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DESIGN WITH EQUITY IN MIND By Tina Gridiron In my first five months as the newly appointed vice president for ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning (Center) it has been an honor to join the great work of ACT’s 60-year history and partner with colleagues from all around the world to continue building toward ACT’s future success. As a mission driven nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping people achieve education and workplace success, ACT is trusted in the arena of college and career readiness. And, as a unit within ACT, the Center seeks to strengthen, deepen, and extend that trust by promoting tools, programs, policies, systems, and organizational efforts designed to address the challenges and barriers impeding opportunity and success. Specifically, the Center harnesses ACT’s commitment to holistic success and the organization’s long-standing dedication to opportunity and inclusivity, in order to fight for fairness and success for diverse racial, ethnic, income, and accessibility groups. In short, the Center engages with aligned stakeholders to eradicate deep-seated racial and income injustices in our current education and workforce ecosystems and is intentional in designing solutions with equity in mind. As an African American woman who is unapologetically committed to education, service, and equity, joining ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning has been an unexpected gift where my personal passion has joined seamlessly with professional opportunity. Some may call it serendipity and others may call it luck. But, whatever the spark, through the Center’s efforts to address systemic opportunity gaps and success barriers, I have been given the opportunity to advance programs and strategies designed to affect real change in the lives of students from low-income backgrounds and students of color. As the Center elevates research, builds 52
coalitions, and supports programs that consistently contribute to student success, we champion large scale efforts which mirror the meaningful supports that mentors, colleagues, and friends have given me throughout my education journey. The Center serves as a collaborator and bridge builder across all of ACT, strengthening and enhancing ACT’s long-standing commitment to equity in the design, development, and implementation in all that we do. In short, the Center brings the heart of ACT’s mission to life as we strive to help all individuals achieve their education and workforce goals and dreams. Without question, as ACT continues to grow, evolve and mature, future generations of individuals from low-income communities, Black/African American learners, Latinx learners, individuals who are the first in their family to seek postsecondary education, and individuals with exceptional abilities, among others, will be supported to realize their dreams. A prime example of how the Center consistently engages in efforts designed to increase student success can be seen in the many years of support and collaboration that the Center has enjoyed with Excelencia in Education, Univision, and the Association of Latino Administrators
The American Consortium for Equity in Education
