For more information:
Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith
Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity & Opportunity
dtownsend-smith@ncforum.org
919-781-6833 x114
Raleigh, NC (September 29, 2024) — One of the nation’s most prominent scholars, Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., delivered an inspiring keynote to over 850 attendees. In the address, he provided participants with practical action steps and encouragement to exemplify how we can individually and collectively work to achieve a more just and perfect democracy. While there are continuous ebbs and flows toward progress, we must not stop our pursuit to a more just union as every child needs us to do the work. He invoked North Carolina’s own “Ella Baker” – to take collective action to improve our schools and maintain our democracy.
In a plenary address, Dr. Nyah Hamlett gave participants the tools needed to lead during a challenging political environment. “We cannot let fear stop us from doing what is needed to meet the needs of every student – we must not flinch”.
The theme for this year’s Color of Education Summit was Collective Action: People & The Arc of Justice. Participants engaged in networking and over 20 virtual and in-person sessions. The 2024 summit allowed participants to experience the power of collective action, explore the significance of civic engagement, and create opportunities to collaborate within and beyond NC. Participants examined connections between the past and present to develop a deeper understanding of current educational policies which ultimately impact outcomes.
The key objectives for the 2024 Color of Education Summit included:
- Making historical connections between the past and present to influence collective change
- Motivating diverse stakeholders to continue to exercise the “power of the vote”
- Activating individual and collective responsibility to respond to injustices within and beyond education
- Examining strategies that encourage “We the People” to lead change through collective action
- Investigating policy impacts on the past and present
- Discovering applicable innovative solutions to influence policy
- Networking with practitioners and advocates
The impact of this event is found in the participant feedback and comments throughout the day:
“The summit provided an opportunity to engage in integrated spaces while removing access barriers through a seamless hybrid, in-person, and virtual experience”
“It is a space to be involved in community with people who believe that students deserve the best from all of us”
“It is great to know I am not alone in challenging political times and amidst the attacks on learning history and truths about our society”
Following the event, co-chair of the Color of Education Guiding Committee, Dr. Keisha Bentley-Edwards shared her reflections. “What we learned from the Color of Education Summit is that we are in fact better together and we are willing to do what is necessary so that every child receives the education and opportunity to be their full selves.”
In the closing, attendees were reminded that the impact of one can be more impactful when we create meaningful partnerships and work collectively to move the arc of justice. Dr. Townsend-Smith told participants that “we hold the power to create the world we want to see and to eradicate the long standing inequities through the action we take. As our namesake Dr. Flood says, “We are at a fork in the road and your action or lack thereof is seen through what we do or do not do. Remember, we are better together and we will not be stopped by fear.”
Attendees at the Color of Education summit have extended opportunities to network, strategize and organize through the Flood Center’s Mapping the Movement initiative.
If you missed out on the 2024 Color of Education Summit, you will have the opportunity to experience this event when the Flood Center releases an opportunity to purchase a limited release of some of the sessions on December 3, 2024. Join us next year on October 3 – 4, 2025.
Color of Education is a partnership between the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity & Opportunity, Public School Forum of North Carolina, the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University and the Center for Child and Family Policy at the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy.
Color of Education led by the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity & Opportunity is grateful for the support of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Peter and Sandra Conway, Mary Mac & Tom Bradshaw, Curriculum Associates, First Citizens Bank, Pearl, Discovery Education, Education NC (EDNC), Schwartz Law, PLLC, Wake Forest University, ClassLink, Towne Bank, North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resource (NC DNCR), Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership, East Carolina University Department of Educational Leadership, First North Carolina, FlyLeaf Books, Corning, UNC School of Education, East Carolina University Rural Education Initiative, Education Policy Initiative at Carolina (EPIC), Asheville City Schools Foundation, and Research Triangle Institute (RTI).
If you’re interested in sponsoring Color of Education 2025, please contact Deanna Townsend-Smith at dtownsend-smith@ncforum.org or visit https://floodcenter.org/color-of-education/. Sponsorship opportunities for October 3 – 4, 2025, event is available using this link – https://floodcenter.org/color-of-education/.
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About the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity
The Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity & Opportunity (Flood Center) serves as a hub to identify and connect organizations, networks, and leaders to address issues of equity, access, and opportunity in education across North Carolina. The Flood Center works collaboratively to take action toward addressing issues of systemic racism by advocating for structural changes in policy and practice to build an equitable education system that meets the social, emotional, and academic needs of NC’s diverse student population. Specifically, the Dudley Flood Center exists to create an equitable education system by addressing the systemic inequities plaguing the educational system which limit opportunity and access for PK – 12 students and educators. Follow the Flood Center on Twitter @DudleyFloodCtr and visit our website at www.ncforum.org/floodcenter
About the Public School Forum of North Carolina
Since 1986, the Public School Forum of North Carolina has been an indispensable and nonpartisan champion of better schools and the most trusted source in the state for research and analysis on vital education issues. We bring together leaders from business, education and government to study education issues, develop ideas, seek consensus, and ultimately inform and shape education policy. We do that through research, policy work, innovative programs, advocacy, and continuing education for educators and policymakers. Follow the Forum on Twitter @theNCForum and visit our website at http://www.ncforum.org/
About the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University
The Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity is a scholarly collaborative that studies the causes and consequences of inequality and develops remedies for these disparities and their adverse effects. Concerned with the economic, political, social and cultural dimensions of uneven access to resources, opportunity and capabilities, Cook Center researchers take a cross-national comparative approach to the study of human difference and disparity. Considering both global and local shortcomings, Cook Center scholars not only address the overarching social problem of general inequality, but they also explore social problems associated with gender, race, ethnicity and religious affiliation. Follow the Cook Center on Twitter @DukeSocialEQ and visit our website at https://socialequity.duke.edu/
About the Center for Child and Family Policy at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University
The Center for Child and Family Policy pursues science-based solutions to important problems affecting today’s children and families. The Center emphasizes the bridge from research to policy and practice through an integrated system of research, teaching, service and policy engagement. Center research has grown to include an array of projects that touch on critical child and family policy issues. Center faculty fellows include a trio of scholars who focus on the effect of economic distress on child development. Other fellows study early childhood, the development of risky behaviors, childhood mental illness and a wide range of education policy issues including school truancy, charter schools, teacher training and education reform efforts.Follow the Center for Child and Family Policy on Twitter @DukeChildPol and visit our website at https://childandfamilypolicy.duke.edu/