“In our language, it explains who should be at the table with us, and it’s very clear. It’s specific that we need district leadership, county office leadership, students, families, parents, community partners, certificated staff, classified staff. This created the space and opportunity so that everyone can be a part of transforming their local context.”  – Steven Sterling Mitchell, CCEE 

In this GLR Learning Tuesdays session, Community Engagement Initiative: A Framework for Sustainable, Systemic Change, Vito Borrello, Executive Director of NAFSCE, moderated an enlightening conversation about an innovative community engagement effort in California. He was joined by: 

Speakers

• Yolie Flores, CEO & President of Families in Schools
• Jan Gustafson-Corea, CEO, California Association for Bilingual Education
• Robin McIver Brown, Ed.D., Leadership and Outreach Department Director, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools 
• Steven Sterling Mitchell, Assistant Director of Community Engagement and System of Support, California Collaborative for Educational Excellence 

Commentators

• Yolanda Brown, Parent/Community/McKinney Vento/Foster Care Liaison, Northridge Academy in Flint, MI and Pontiac Academy for Excellence in Pontiac, MI 

• Eddie Koen, President, Institute for Educational Leadership 

Yolie Flores and Steven Sterling Mitchell shared background about the top-down and bottom-up approach that led to Community Engagement Initiative (CEI), bringing together voices from the community, the state and other organizations. Jan Gustafson-Corea shared how the dual capacity framework guides the initiative’s work, with the end goal of meaningfully engaging communities. Robin McIver Brown talked about the scalability of this model, as well as the mindset and importance of bringing folks to the decision-making table who would not otherwise be there. Next, commentators Yolanda Brown and Eddie Koen shared their expert perspectives on CEI and discussed the potential and importance of this work nationwide.  

“This mindset has a compassion and a heart and a skill to build relationships that are really critical to infuse into a district system, to impact the mindsets and change the views of which communities should come to the table to make decisions in the best interests of the students.”  – Robin McIver-Brown, Ed.D., SBCSS