That was my predicament after being promoted to executive director of the LEARN Regional Educational Service Center. As executive director, I oversee six racially diverse magnet schools that serve 2,300 students in southeastern Connecticut, providing programs and services to the region’s 24 school districts.

The examination of racial equity was one of my first strategic moves as executive director. The agency had a clear vision to ensure every child has opportunities through an equitable system of education. The examination of racial equity was one of my first strategic moves as executive director. Despite the vision, we did not have a clear picture of what it should look like, nor did we have a strategic path forward to move the agency toward the ideal.

To help LEARN reimagine its future, I brought in Lee Teitel of Harvard’s Reimagining Integration: Diverse and Equitable Schools project. He worked with teams from our schools and the central office. From the onset, the central-office team experienced obstacles, deferring to me even though I was in full learning mode as a group participant. How could I lead when I lacked the breadth of knowledge and the equity language to frame my moves? This was the right work. On that I never wavered. However, I continued to feel trepidation about my perceived limitations. 

A Sounding Board

Our central administration found its footing after creating a culture of trust from which to work as a unified coalition. Together, we developed an equity lens for our agency that now is the foundation for decisions. We solidified our collective understanding of what equity means and committed to examining our systems by asking, “Are we providing our students, educators and the region with the resources to be successful?”

Even with those accomplishments, I still found myself stumbling over the right words after George Floyd’s murder. I felt accountable to the Black and Brown families and staff members experiencing chronic stress due to systemic racism. I recognized the urgency to accelerate my learning so I could effectively lead the organization.

Selfishly, I craved a network of my peers to use as a sounding board in my learning about racial equity work, and I knew other leaders in our region had parallel needs. This is where the idea for a regional learning community around race, racism and equity was conceived.

Beyond Talk

In October, with Teitel as my guide, we launched a community of practice for superintendents focused on race, racism and equity. This community is now a place where regional leaders expand their knowledge and skills in safety. Conditions exist where we not only discuss our whiteness and its privileges but also devise strategies for using our race and power to make systemic change within our respective school districts. A network borne.

KATHERINE ERICSON is executive director of the LEARN Regional Educational Service Center in Old Lyme, Conn.
@kategiardi