Dear Members and Friends of the Alliance,
Every district in the Commonwealth is being asked to diversify its educator workforce. Far fewer have a place to do that work alongside peers who are solving the same problems. That is why the Alliance exists, and why Rooted reaches you each month.
Hiring isn't decided where candidates are sourced.
It's decided at the committee table.
A district can build the most intentional recruitment effort in the Commonwealth and still watch its workforce stay the same. Committees, left to habit, choose what's familiar. The leaders who change that are the ones who convene and sit on those committees: principals, assistant principals, department heads, and program coordinators. When they understand what diversifying a staff actually requires, and what it makes possible for students, the hiring season changes at the table where it's decided.
Those are the people I hope you will bring to Stonehill on October 30th. To our founding members who have already claimed your three included seats, thank you. Now look at who else sits at your committee tables. Imagine this spring's hiring season if every committee chair in your district had spent a day in that room. And if your district is not yet a member, come see the work up close, and bring the people who decide.
With hope to see you in the room,
Claire Galloway-Jones, M.Ed.
Founder & Executive Director
| Tue, Oct 13 | Membership Meeting #1, 3:30 to 4:30 PM MEMBERS On Zoom. The link will be sent to members ahead of the meeting. |
| Fri, Oct 16 | ALOC Fellowship applications and nominations close |
| Fri, Oct 23 | Conference registration closes |
| Oct 23 to 24 | ALOC Fellowship launch retreat |
| Fri, Oct 30 | Rooted and Responsive at Stonehill College The founding class closes |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Educator Diversity Act Webinar #1 MEMBERS |
Our first membership meeting runs one hour. Going forward, membership meetings will typically run 90 minutes on the second Tuesday of each month. The full 2026–27 calendar lives at masseducatorequity.org under Calendar.
Rooted and Responsive: Building the Educator Workforce Massachusetts Students Deserve convenes Friday, October 30th at Stonehill College, with a keynote by Dr. Mary Bourque, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. The day includes a superintendents' panel, workshops, and fireside conversations on hiring and pipelines.
Members, add colleagues beyond your three included seats at $125. General registration is $150, and students (student teachers and ed-prep programs) are $75.
Register by Friday, October 23rd at masseducatorequity.org/register.html
Ascending Leaders of Color is our nine-month cohort for administrators of color at every stage of leadership. Applications and nominations close Friday, October 16th. If you see yourself in this work, nominate yourself; self-nomination is welcome and encouraged. If you work alongside a colleague who belongs in this cohort, put their name forward. Both forms are at masseducatorequity.org under ALOC Fellowship.
The Alliance's work does not stop at the conference. We support members in strengthening their educator pipelines, including candidates working toward MTEL requirements. If a promising educator in your district is navigating licensure testing, reach out to info@masseducatorequity.org and we will help you find a path forward. Candidates can find test information, test dates, and registration at mtel.nesinc.com.
Loan relief for early educators. The Commonwealth has made its first awards through the Early Childhood Educator Loan Repayment Program, a partnership between the Department of Higher Education and our founding partner, the Department of Early Education and Care. Eligible early educators can receive up to $7,500 a year toward their student loans, and the program is expected to reopen for applications in spring 2027. The same announcement points to state aid for future K–12 educators as well, including the Paraprofessional Teacher Preparation Grant and the Tomorrow's Teachers Scholarship. Read the announcement
Black Men in Education Convening. The Center for Black Educator Development hosts its 9th annual Black Men in Education Convening (#BMEC2026) November 13 to 15 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. CBED describes it as the country's largest gathering of Black male educators, and this year's theme, Rooted in History: Constructing the Next 100 Years of Education, sits close to our own work.
Districts, consider sending your Black and Brown male educators. Few experiences tell an educator you belong in this profession as clearly as a room full of colleagues who share the journey. Registration closes Friday, October 9th, and CBED offers a ready-made letter of support educators can share with their principal or district leader. thecenterblacked.org
In a recent conversation on What Now? with Trevor Noah, researcher and author Brené Brown names what sits beneath every workplace that truly works: the willingness to have the hard conversations instead of talking around them. She draws the connection between identity, belonging, and trust. When people are seen, heard, and valued, they trust the people around them and feel respected enough to be vulnerable, and that shows up in their work and in the culture they help build.
Watch it with our schools in mind. Educators stay where they feel that kind of trust, and it cannot grow in a building that avoids difficult conversations about who is on staff, who advances, and whose experience is understood. The same holds for students. A young person who sees adults willing to talk honestly about belonging learns something no curriculum can teach. It also brings us back to the committee table. The conversation about who we hire is often the hardest one a school has, and the one most worth having well.
Watch: Brené Brown on What Now? with Trevor Noah
A short clip from a much longer conversation. The full episode runs about two hours and includes explicit language.
Go deeper: Inclusivity at Work: The Heart of Hard Conversations
Brown with Aiko Bethea, founder of RARE Coaching & Consulting, on her Dare to Lead podcast. The first of a two-part conversation on empathy, accountability, and the difference between checking boxes and changing a culture.
The founding class closes permanently on October 30th at the conference. Districts and charter organizations that join before then carry the founding designation, and membership includes three conference seats. Join at masseducatorequity.org.
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