EQUITYx: Why Do We Educate? Responsive Organizations and their Benefits to our Students

Dr. Bodunrin O. Banwo
6:00-7:00 pm CT
May 9, 2024

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Organizations are made of interrelated parts of rules and regulations that produce cooperation in meeting a common goal; however, for educational organizations, these parts also serve as the tools our society uses to socialize our most valuable population (children) into adult members. Indeed, with care and intention, these systems can serve as a powerful engine for disrupting social inequities and fulfilling the promise of equal opportunity for all. At the same time, these systems can also be seen or understood as captured by dominant social members intent on reproducing

the harm and history of past injustices. Join Dr. Banwo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership in Education at The University of Massachusetts, Boston, as he discusses the complex relationships between systems, ideologies, and models for social justice and liberatory praxis. Dr. Banwo will discuss:

The political nature of traditional/ mainstream schools as the tool our society uses to reproduce our current system of inequity
The politics of mainstream schools beyond conversations of race, including themes such as:
- gendered differences (e.g., Same-gender schools)
- child decision-making ability and liberation (e.g., Democratic Schools)
- intellectual, artistic, and practical skills, with a focus on imagination and creativity (e.g., Waldorf education)

Each of these models, in its unique form, critiques how mainstream schools operate and offers a solution through its organizational and theoretical theory of change. For example, single-gender schools are seeking to repair the single-gendered (e.g., all-female schools) and seek to repair the historical denial of education to women, while African-centered schools seek to account for the role of race in schools and attempts to create a healthy socialization process for African children. My goal with this talk is to help teachers and leaders understand the differences in school organizational structure, theory, and models and their implications for classroom practices and building-level management.

You won't want to miss this EQUITYx event!

Overview

What is EQUITYx?

In the busy educational professional landscape, we can be overwhelmed by information and struggle to distill the latest research and its implications for socially just practice. EQUITYx solves for this problem by bringing you leading scholars in educational equity, antiracism and social justice in a distilled and practitioner-focused format. Each hour-long EQUITYx session includes:

EQUITYx Talk

A short, 10-15 minute presentation by our guest scholar on timely, significant research and practice related to CRSL.

Facilitated Interview + Q&A

A 30 minute interview with the guest scholar by the CRSL team, and time for YOU to ask questions and interact with our guest scholar.

Digital Downloads and Resources

We strive to bring you relevant resources, links and follow up material to help you implement ideas and practices you learn about at each event.

Bodunrin Banwo, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership in Education

University of Massachusetts | Boston

Bodunrin O. Banwo is an assistant professor in the Department of Leadership in Education at The University of Massachusetts, Boston. Before joining UMass Boston, Professor Banwo worked in youth and community development for over two decades. Dr. Banwo received his Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where he focused on how African-centered educational institutions serve as options for Black parents seeking to find anti-racist, anti-black socialization spaces for their children. Dr. Banwo’s current research focuses on the liberatory effects of communitarian programming on schooling and student development. Before beginning his Ph.D., Bodunrin served as a food access manager for the City of Baltimore, where he worked to improve the city’s food supply chain and the economic viability of selling healthy food in Baltimore City. Throughout his career, Bodunrin has served as a public school teacher in Camden, NJ; Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, South America; Food System Manager for the Philadelphia-based nonprofit, The Food Trust, and Arizona public advocate and lobbyist for a Washington DC-based nonprofit, Project Vote. Dr. Banwo’s life has been dedicated to improving the lives of people from the African Diaspora. He looks forward to working with individuals with a passion for continuing the work begun by The Ancestors, who dreamt of a more merciful and just world.

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1041 Grand Ave Box #276
St. Paul, MN 55105
612.584.9478

info@crsli.org

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Thank you!

Darlinda Anderson serves as the senior vice president of Ajusted Equity Solutions/CRSLI. Her role within the organization is to charter leadership, organizational objectives, sustainable strategy, and advantageous expansion. For the last twenty years, she has worked in human resource management, K–12 education, and process-led project management. Overall, Darlinda’s passion for balance and equity in the service of societal disparities—especially those in disadvantaged groups and professions—was the start of her overarching search for finding and supporting an organization that creates long-term sustainable opportunity for disadvantaged minorities.

Because of her passion for systems and organizational development, after graduating from Purdue University, Darlinda went to work for Hewitt Associates, a global leader in human resources outsourcing and programmatic financial services. This was her segue into the fields of project management, education, interactive broadcast media, and marketing. Though she initially started in business within the healthcare sector, it allowed her to realize how deeply she loved working in the service of others and for an equitable cause. This was the beginning of her journey to earning her master's in educational leadership. As her multiple career paths progressed, Darlinda searched for an opportunity to serve with the US government agency Americorps. There, she completed her educational service through Teach for America. Darlinda continued to serve as a K–12 public education teacher after her initial service to Americorps ended for another ten plus years.

As a classroom teacher, Darlinda saw firsthand all the struggles that Title I schools faced. After becoming a department chair, she began studying full-time to earn her master’s of business administration in human resource management. She continued to seek out opportunities beyond the classroom, where she knew she’d be closer to influencing systematic and district-level change. She continued navigating impactful roles that affected internal shifts, which led to working as a district program manager for a few years and later leading as a director of programs over the span of the next few years in educational organizations across the country. Today, her overall goal is to continue to serve, cultivate, and create world-changing avenues that make far-reaching equitable ideals a reality.