Our Equity
Commitment

Our Equity
Commitment

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What we believe

We recognize that race is one of the most influential factors correlated with life outcomes, including success in education. Education First knows that redesigning our racist and inequitable education system is a necessary part of creating a more just society where race does not influence someone’s ability to live, learn and thrive. For this reason, we prioritize the dismantling of racism with an intersectional lens in our internal and client-facing work to design equitable and coherent systems that will serve all people and no longer disadvantage students, educators and leaders of color. As a firm, we believe…

Black lives matter.

We recognize this country’s history of systemic racism against Black people and we are collectively responsible for amplifying the voices of and supporting Black students, families, leaders, and Education First staff.​

Life outcomes are too often correlated with race and income level.​

We understand that people of color, especially those experiencing poverty, experience significant barriers in education, economic stability, health, life expectancy, and rates of incarceration.​

Racism oftentimes intersects with other forms of oppression and creates additional marginalization for many communities of color.

We acknowledge communities of color are not a monolith and are affected by oppression differently due to intersectionality. In our internal work and client-facing work, we seek to understand how racism interacts with various systems of oppression (e.g., racism + sexism, racism + classism) and affects people, processes and outcomes.​ (source)

People are experts in their own experience.​

We cannot effectively support our staff and clients to problem solve and innovate without centering the people most proximate to the problem, especially those at the margins. ​

Racist and inequitable systems were designed, and can be redesigned.​

People make up the systems, policies, and processes that govern our experience, and we must support our staff and our clients to explore their role in reimagining what could be possible to address systemic and institutionalized racism, and other forms of inequity. ​(source)

Our RIDE vision

At Education First, all staff feel they belong and are respected, heard, supported, and valued. We study and act on racial inequities and gaps internally to ensure race does not predict our staff experiences. Staff have tools and support to create a workplace centered on Racial Equity, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (RIDE). Education First actively works with our diverse base of clients to center racial equity in the redesign of systems, policies and processes in education and will elevate the power, voice, and agency of people most proximate to the problem.​

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