TESTIMONIALS

“The Justice Leaders training, led by Dr. Shayla Griffin, Rev. Lois McCullen Parr, Autumn Campbell, and Greg Myers, is hands down the best and most impactful equity training I have ever encountered. I have taken nearly every possible workshop they offer over the past five years and attribute much of the success of our school’s social just work to them. We are a better, more equitable school community (and county!) because of their knowledgeable, courageous, and compassionate leadership, training, and brilliant EJATT. 

The Justice Leaders’ EJATT has been the road map and framework for us to take meaningful action towards being anti-racist and socially just, and their workshops have truly laid the foundation for educational justice for all of us as a school community. Their workshops have given me clarity, confidence, and vision for the complex and never-ending work of dismantling an unjust educational system as a leader. 

Words cannot express my deep gratitude for them and their life changing work. Their work has changed my life (and so many others) for the better and ignited a fire and passion for lasting change and real action in education.” 

—Nhu Do, M.A. (she/her) | Principal and Program Director, International Baccalaureate Workshop Leader | Program Director, Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium

“The Justice Leaders courses [for educators] – along with my experiences via “Doing Our Own Work: An Anti-Racism Seminar for White People” – have been seminal in my development as an activist educator and community activist. The Justice Leaders courses, under the direction of Dr. Shayla Reese Griffin and the entire Justice Leaders Collaborative team, have provided a detailed knowledge base, rich materials, and an analytical approach to anti-racist learning, along with focus on systems change and empowerment into action. I was able to experience “Doing Our Own Work” with both Lois McCullen Parr and Autumn Campbell as facilitators, and the work there supplied the heart-centered approach that allows for the deep introspection and healing that has deepened me as a human being. The takeaways from “Doing Our Own Work” allow me to both make my work sustainable and to help me continue to grow and deepen in my personal development in anti-racist and social justice work. Bringing these two powerful approaches under one umbrella is extremely exciting and brings a new, much needed entity to our collective build of a just and equitable future.”

—Jennifer Shikes Haines, M.A., M.Ed. (she/her/hers) | K-12 educator with 35+ years of experience

“I have had the opportunity to work with the Justice Leaders Collaborative team in a variety of settings. I have participated in nearly all of their professional learning offerings, and the experience has radically changed my work as an educator and community leader. The biggest impact the Justice Leaders Collaborative team has had for me is in shifting my passion for social justice from the mind to the heart. The sessions include a ton of relevant, research-based content, but the way that the sessions were facilitated fundamentally changed me as a person. The facilitation (which was equal parts teaching and modeling) was done from a space of such radical love that I felt safe to grow not only in my knowledge, but in my own identities and in my role in my organization and community. I have also been able to work with the JLC team as an adult ally and organizer for high school students, and the care, patience, and commitment with which they supported me and my students was more than enough to sustain us during a very difficult time. Someone recently asked me about my dream in this work, and I said "radical, rhizomatic love" – and that’s exactly what this team embodies and teaches (for those who take up their invitation). The work that I’ve been a part of has planted deep seeds and made visible incredible connections among people, identities, interests, knowledges, and values that, in their active and intentional dismantling of oppressive culture, can only move us all closer to liberation. Finally, the commitment and integrity of this team is something that I would never question, and I strive to replicate what they have modeled for me in my own facilitation, organizing, teaching, and learning.”

—Matt Hamilton (he/him/his) | Saline High School, English Department | Advisor, UpRoar! Diversity Council

I am so grateful for this opportunity. I have had a spark inside me to learn more about the history I wasn't taught and how to check my white privilege. I was stumbling through the hidden history on my own and felt like I was missing so many tools and I felt overwhelmed. I did not feel comfortable correcting other friends and family when I heard racial comments. I would scream in my head (check your whiteness) and if my son heard I would have a talk with him once we were home.  THIS is no LONGER the case. I now have an obligation to check my friend's and family's whiteness and will not feel embarrassed when I do. All of you have turned my spark into a fire to continue this work personally and professionally. I am very lucky to have a great group of colleagues and friends to keep my fire burning! I look forward to more training and opportunities to continue my learning.

Thank you Shayla, Autumn, and Lois for giving me the confidence, to challenge the idea, not the person, using both/and verbiage and for turning my spark into a fire.

—Savonne Porzondek (she, her, hers) | Special Education Teacher | Harvest Elementary, Saline Area Schools

“To this team: thanks. Much in the way of early coaches and teachers becoming the voices of your internal dialogue, I hear snippets from each of you all the time. I very much think about the work, and how to practice it. It guides so many things you don't always get to see – in me, and in others. 

It’s hopeful to see how many people have registered for continuing justice leaders sessions: I didn't think this work would be prioritized in the vast machine of education over literacy groups or assessment groups. Much thanks to you for your work past, present, and future.”

—JT Sangsland | Court-Involved Youth School Director and Transition Coordinator Washtenaw ISD