Organizing Engagement is a new online publication dedicated to advancing knowledge, understanding, and practice at the intersection of education organizing, engagement, and equity. The website features introductions to a variety of models and principles, in addition to profiles of policies developed by school districts and community organizations committed to educational equity.

Organizing Engagement will publish new resources and interviews every month, and we hope the website will be of use to local leaders, organizers, and practitioners, as well as the many nonprofits, institutions, advocates, and funders working in partnership and solidarity with them. To date, more than a hundred individuals and organizations have contributed to the development of our resources.

The website was launched with support from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, which champions work that prioritizes community goals that challenge racial inequities and advance excellent, student-centered public education for all New England youth.

“We know that time is always one of the biggest challenges faced by educators, community organizers, family leaders, and others working to advance educational equity in their schools,” said Stephen Abbott, editor of Organizing Engagement. “Organizing Engagement is one way we can hold up some of the great work that’s happening around the country and make it more accessible to those who are doing the hard work in communities every day. We also want the website t to become a forum for ongoing dialogue with the growing community of practitioners working to organize and engage educators, young people, families, and community members throughout the country. As we evolve the site over time, we welcome feedback, recommendations, and ideas from the field.”

The website currently features introductions to more than 30 cross-disciplinary models from fields as diverse as youth organizing, civic engagement, deliberative dialogue, cross-cultural communication, and educational equity, including:

• Developmental Model of Cultural Sensitivity developed by Milton Bennett and Intercultural Development Research Institute;
• Equitable Collaboration Framework developed by Ann Ishimaru and the University of Washington’s Equitable Parent-School Collaboration Research Project;
• Equity Literacy developed by Paul Gorksi and Katy Swalwell of the Equity Literacy Institute;
• Parent Leadership Indicators Framework developed by the Parent Leadership Indicators Project at the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools;
• Trauma Informed Community Building Model developed by BRIDGE Housing Corporation; and
• Youth Engagement Continuum developed by the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing.

Organizing Engagement will also publish original interviews with leaders, thinkers, and practitioners from across the United States. Our first four interviews feature in-depth discussions with:

• Zakiyah Ansari, Parent Organizer and Advocacy Director for New York State Alliance for Quality Education;
• Lee Anne Bell, Professor Emerita at Barnard College and Author of Storytelling for Social Justice: Connecting Narrative and the Arts in Antiracist Teaching;
• Shari Davis, 2019 Obama Foundation Fellow and Co-Executive Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project; and
• Kip Holley, Civic-Engagement Specialist for the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and Author of The Principles for Equitable and Inclusive Civic Engagement.

Many of the resources featured on Organizing Engagement are published under a Creative Commons license that allows for the reuse, republishing, or adaptation of content for non-commercial purposes.

Visitors are encouraged to sign up for email updates and follow Organizing Engagement on Twitter @organize_engage.

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