Show Notes
Equity Leadership Now! hosts conversations with equity-conscious leaders from pre-K through university settings who transform structures and strategies for educating students, particularly for those who are marginalized.
In this episode of Equity Leadership Now! hosted by Jabari Mahiri, the focus shifts to part two of our series on Leadership Programs’ flagship offerings, Principal Leadership Institute (PLI) and Leaders For Equity And Democracy (LEAD).
LEAD is a rigorous three-year educational doctorate at the UC Berkeley School of Education, aimed at fostering equity and social justice in educational leadership. Dr. Mahiri spoke with the program’s director, Dr. Lihi Rosenthal, and two recent graduates, Dr. Tu Carroz, Assistant Superintendent of Education Services at Roseville Joint Union High School District, and Dr. Olufemi Ogundele, Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at UC Berkeley. The graduates shared their reflections on the LEAD program’s key concepts including the necessity of understanding educational systems to lead them effectively, the idea that leadership is an embodied practice, and the importance of intentionally designing systems for equity.
Dr. Rosenthal, Program Director of LEAD, outlined LEAD's distinctive approach, emphasizing its commitment to equity and social justice, which is embedded in its curriculum and pedagogical strategies. LEAD’s curriculum integrates real-world case studies and is co-taught by both scholars and practitioners to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. The program is designed to balance rigorous academic requirements with substantial support structures, including close advising and an intentional cohort model that promotes collaborative learning. These principles have guided the graduates' work and their research.
Dr. Tu Carroz, Assistant Superintendent of Education Services at Roseville Joint Union High School District Carroz's research delves into the intersection of risk and resilience for women of color in the role of school superintendents, highlighting a significant underrepresentation of these individuals in the field compared to their numbers within the broader K-12 educational workforce. Carroz's study examines three key areas: the career trajectories of women of color aspiring to superintendencies, the impact of racial and ethnic backgrounds on their experiences, and the skills and support necessary for their success.
Dr. Olufemi Ogundele, Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at UC Berkeley.Ogundele emphasized LEAD’s robust support system and its impact on his pursuit of equitable admissions research. Dr. Olufemi also known as Femi has generated impactful change “in the literature now, there's been called the “Femi” effect, the idea that in all of the UCs, this was not happening in terms of this amazing, dramatic increase, and the things that you were doing since you got here facilitated that. And we were clear that the work that you did with your dissertation and turning that over into more intensive ways that you're going to engage in this trajectory that you're already on will be one of the benefits of this work,” Dr. Mahiri explained. This literature is highlighted in Zachary Bleemer’s “Affirmative action and its race-neutral alternatives” in the Journal of Public Economics. Dr. Ogundele’s dissertation examined the misalignment between K-12 academic opportunities and higher education admissions standards. He highlights how “it does not make sense for a student to graduate from a public high school in any state just to be told that in that same state, at your public flagship or any regional public that you are somehow ineligible because of a lack of something that K-12 produced” and addresses this disparity by proposing strategies for improving access to STEM majors.
Both Dr. Carroz and Dr. Ogundele highlighted LEAD's role in preparing them to address systemic issues in education through both rigorous academic inquiry and practical leadership.
Applications for the next LEAD cohort are now open. Interested candidates are encouraged to visit the program's website for more information and to attend information sessions or demonstration classes before the application deadline. To learn more about LEAD, click here.