Photo Courtesy of Nancy J. Deering
NEWARK, NJ — Newark Superintendent of Schools Roger León hosted the first-ever Black Men Rising Coalition and Latino Men Rising Coalition development event at the Marion A. Bolden Student Center on Wednesday, March 16. The event hosted in commemoration of Women’s History Month, intended to highlight influential women who are committed to ensuring there are sufficient numbers of men of color that are well prepared to be leaders within the district.
The Black Men Rising Coalition and Latino Men Rising Coalition initiatives, both introduced in 2021, were created by León to guide and support male teachers of color as they navigate the path to leadership. All who were nominated or interested in applying were required to provide a recommendation from their current principal while also already demonstrating leadership potential within their respective schools. This program has provided candidates an opportunity to apply to a rigorous master’s program and acquire formal and informal leadership roles.
“The merging of BMRC and LMRC was a critical next step in the all-too-important task of identifying and preparing male leaders of color for our schools,” León said. “The gentlemen in attendance have already written to me about the intentionality of this work and in particular the significance of the support they felt from the influential women leaders who volunteered their time to engage them as they tackled real-world problems of practice. The collaboration and partnerships evidenced by this event will resonate in the district for years to come.”
The event was the first gathering of its kind — a combined meeting of the two cohorts with 14 candidates, a total of seven individuals representing each subgroup. Participants and Speakers included: Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, state Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, Nicole Butler and Tiffany Jackson of the Prudential Foundation, Alejandra Ceja of the Panasonic Foundation, Aisha Glover of Audible, Michellene Davis of the National Medical Fellowships, and Anzella K. Nelms of the Newark Board of Education.
Program candidates were engaged in a roundtable setup that allowed the speakers to coach the candidates as they grappled with critical issues facing the district. During each round, candidates were given a challenge to discuss regarding educational leadership and the role of men of color in education. Their perspectives, strategies and ideas about the issues presented were then shared with the full group and documented for future exploration.
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