The Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership is proud to stand by the statements given by NC State’s Chancellor and the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity. Our alumni represent many of the best educators in the state, and like all great educators, we are reflective practitioners.
As stated by Chancellor Woodson, ” We must acknowledge that a person’s race is still too often used to determine how they will be treated in almost every aspect of American life. And as a leading U.S. institution of higher education, we are committed to our critical role in helping right the injustices of racism and discrimination.”
Although we are proud of our strong history of inclusion in our application and selection process, for the last three years we have been working to address inadequacies in our process to ensure that every educator has equal access to our opportunities. We are acting with intent to incorporate anti-racist education and practice in our professional development, and we are partnering with organizations across North Carolina to provide teacher leadership that is representative of the districts they serve.
Our partners and alumni have created tools that we are utilizing to ensure that inclusion is a procedural part of how we do business. We offer these services and more as a resource on the Color of Education Map, and we are grateful for our partnerships with WE ARE, and with the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to create three Diversity in Leadership Fellowships over the last two years that will help us to scale these efforts across the state.
We look forward to having all of the uncomfortable conversations that will challenge us and allow us to continue to provide the best possible experience for all of our education leaders.
We are here to serve as a partner and a resource so please reach out should you need support.