Resilient, Representative LeadershipTM

The Toolkit

We believe that prioritizing the personal and professional development of educational leaders of color is among the most powerful investments we can make in our students, schools, and society at large.

Educators of color encounter distinct challenges and opportunities along their leadership journeys. Yet in a world where 8 out of 10 school leaders and more than 90 percent of superintendents are white, typical leadership guidance is helpful only up to a point. Educational leaders of color have expressed an urgent need for tools, professional development, and support specific to their experiences navigating our schools as people of color.

Our Resilient, Representative LeadershipTM suite of resources answers this call. It reflects the wisdom of our nationwide network of men and women of color who serve in leadership roles at all levels of the U.S. education system, elevating the knowledge, skills, mindsets, dispositions, and behaviors most critical to their success.

RRL Guidebook Cover Photo
The Resilient, Representative Leadership Guidebook consolidates the advice we share with our friends and colleagues of color who are planning their pathways into educational leadership, rerouting around a career roadblock, or navigating a difficult or unexpected development in their leadership journeys. It’s where we want our equity-minded allies to turn, too, when they need advice and support to be part of the big, bold systemic solutions we so desperately need.

Creating more equitable, joyful leadership journeys for educators of color takes all of us, working together. MCEL network members and our partners get access to an even more expansive suite of resources that fuel growth-focused self-reflection as well as transformational systemic support for educators of color at all stages of their careers:

Our Self-Reflection Tool encourages leaders of color to charge and regularly re-energize your leadership by engaging in purposeful self-reflection, prioritizing self-care, and nurturing the relationships that sustain you.

Our 360 Assessment Tool enables leaders of color to solicit and receive feedback from your peers, mentors, staff, and other stakeholders.

Our Transformational Conversations Tool assists anyone be a great co-pilot to leaders of color you formally or informally support along their leadership journeys. 

Our Systems Transformation Tool helps district, charter network, and organizational leaders create more welcoming, supportive conditions for educators of color at all stages of their careers.

No matter your role, no matter your background, we’re glad you’re here. Together, we can make leadership a more accessible, welcoming, and sustainable experience for educators of color—and, in so doing, foster a more just and equitable future for all of our children and communities.

Harrison Peters and Steve Gering, Co-Founder, MCEL (Men of Color in Educational Leadership)