EDTalksMN EDTalksMN

In this EDTalk, Paula Cole discusses opportunities for educators and families to collaborate, advocate and ultimately hold school districts and legislators accountable for the wellbeing and academic success of young people. She argues that we need to change the narrative around parent engagement, particularly for lower-income and BIPOC families, and provide culturally relevant tools for all families to become powerful agents of change for education excellence.

Paula Cole was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, a place she left to pursue her dream of a college education in the United States. After six years as an Educators for Excellence (E4E) member and teacher leader, Paula joined the Minnesota chapter as executive director. Prior to this role, she worked as an elementary teacher and academic coach in Minneapolis Public Schools. Paula believes that the voices of educators are rarely sought and often ignored by policymakers, and she loves her work at E4E because it allows her to ensure that teachers’ perspectives are included in education policies that directly impact children’s education outcomes.

This EDTalk was live streamed from Icehouse in Minneapolis on May 8th, 2023. EDTalks is presented by AchieveTwinCities in partnership with Graves Ventures, a project of The Graves Foundation.

For more information on EDTalks or to watch EDTalks videos or listen to audio podcasts, visit achievetwincities.org.

In this EDTalk, Rosie Lais and Natty B. Hels share information on new guides Great MN Schools developed to help families better understand what their kids should be learning each year in English language arts and math. They share what they have learned from beta testing with nine community organizations and over 250 Minneapolis families. Families who use the guides are better equipped to be learning advocates for their children and more likely to provide support at home, connect with teachers and seek additional learning opportunities.

Rosie Lais is the director of community resources at Great MN Schools, where she blends her strategic and relationship-building skills to ensure that every family has the tools they need to navigate the K-12 system for their children. She began her education career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, where she served as national coordinator for the Leadership Development for Global Education program. An alumna of Minneapolis Public Schools, she earned her master’s degree in public administration from Princeton University.

Natty B. Hels was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Early in her career she worked as assistant director of an early learning center, where she witnessed the importance and value of high-quality education in supporting the health and well-being of children and youth. After immigrating to the U.S. in 2015, she began working at Centro Tyrone Guzman, where she currently serves as the youth programs director. She is proud to be part of an organization where she can work with her community and follow her passion for supporting children and youth.

This EDTalk was live streamed from Icehouse in Minneapolis on May 8th, 2023. EDTalks is presented by AchieveTwinCities in partnership with Graves Ventures, a project of The Graves Foundation.

For more information on EDTalks or to watch EDTalks videos or listen to audio podcasts, visit achievetwincities.org.

In education, nonprofit and government spheres there is much discussion today about diversity, equity, and inclusion – but relatively few conversations that address disability or its intersections with race. In her EDTalk, Maren Christenson Hofer identifies how ableist ideas inform our educational systems and discusses the profound impact educational practices and policies have on students with disabilities. She also offers a new vision of education that replaces ableist ideas with models of true inclusion and concrete steps we can take towards realizing that vision.

EDTalks is co-presented by Achieve Twin Cities and Graves Ventures, a project of The Graves Foundation. Learn more at www.achievetwincities.org/edtalks or follow us on Twitter at #EDTalksMN​.

This EDTalk was live streamed from Icehouse in Minneapolis, MN on April 19, 2023. It was emceed by Kyrra Rankine.

As a spoken word artist and educator, Frank Gardner has seen first-hand the power of young people who are harnessing artistic expression as a tool for social change, interpersonal reflection and community building. In his EDTalk he explores how young people are processing the tumultuous years of COVID quarantine and the murder of George Floyd through Spoken Word, poetry, theater, songwriting and activism, such as school walkouts. He shares how he utilizes youth voice and Spoken Word to support young people in tapping into honesty and authenticity and suggests tools for teachers as they navigate our current challenging teaching environment. He argues that young people are already deciding what’s next for our world – adults just need to listen!

EDTalks is co-presented by Achieve Twin Cities and Graves Ventures, a project of The Graves Foundation. Learn more at www.achievetwincities.org/edtalks or follow us on Twitter at #EDTalksMN​.

This EDTalk was live streamed from Icehouse in Minneapolis, MN on April 19, 2023. It was emceed by Kyrra Rankine.

In celebration of our 10th anniversary season of EDTalks, Achieve presented this special event where five past EDTalks speakers gathered in conversation around our 2022-23 season theme, “What’s Next? Where does education go from here?" Speakers reflected on their past EDTalks topics in light of the present day: What has or has not changed? What are they more or less concerned about? How has the pandemic or other recent events shifted the way(s) they see their topic? What do they think is in store for us?

Panelists included Dr. Keith Brooks, Former Student Services Director, Anoka-Hennepin School District; Jason Bucklin, LGTBQ Education Specialist at the Minnesota Dept of Education; Dave Eisenmann, Director of Technology, Minnehaha Academy; Salma Hussein, Principal, Gideon Pond Elementary; and Erin Walsh, Co-Founder, Spark and Stitch Institute.

EDTalks is co-presented by Achieve Twin Cities and Graves Ventures, a project of The Graves Foundation, in partnership with The Citizens League. Learn more at www.achievetwincities.org/edtalks or follow us on Twitter at #EDTalksMN​.

This special EDTalk event was live streamed from Icehouse in Minneapolis on March 8th, 2023.

This EDTalks is titled “Teacher-Powered Schools: Sharing Power with Educators, Students and Families” Our featured speaker is Amy Junge. Amy is the director of Teacher Powered School at Education Evolving, a Minnesota-based nonprofit working to improve public education. Amy supports educator teams across the country through teacher-powered governance, collaborative leadership and autonomous school models. A former California elementary and middle school assistant principal and teacher, she began working with teacher-powered schools in 2009.

In her EDTalk, Amy will explore the structures and cultural characteristics of teacher-powered schools, the many benefits of these learning environments for students and communities and the growing movement of 250+ teacher powered schools that are embracing this approach to educating and making change.

This virtual EDTalk was live streamed online on December 5th, 2022.