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ORGANIZATIONAL EQUITY Get Close and Get Specific
If you are willing to get closer to people who are suffering, you will find the power to change the world. —Bryan Stevenson
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hose of us working at the district or administrative level are passionate about education and students, but the reality is we are a step removed from the classroom. We make decisions and attend meetings all day long, so we must work even harder to keep our why close to our choices and our work every day. Student outcomes are what we are here for—our business is students’ academic, social, emotional, and physical growth. When we keep this in mind, the changes that we need to make become even clearer. But knowing that we need to make change to best serve all our students and knowing where to start are two very different things. In this chapter, we’ll discuss how you can look at the top-down systems and structures within your organization. Let’s explore how to get proximate, get specific, and ultimately make organizational change.
GET PROXIMATE Between 2016 and 2018, while I was creating professional development and writing curricula for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, I was fortunate enough to work down the street from activist and civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson and his incredible organization, Equal Justice Initiative (www.eji.org). Stevenson often spoke at different events around town, and knowing his work for prison reform and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, I took every opportunity to see him speak.
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