Teach For America Bay Area

While the presidential contest is receiving the bulk of the attention, we believe it is critical that our community is just as engaged locally, specifically in local school board races, and that we should get to know candidates for our local school board and commit to making an informed choice. This fall, 4 of 7 OUSD school board seats are up for election, with no incumbents running, and in WCCUSD, Richmond is transitioning from an at-large election system, where voters elect... all five district board members, to a Trustee Area system where voters elect only the board member who represents a defined geographic area within the district where they reside. Thus, all five seats on the WCCUSD board are up for election this fall of 2020. School boards play a critical role, as they set the vision and direction for the district, hire and fire superintendents, make decisions on key policies, approve or deny public charter schools, approve budgets, etc. Hyperlinked below you will find information about every candidate for each OUSD School Board District and each WCCUSD Trustee Area. The purpose of sharing this information is to inform our community. This is not an endorsement. We offered all candidates the opportunity to introduce themselves and share their platforms via 2, two-minute videos. Hyperlinked is the information for all candidates, as well as candidate videos that were submitted by candidates, and met the two-minute time limit --> OUSD school board candidates: http://bit.ly/OUSDcandidates --> WCCUSD school board candidates: http://bit.ly/WCCUSDboardcandidates #GetOutTheVote #gotv

Educators do the essential work of introducing students to perspectives that help them build a more complete view of the world. That includes building their understanding of the systems of power that have worked to uphold racism throughout history. https://bit.ly/3cc7pHa

Less than a week until applications close for Rising Leaders Fellowship... Connect, Learn, and Collaborate with leaders across the Bay! RLF is a seven-month leadership pathway program open to recent TFA alumni interested in continuing to develop as leader in educational equity work. The fellowship is free and designed for folx who work full time. To learn more, please click here: http://bit.ly/TFABayAreaRisingLeaderFellowship... To apply, please click here: http://bit.ly/TFABayAreaRLFApplication See more

Today we kick off Latinx Heritage Month (Sept 15th - Oct 15th)! #TFA will be partnering with our National Latinx Alliances team (@TFAFamilia) during this month and throughout the year to celebrate the power, beauty, and diversity of the Latinx community. We will be reflecting on the tremendous contributions of our Latinx community with virtual events, shared stories from TFA.org, and hearing from our TFA network on the impact of this month and much more. Through working together and continued collaboration, we recognize this opportunity to share these contributions with others so that we may all carry forward the message and meaning of this month all year long. #LatinxHeritageMonth #LatinxAlliances #HeritageMonth #Celebration #AfroLatinx #Latinx

Do you identify as a Black woman entrepreneur? Do you know someone who does? TFA’s Black Community Alliances is sponsoring 12 Black women to participate in PROSPECTUS, a 9-week business accelerator program for business women of color put on by our partner, Walker’s Legacy (registration fees will be covered). (More info here: https://walkerslegacy.com/calender/) This opportunity is open to corps members, alumni, and staff who identify as Black women. Please share accordingly! Apply for sponsorship via and/or share this link (https://tfablackcommunity.typeform.com/to/w2Gi14P0) by Monday, September 14. Successful applicants will be notified by Friday, September 18. The course begins Saturday, September 26.

Reshare! The @leagueofwomenvoters of West Contra Costa County will host a WCCUSD School Board Candidate Forum for voters to meet candidates who are running in the upcoming election. Candidates will introduce their platform and answer questions from the community. Submit your questions to [email protected]. Teach For America as a 501c3 organization does not support or oppose any candidate for political office.

Connect, Learn, and Collaborate! #TFABayArea is thrilled to kick off our fifth cohort of our Rising Leaders Fellowship! The fellowship is a 7-month leadership development program open to recent alumni interested in continuing to develop as a leader in educational equity work. To learn more, visit this link: bit.ly/2020RLFAPP

We are heartbroken at another example of police violence across our country, and we're devastated for Jacob Blake's children, forced to witness an unspeakable horror. We must keep challenging and changing the status quo to ensure our communities and country are anti-racist in belief and action. #blacklivesmatter #JacobBlake

Join #TFABayArea's Collective board and alum Shannon Wheatley, CAO of a local school network, for an evening of distance learning resource sharing on Tuesday, 8/25, from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m.! Register here: http://tinyurl.com/baycollectivedistancelearning

Teach For America has launched a Teacher Resource Hub! Check it out to find resources to help support and guide your work as a leader in educational equity, as well as learn about upcoming virtual events.

Calling all alumni of color! Join the Collective Bay Area today, 7/14, at 6 p.m. PST to connect with one another. We are hosting an informal & safe space for alumni of color to convene, connect, and reflect about issues currently affecting our community. RSVP @ tinyurl.com/collectivechat

We at #TFABayArea are heartbroken to learn of six-year old Jace Young's murder in San Francisco over the long weekend. Jace's father shared with the Chronicle that Jace "wanted nothing more in life but his chargers, some milk, and to build on his computer, 'from the time he woke up to the time he went to sleep.'" According to CNN, at least 6 children were killed by gun violence across the nation this holiday weekend, including Jace. This increase in gun violence and tragedy that impacts our children across the country must stop now. You can support Jace's family through this GoFundMe campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jace-young. #JusticeForJace

Join us on Tuesday, June 23, from 12 to 12:45 p.m. PT for our fourth live installment of Learning in the time of COVID: California Education Policy and Funding. Moderated by Paul Keys, TFA Bay Area's Executive Director, the session will feature two guest speakers: David Crane, President of Govern For California Frances Teso, TFA Bay Area Board Member, and Founder and Executive Director of Voices College-Bound Language Academies. These leaders will share how the pandemic h...as impacted our state's budget, especially on the education front, as well as provide insights for what this impact will mean for schools and classrooms for the next school year. Register here! https://bit.ly/3e6iQ3d

This week, #TFABayArea hosted a STEAM-focused webinar in our series, Learning in the time of COVID. Moderated by our Chief Program Officer Samir Bolar, we chatted with three awesome guests: Sandra Oh Lin of KiwiCo, Dan Carroll of Clever, and Jesse Lovejoy of 49ers Museum & EDU and Levi's Stadium. Check out the recording here: https://vimeo.com/427552480