The Rise of Directors of Equity with Shomari Jones (S1E5)

What is equity? Who is leading the charge in shaping educational equity? How can I get involved? The Equity Everywhere podcast answers these questions and more. Made for educators, this podcast will give you vital resources through conversations with equity leaders across the educational industry.

In this episode, Thom Jackson, President and Chief Executive Officer of EdisonLearning, chats with Shomari Jones, the Director of Equity and Strategic Engagement at Bellevue School District in Bellevue, Washington.

In this conversation, Thom and Shomari focus on the process of developing an equity leader position for school districts. A bulk of the conversation discusses making this position as effective as possible. In this discussion, Thom and Shomari discuss addressing institutional issues, qualities of great equity leaders, the challenges equity leaders face, and most importantly, the structures that need to be created within a school district to support the creation and implementation of a director of equity.

This discussion is interesting because of the barriers and politics that directors of equity or equivalent positions in school districts face and how long the process of creating institutional equity takes. Thom and Shomari discuss how solutions like professional development, community engagement, institutional assessment, and more are long-form processes that take time, patience, and resolve but create lasting and essential change in schools and communities.

Equity Everywhere is a podcast series hosted by MindRocket Media Group and EdisonLearning President & CEO Thom Jackson. Joined weekly by a variety of K-12 practitioners and experts, they engage in critical, meaningful, comprehensive conversations about equity in education ― what are the key factors, variables, objectives, and considerations for the education system to acknowledge and address? Together, podcast participants will highlight, amplify, and refine best practices and solutions for ensuring education equity everywhere.

Learn more about EdisonLearning and its commitment to Equity Everywhere.

Listen to more episodes of Equity Everywhere on edCircuit.

Authors and Participants

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Shomari Jones

Shomari Jones is the Director of Equity and Strategic Engagement at Bellevue School District. He leads staff in thoughtful exploration of institutionalized racism and its impact on student learning and mentors students to raise their social awareness and help them feel more connected and engaged in the district and their communities, which has resulted in a community-wide conversation, bringing to light racial and socio-economic inequities. He serves as a powerful advocate for and witness to the experiences of students of color to help district leaders identify, confront, disrupt, and dismantle structures that limit the potential of those students. He developed several student empowerment initiatives like Students Organized Against Racism (SOAR), Breaking Out Of the Margins (BOOM), and Sistahs Having Outstanding Uniqueness Together (SHOUT), as well as parent advocacy groups like the Parent Alliance for Black Scholars (PABS). In 2019, Shomari was recognized as a “Leader to Learn From” by Education Week. He has served as the Chief Operating Officer at the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, a not-for-profit organization with 82 years of activism and community experience in the heart of Seattle’s most diverse neighborhood, the Central District. Shomari also volunteers at the Seattle University Center for Social Transformation and Leadership and the Bellevue Police Chief Diversity Committee. He holds a Bachelors in Science in Mathematics from Tuskegee University and has a daughter in college.
Thom Jackson

Mr. Jackson currently serves as the President & Chief Executive Officer for EdisonLearning, a for-profit educational services organization known for offering status-quo shattering solutions to transform America’s public educational system. Under Mr. Jackson’s leadership, EdisonLearning has delivered services, including digital curriculum and school management services, to schools across 32 states, a direct result of strategic efforts to sharpen the organization’s mission and vision and to implement transformative changes to the companies finance and operational infrastructure that halted spiraling losses and significantly improved shareholder returns.

The Rise of Directors of Equity with Shomari Jones (S1E5)

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The Rise of Directors of Equity with Shomari Jones (S1E5)

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