YOU'RE INVITED TO THE SOMALI PARENTS EDUCATION BOARD'S STRATEGIC PLAN UNVEILING

New Holly Gathering Hall
7054 32nd Ave. South
Seattle, WA 98188


The Somali Parents Education Board began as a social network of parents frustrated with their children's education experience in South King County and South Seattle. For the last three years, they have been hosting monthly parent and youth workshops on navigating the education system, advocacy, parent engagement, leadership building, Know Your Rights trainings, positive parenting, community organizing, and more. 

SPEB is looking for partners and invite you to join them at their upcoming event where you'll get to meet the leadership team and members of the local Somali community. You'll also learn more about their strategic plan, a culmination of years of surveys, workshops, forums, and discussions with Somali youth and families. The plan reflects their work in building education-focused relationships that helped them define educational barriers and identify capacity-building priorities for the community.

If you have any questions, contact  speb2015@gmail.com.

MEET SPEB CO-FOUNDER AND CLT MEMBER
REGINA ELMI

The Road Map Project recently announced its first-ever Community Leadership Team, a group that will provide visionary leadership and community accountability for improving education results and closing achievement and opportunity gaps. Over the next few months, you'll get to learn more about each of the 13 new members through this series.
 
Regina is a co-founder of the Somali Parents Education Board and believes the biggest role in this world is being a parent. She considers it a privilege to be working with parents like her every day and learning from them. Regina believes if we want to close the opportunity gap, parents and youth must be involved in conversations about systematic racism. She is a champion of community leadership and placing parents in leadership roles so they are the ones advocating for our children.

1. In one sentence, how would you sum up your day-to-day work?  
Working alongside other parent leaders to interrupt systematic racism.
 
2. What do you want people to know about the community or communities you are a member of? 
The Somali community is a very resilient, overcoming, and surviving every obstacle that comes our way. This is true from colonization to destruction and civil war to new foreign places in which they learned to strive and grow.
 
3. Tell us about a time when an educator or educational experience made a big impact on you.
When I was in eighth grade I finished my English as a second language classes, so going into freshman year I wanted to take honor classes. My guidance counselor informed me since I just left ESL, I would fail an honors class, saying, "You wouldn't even make it through the first week." My parents at the time couldn't advocate for me because of the language barrier and our cultural belief that teachers have your best interest in mind. I went to an African-American teacher whom I trusted and told him the story. The following week he went to the guidance counselor to advocate for me and got me into the class. This I believe is what lead me onto this path.
 
4. Who's your favorite social justice advocate, living, dead, or fictional?
Dr. Hawa Abdi, a Somali-born doctor who dedicated her life to serving the Somali people through building sustainable institutions in health care, education, agriculture, and social entrepreneurship.
 
5. If you can make one immediate change to the education system, what would it be?
Your ZIP code should not define your quality of education.  
 
6. What are your hopes for the Community Leadership Team?
My hope is that we  make a positive impact in education so that our children thrive in their education.
 
7. Finish this sentence: Equity is ...
...balancing the scale so we are all playing a fair game.
 
8. What was the last thing you read, watched or listened to? Would you recommend it?
The paper, "When Reality Crashes the Imagination: Experiences of Young Qurbojoog (foreign raised) Somalis in Somaliland."
 
9. Where is your favorite place to go in the Road Map Project region (South Seattle and South King County)?
Tukwila.  
 
10. What is one of your most cherished family traditions?
Eid.  
 
11. What inspires you?
My faith, my community, family, and those who have paved the way.
ROAD MAP PROJECT NEWS ROUND UP

Building Changes has awarded a Schoolhouse Washington grant to the Tukwila School District to strengthen its ongoing efforts at helping students who are homeless or precariously housed to enroll in school, complete their high school education, and continue on to higher education. 

Voters in Kent will decide whether to approve two levy propositions from the Kent School District on the Feb. 13 ballot.

Washington STEM, Washington MESA, and the University of Washington have launched the Engineering Fellowship Program to address the most under-taught STEM field in elementary schools: engineering.

Shyan Selah, a Federal Way alum, activist, and musician is opening doors to new opportunities for students in his community. 

House Bill 1488 would allow undocumented students to get financial aid for college, regardless of DACA's demise. 
EQUITY ESSENTIAL UPDATE:
QUALITY OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME SERVICES

The recent list of awards for quality out-of-school time services from Best Starts for Kids includes many place-based partnerships and people of color-led organizations from South King County. These programs are key to increasing access and dismantling barriers to opportunity. 
The Road Map Project is a collective impact initiative to improve student achievement from cradle through college and career in seven King County, Washington school districts: Auburn, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Renton, (South) Seattle, and Tukwila. 

Through multisector collaboration with more than 200 partners and individuals, the Road Map Project aims to eliminate the opportunity and achievement gap impacting students of color and low-income students by increasing equitable policies and practices in education systems by 2020 and for 70 percent of its region's youth to earn a college degree credential by 2030. 

The Community Center for Education Results (CCER) is a nonprofit created to staff and support the Road Map Project. CCER works alongside partner organizations and individuals to provide research, communications, strategy and operations support. 

Please email info@ccedresults.org with any questions or comments. 
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