June 19, 2020
School Reform Initiative is pleased to announce our Summer Virtual Meeting Keynotes, sponsored by Pegasus Springs Education Collective – Dr. Shawn Ginwright and Dr. Dena Simmons. You can read more about them below.
We are also offering a keynote only registration to hear these dynamic speakers during the conference opening, August 5, 2020 which begins at 10:00 am EST.
More information and registration can be found at: schoolreforminitiative.org/summer-virtual-meeting/
Dena Simmons
Dena Simmons, Ed.D., is an activist, educator, and student of life from the Bronx, New York. She is the Assistant Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale Child Study Center. She writes and speaks nationally about social justice and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy as well as creating emotionally intelligent and safe classrooms within the context of equity and liberation. She is the author of the forthcoming book, White Rules for Black People (St. Martin’s Press, 2021).
Shawn Ginwright
Shawn Ginwright, PhD is one of the nation’s leading innovators, provocateurs, and thought leaders on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development. He is Professor of Education in the Africana Studies Department and a Senior Research Associate at San Francisco State University. His research examines the ways in which youth in urban communities navigate through the constraints of poverty and struggle to create equality and justice in their schools and communities. Dr. Ginwright is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flourish Agenda, Inc., a national nonprofit consulting firm, whose mission is to design strategies that unlock the power of healing and engage youth of color and adult allies in transforming their schools and communities.
In 2011, he was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Senior Specialist award from the State Department for his outstanding research and work with urban youth. Dr. Ginwright is the author of Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Activists and Teachers are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart, Black Youth Rising, Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America, Black in School- Afrocentric Reform, Black Youth and the Promise of Hip-Hop Culture, and co-editor of Beyond Resistance!: Youth Resistance and Community Change: New Democratic Possibilities for Practice and Policy for America’s Youth.
Dr. Ginwright currently serves as Chairman of the Board for the California Endowment, with oversight of a $3 billion endowment to improve the health of California’s underserved communities. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning at the Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tuffs University. Dr, Ginwright lives in Oakland, CA with his lovely wife and is currently an empty-nester—both children are in college.
Summer Virtual Meeting
August 5-7, 2020
Keeping it Fierce: Affirming our Commitment to Equity and Excellence
August 5, 2020 – Opening and Keynote begins 10:00 am EST
August 6-7, 2020 – Virtual Reflective Learning Groups 8am-1pm (with breaks)
We invite you to join us virtually August 5-7 for an educational conference like no other — SRI Summer Virtual Meeting 2020 — a conference where educators create a community of learners who share their professional practice and learn from its close, public examination. Join the virtual Summer Meeting to practice the skills, habits, and dispositions of professional collaboration and reflective discourse using SRI protocols and resources.
Highlights of Summer Virtual Meeting 2020
- Reflective learning groups — the centerpiece of SRI Summer Virtual Meeting is what distinguishes our meeting from other educational conferences. In these groups, we’ll use SRI protocols to hold us as we engage in complex, challenging, and sometimes, difficult conversations about leading, teaching, and learning; and
- Dr. Dena Simmons and Dr. Shawn Ginwright, who will charge us in our work to push for equity in our schools and our practices.
Reflective learning groups will be East (CST and EST) or West (PST and MST) with their schedules running 8am-1pm Pacific (West groups) or 8am-1pm Central (East groups) August 6-7. Breaks are included!
More Information and Registration
Summer Meeting Facilitators Needed
At the center of our virtual conference are reflective learning groups, the experience that sets SRI Summer Meeting apart from other virtual educational experiences.
Please consider applying to co-facilitate a reflective learning group. And, if you know someone who would be a terrific Virtual Summer Meeting facilitator and you’d love to co-facilitate with them, please reach out and ask them to apply!
Summer Meeting registration fee will include additional professional development for co-facilitators. Co-facilitator duties will require you to be fully present online from 8am-1pm Thursday, Aug. 6 and Friday Aug. 7.
Please request more information or direct questions and concerns to Deirdre Williams deirdre@schoolreforminitiative.org.
Apply now through the SRI Site
Thank you,
Deirdre Williams and Chris Jones
On behalf of School Reform Initiative
