Systems Change, People, and the Case for Optimism

Many skeptics and detractors of the current movement for more diverse teams and systems question “diversity for diversity’s sake.” But it’s never been an aimless movement. Our political and social systems are built by people working in their best interest. Or, for the best interest of those they care and think about. Nothing unnatural about […]

Nuance in Education – Dare We?

I’m sitting in a downtown Oakland coffee shop, thinking deep thoughts about Ann Coulter’s end game in coming to UC Berkeley – then not coming – and the helicopters that are still hovering above campus for security tonight. Deep thoughts about extremes as the only acceptable mindsets. Deep thoughts about the disappearance of nuance in political, public, […]

Identity

I thought I knew me, 25 and alive, naive to the vibes of undetermined skies ahead. Who are you? I knew not om; om was a transitory being with a role to play but not the reality of totality that is and isn’t the sum of all that is inspired and inert, alive and dead. Identity? […]

Ice Ice Baby – Collaborate and Listen, Indeed

Maybe Vanilla Ice had it right all along. It’s been a critical 7+ months. I left Deloitte Consulting to test out my personal hypothesis: I loved, and wanted to work in, education. But wait now – I’ve already skipped over a critical piece of that journey. Where did that hypothesis come from? A proverbial teacher’s apple […]

Colonialism in Education

Have I come here to help you build a bridge? Or have I already built a bridge and come to ask you how it should be painted? colonialism /kəˈləʊnɪəˌlɪzəm/ noun 1. the policy and practice of a power in extending control over weaker peoples or areas; Also called imperialism My Biases Against Colonialism When you Google colonialism, […]

The Silver Bullet

How would I fix education? Who’s gotten that question before? Check out my Education Pioneers blog post about my thoughts on that elusive “silver bullet” in education work. Hint: I don’t believe in one.