Community Strategy Council - Kenneth Rainin Foundation

Community Strategy Council

The Community Strategy Council worked alongside Rainin Foundation staff to strengthen our Education Program strategies

Before the racial reckoning of 2020, our Education Team was actively diversifying the representation of leaders in the literacy ecosystem. The Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s Community Strategy Council for Educational Equity and Excellence was active from March 2020 to November 2021. A concerted effort took place to include Council members who were racially and ethnically diverse and who weren’t already active in other coalitions and impact tables. We wanted to increase our proximity to people with diverse perspectives and experiences in schools. By trusting the wisdom of these community members, our work goes further to address systemic barriers to learning.

We’ve also worked with grantees to advance their diversity goals. In 2022, roughly 70% of literacy leaders in our portfolio identified with a racial group other than white.

Collage of Community Strategy Council member headshots.
Some of the Community Strategy Council members who worked alongside Rainin Foundation staff to strengthen our Education Program strategies. Photos courtesy of the Council members.

Council Members Included:

  • Daisy Barrera, Tutor, Cox Academy
  • Noah Bradley, Chief Academic Officer, Education for Change
  • Taji Brown, African American Male Achievement Program Manager, Oakland Unified School District
  • Dana Cilono, National Director, FluentSeeds
  • Clarissa Doutherd, Executive Director, Parent Voices Oakland
  • Jerome Gourdine, African American Male Achievement Program Manager, Oakland Unified School District
  • Emily Grunt, SEEDS of Learning Coach, CARES for Learning
  • Christie Herrera, Executive Director, Oakland Unified School District Early Childhood Education
  • Lisa Holt, SEEDS of Learning Coach, CARES for Learning
  • Francis Jimenez, Tutor, Achieve Academy
  • Andria Kemp, Teacher, Emerson Elementary
  • Hana Ma, Senior Policy Analyst, The Education Trust—West
  • Pecolia Manigo, Executive Director, Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network
  • Monica Scott Green, Program Director, Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network
  • Asha Sitaram, Associate & Research Lead, National Equity Project
  • Kareem Weaver, Director, Full and Complete Literacy Now, Oakland NAACP
  • Teneh Weller, Executive Director, High Expectations Parental Service
  • Woo Williams-Zou, Associate, National Equity Project