LEAL - Latino Educators Advancing Leadership

Latino students represent close to 14% of students overall. In some states, like California, Texas, Florida and Arizona, Latino students represent much larger percentages of the school aged population. In charter schools, Latino children represent over half of the students enrolled. While our population is growing, and is the second largest ethnic group in our country, the leadership of our nation’s children in charter schools and reform spaces is not representative of the Latino experience. LEAL works as a group of Latino practitioners leading charter school systems and education reform organizations to increase the collective voice, power and number of equity driven executive Latino leaders who demand and activate change for and within our communities. We are Latino leaders who have dedicated our careers to serving all students. We are practitioners who lead school systems, organizations and efforts to create educational equity. We are community oriented leaders, who have lived experiences that we view as assets to our impact. We are LEAL - Latino Educators Advancing Leadership - working to ensure there are more of us to represent the communities that made us the leaders we are today. FIERCELY LEAL (loyal)- We are loyal to our community, one another, our allies, and the work. We reject any viewpoints or practices that divide us in an effort to protect oppression. We are committed. We are better for each other through our collective lealdad. BOLDLY ATREVIDOS (daring)- We seek bold change. We are fearless in our pursuit of collective power, voice and support for our community. INTENTIONALLY RESULTS ORIENTED - We focus on the results we aspire to achieve for our community. We are intentional about what we focus on and who it impacts. UNAPOLOGETICALLY AUTHENTIC - We are proud of who we are, where we come from, and what we have learned and unlearned. Through our authenticity, we can bridge, build relationships and create bold and safe spaces for each