After a highly successful inaugural cycle of IDRA’s
Education Policy Fellows Program, we invite you to meet our five new fellows! They will gain real-world advocacy experience and training during the 2023 Texas and Georgia legislative sessions, because we know state policymakers can make stronger decisions by working with advocates who are connected to impacted communities.
Students of color make up most of the two states’ public school population: about in 63% in Georgia and 74% in Texas. Yet, advocates of color often are rarely present in the rooms where decisions about the lives and opportunities for students of color are made.
“We are thrilled to introduce our new class of IDRA Education Policy Fellows, and we're so proud of the caliber of the incredibly talented applicant pool,” said Morgan Craven, J.D., IDRA National Director of Policy, Advocacy and Community Engagement. “The legislative sessions in Texas and Georgia will be particularly challenging, so it is more critical than ever that voices of advocates and communities of color are centered.”
IDRA launched its first Education Policy Fellows Program in 2020 with
groundbreaking accomplishments. Our new Education Policy Fellows will work with coalitions, students and families to craft a community-centered education policy agenda and join a network of advocates and policy influencers focused on improving racial equity in education policymaking spaces.
The IDRA Education Policy Fellows Program is generously supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. The programming for the new cohort of fellows will be coordinated by IDRA's new Georgia Advocacy Director and former fellow, Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed.