Hi Reader,

In the Pacific Northwest, the rain and gray overcast skies have settled in for good, and by 4 pm many days, I’m astonished to realize it’s already dark outside. So I look forward to the solstice with a little bit of quiet desperation (as Thoreau would say), recalling the time when the sun goddess, Amaterasu, hid herself away in a cave and refused to come out (spoiler alert: she eventually returned, lured by dance, music, joy, and the beauty of her own light reflected back to her). A lesson from old times for us!

It’s been an epic year, especially for those already excluded and marginalized in our society. In the midst of multi-front assaults, I’m inspired by so many friends, colleagues and students using their voices, teaching, leadership, and scholarship to fight for the wellbeing of all young people, schools and communities. Harm and violence continue to be wrought upon particular communities, especially immigrants, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, and working-class communities. But there are still individuals, organizations, and communities helping to hold the grief, refusing to allow histories to be erased, standing in solidarity with communities under attack, and struggling towards the futures we all deserve.

In the dark of mid-December, I look forward to lighting candles to mark the solstice (and Hannukah, as observed by extended family). What do you do to mark the coming of the light? And how are you staying grounded in community as we struggle through the long darkness?

Getting to share the new book in different places with multiple communities of scholars and educators has been that for me. Here are a few other updates as we close out the year.

“Doing the Work” in Community

​Doing the Work isn’t a typical edited academic volume. Editors of those books generally put out a call to scholars for chapters related to a shared topic. I’ve certainly contributed to edited volumes (most recently, this one on families and learning during the pandemic). While they offer a variety of studies about a common topic, the chapters tend to be quite distinct and the result of solo (or internal team) labor.

In contrast, the chapters in Doing the Work resulted from 3 linked project phases over nearly 10 years of collaborative effort:

• The equity director study informed “morning” work;
• The longitudinal multi-district study corresponded especially to “midday” work; and
• The third research-practice phase shaped “evening” work. This phase was a multi-year collaboration between researchers, junior and senior scholars, and practitioners to write chapters that would speak to each other, integrate research and practice on the ground, and provide useful insights and strategies for educators across multiple contexts (we also laughed and ate together, but we look very serious in our writing retreats in Philadelphia & Minneapolis!).

The collaborative research-practice phase is why I have especially enjoyed celebrating and sharing the book with our chapter co-authors. Decoteau got to share with Dr. Shannon Paige Clark at Eastern Shore Higher Education Center in Maryland and with Dr. Teresa A. Lance in Kankakee, IL. I had the pleasure of talking about the book with Dr. Constance Daw and Dr. Keisha Scarlett at the delightful King’s Books in Tacoma, WA. And this month, Decoteau and I joined Dr. Maurice Swinney at Chicago Beyond. I wanted to share a little about the chapters co-written with Dr. Swinney and Dr. Daw, two practitioners who are also now authors!

Chapter 6: Designing Work Routines and Process(ing) Tools: An Infrastructure of Strategic Equity Leadership

Dr. Maurice Swinney is a life-long educator and leader dedicated to centering students farthest from opportunity. With Decoteau Irby, his chapter wrestles with how to move beyond constant crisis response mode and putting out fires. When he became the chief equity officer of a large urban district, Dr. Swinney’s small team became overwhelmed trying to be everything to everyone in their district. So they resisted the impulse to start new initiatives, connected with educators, administrators, students, and families across the district, and developed routines and processes to build an infrastructure for equity across the district. For instance, they created a process for vetting policies that began with an inquiry into how students closest to the issue were impacted; the question “Who did you ask?” became a potent lever. “True equity work is not about putting out fires,” they conclude in the chapter, “it is about redesigning the system so that those fires do not keep breaking out in the first place.”

Chapter 8: “Sisterhood as Leadership Beyond the Central Office”

Dr. Constance Daw is an educator, mom, and principal who regularly invokes her ancestors and her future lineage as her source of strength and inspiration. With Fannie Martinez, a PhD student who was part of the multi-district study, Dr. Daw and I co-wrote a chapter that has so many lessons for us in these times. The chapter illuminates the emergent systemic leadership of a group of Black principals, a sisterhood, who called themselves the Black Lady Principals. The BLPs didn’t wait to be given a title or a mandate, but took it upon themselves to create a community of holistic leadership practice for justice. They held each other to wholeness as Black women while also holding each other accountable for continuing to grow and expand their leadership. “By creating a fugitive space and leaning into their spirituality as Black women, they leveraged their collective relationships to receive the encouragement, vision, push and affirmations necessary to sustain their work.”

“What now?!”

If there’s one consistent question we’ve gotten over and over, it’s a version of this one: how do we even think about equity leadership in the current moment? How can justice-focused educators still do the work? What do we even do now? As hard as it is to answer, it has been profound to engage with folks who are wrestling with these questions. We shared two takes (and more) on these recent podcasts – and you can find more on my website!

Another response relates to understanding how we got here. Decoteau and I put together this list of books to shed light on the current DEI attacks while also illuminating how educators and leaders continue to “do the work” of fostering more humanizing educational ecosystems and futures.

Join the Just Schools Book Study!

I often hear from teams eager to deepen their learning and growth around partnering with families and communities. Since we are no longer offering the FLDC Codesign Institutes (another impact of politicized funding cuts), Melia, John, and I cooked up a 5-session in-depth book study. We are especially excited for it to be FREE for family and community leaders who are part of teams with educators and organizational staff (of 3+). Join us to elevate your practice, center family wisdom, and build just schools, especially with racially minoritized youth, families & communities.

Facilitators: Dr. Melia LaCour & John Lenssen (with me popping in here and there!)
​When: Tuesdays, Feb 24 - Mar 24 | 4:30-6:30 PM (PST)
​Where: Live on Zoom
​Who: Educators, school leaders, parent/family partners, and community organizers. We are especially interested in supporting teams of educators and families (free for non-staff family/community partners who are part of a team!).

Upcoming Opportunities to Connect!

January 11 - Phoenix, AZ at Palabras Bookstore
​January 12 - Portland, OR at OPB’s Current & Future of Education in Oregon​
February 6 - Seattle, WA at Leading towards Justice Symposium, University of Washington
​February 26-27 - Philadelphia, PA at Acres of Diamonds Community Partnership & Engagement Symposium, Temple University
​April 9-12 - Los Angeles, CA at the 2026 American Educational Research Association conference​

“We are Here”

You’ve likely heard the Japanese expression “arigato gozaimasu.” Though translated simply as "thank you," the root of the phrase is the word “arigatai,” which literally means "difficult to be" and also "rare and wondrous." It refers to a Buddhist story about a blind sea turtle who surfaces only once in a hundred years. On the vast ocean, there’s a single piece of driftwood with a hole in it. Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Bishop Marvin Harada explained:

When I think about all of us doing the work in whatever ways we can, I find myself in wonder at how many ancestors had to struggle and persist for every single one of us to be here today. It’s truly rare and wondrous.

We are here.

And that’s something to be grateful for.

Wishing you light, connection, and joy in the season.

Love,
​Ann