Taking action for a more mindful, equitable world.
As we kick-off the recruitment season for our gold-standard year-long programs, the Mindful Teacher Certification Program and the Schoolwide Implementation Program, Mindful Schools is launching the Equity in Action Fund—an initiative to ensure we are a step closer to realizing our vision of a thriving and equitable world.
Mindful Schools is deeply committed to equity and inclusivity, and we believe that representation matters in all elements of our training. This year, the Equity in Action Scholarship Fund will invest in educators who identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ and will support their participation in our transformative year-long programs with affinity group experiences and significantly reduced tuition, creating inclusive and nurturing learning environments for our participants and the communities they serve.
We aspire to improve our learning experiences for educators who identify as BIPOC and LGBTQ+ so they can feel resourced, renewed, and resilient, with a new toolkit of mindfulness-based skills and strategies. Our team has also reduced prices of introductory courses and is pursuing grant opportunities to support these goals.
Educators today face increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout that diminish their capacity to learn, develop positive relationships, and create safe, inclusive, and equitable learning environments for their students. BIPOC and LGBTQ+ educators face compounding trauma and stress that reduces a sense of resilience and agency. They have historically been under-represented in the field due to long-standing structural inequities in the education system. As a result, a largely white, cisgendered, heterosexual female educator workforce teaches a growing majority of students of color. In 2020, a dual pandemic—the coronavirus and racial injustice—have placed additional burdens on BIPOC teachers and laid bare the reality of economic, health, and education disparities only compounded by COVID-19.
The Equity in Action Scholarship Fund is just one element of our broader and ongoing effort to strive for social and racial justice. Mindful School’s board and executive team is also working to address how white supremacy culture plays out in our work environments, policies, and structures. In Mindful Schools’ training, we use mindfulness practices to nurture self-awareness, unearth biases, and develop compassion and resilience for making personal change. This inside out work is essential as we advocate to dismantle discriminatory and racist structures inside education systems.
We have listened to our community who share our vision for more mindful and equitable world. We invite you to consider making a gift to the fund to invest in supporting the leadership and growth of a diverse cohort of educators who can shine as embodied, mindful leaders to the youth they serve.