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Ann Ishimaru

Doing the Work

Published 2 months ago • 4 min read

Hi Reader,

September greetings, friends & family!

If your household is anything like mine, "back to school" brings lots of feelings – groans from my kids mixed with excitement about being with friends and starting new classes. As an educator, I love the feeling of possibility that comes with this time.

This fall I'm grappling with the joyful anticipation of a new book coming out soon and lots of travel related to it – mixed with heaviness about the state of the country and world. I’m alarmed by threats to freedom of speech and bewildered that violence towards children in multiple contexts has become contingent and political – but I also know it’s not new.

At a gathering I attended earlier this month, transnational feminist
Dr. Margo Okazawa-Rey (#shero!) called us to consider what she called the "politics of abundance." Not a hippy-dippy "look on the bright side" kind of approach, but a recognition that we must be intentional about reaching for strength, resilience, agency, dignity, and possibility, especially in these times, even in the darkest places. That even as we are fighting against things, we must remember what we are struggling for.

If you are reading this, I suspect we are in the struggle together for humanity, justice, peace, learning, wellbeing, joy – not just for the select few, but for all children, families and communities. The small things matter in our collective struggle. We keep reaching, keep "doing the work" (as leaders in my new book say!), keep on keeping on. In that spirit, a few updates and resources to share.

Updates

Lighting the Way in Dark Times

With my incredible co-editor and co-author, Decoteau Irby, I’m excited to share the stories, insights, and lessons of Doing the Work of Equity Leadership for Justice and Systems Change. I’ll share more in future missives, but I want to cue you into the cover, which references the cyclic nature of systems equity leadership work across time.

First there were new equity positions, policies, and audits. Morning Work was about shaping new roles, building relationships, and initiating plans and teams. Then a global pandemic shut down life as we knew it, and George Floyd was killed. Midday Work saw an influx of resources and organizational commitments to grow professional capacity, institutionalize new processes, and implement far-reaching equity plans. All too soon, the pushback came: book bans, anti-CRT campaigns, and anti-DEI mandates. Evening Work was about building support networks, moving collectively, and strategizing beyond formal institutional structures to sustain equity work.

It’s night now - and it’s gonna be a long one, fam. We have a lot to learn from the lessons of the day, even as the work continues and we strategize for a new day of equity leadership (yes, a new dawn is ahead). In the dark, the book is giving off light. It’s a refusal to erase the leaders and change-making work of the day. You can order it right now from Bookshop or TCP (or Amazon 😉).
​

Podcast Conversation

Decoteau & I got to chat recently about the book with Lily Jones on the Educator Forever podcast. We talk about the importance of not waiting to be given a title or permission to "do the work," teachers’ super power of knowing students and families, and the possibility of progress with struggle. Hope you’ll check it out!

Events & Opportunities

Two of the best humans around + Just Schools = Powerful Learning!

Dr. Melia LaCour, John Lenssen and I are thrilled to be offering an online 5-week book study on Tuesdays from 4:30-6:30 pm PT February 24-March 24, 2026.

I’ve known and partnered with both of these incredible educators in different contexts for many years, so when they happened to connect with each other a few years ago, it was like worlds colliding in the best possible way. Together, the two of them bring a rare combination of fierce commitments to justice with loving humility as they support others in undertaking equitable collaborations with families and communities. This will be perfect for teams of educators, family and community leaders. Interested in being notified when registration opens? Please sign up here and we’ll make sure you stay in the loop!

Doing the Work . . . in Japan!

Thanks to a new Japanese colleague and an emerging research collaboration, I’m honored to be invited to do a talk – in English! – at Tohoku University Graduate School of Education the day the book comes out. I’m looking forward to sharing our work in an international context!

Learning on the Road

History in unexpected places

At the tail end of summer, our family took a trip to Eastern Washington where we enjoyed yurt camping at the beautiful Anthony Lakes in the Blue Mountains as well as fossil hunting (in the town of Fossil), fishing, kayaking, white water rafting, rowdy card games, and time away from devices (I can’t even remember the last time I had no cell service for days!).

On our way there, we stopped in a small Central Oregon town to visit a place I bet you didn’t know existed! About 5 hours east and south of Portland, John Day is the last place you’d expect to learn about Asian American history. But at the end of town, you’ll find the Kam Wah Chung & Co. Heritage Site – an amazing 1865 Chinese medicine shop, general store, hang out spot, and bunkhouse – the last remaining building of a Chinatown where as many as 200 people once lived. We got a free tour (thanks to the terrific Oregon State Park guide) and learned that it was an active center of Central Oregon’s Chinese community for over 60 years – and that Ing "Doc" Hay was sought out both within and beyond the Chinese community for so long that there are records that can’t be shown at the museum because they are still covered by FERPA privacy laws! Turns out there’s even a PBS documentary about it.

Have you come across hidden histories in your places? They are a great reminder for me that, although anti-immigrant violence and policy have shaped this country from early on, the ingenuity, perseverance and collective care of communities are also passed down through the generations to us.

Ki o tsukete/Take care,

Ann

​www.annishimaru.com​

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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Ann Ishimaru

Codesigning collective leadership for joyful learning and just futures

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