The Freedom Dreams Lab Experience

During the year-long fellowship, education leaders of color (individuals and teams) have the opportunity to refine and pilot learning experiences designed to unlock the full potential of students of color. Fellows draw on Transcend’s expertise, methods, and network to design learning models in opposition to models of schools that sorts, separates, and ranks students in ways that reproduce the opportunity gaps of our broader society. The resulting learning models exist at the leading edge of innovation and have the potential to transform learning for students of color across the country.

This fellowship offers three kinds of experiences to accelerate and actualize ideas from Leaders of Color for learning environments: 

• Co-conspiracy – Each Fellow has a “co-conspirator,” someone to serve as a collaborative coach, connect leaders to expertise and resources, and add capacity to help leaders address their evolving needs throughout their design journey.

• Community – Fellows gather to have conversations that only they could have: Ex. How do we navigate the challenges that come with fundraising, program design, and being Black, or Latinx, or women of color in this country at this time?

• Capacity – Fellows connect with members of the Transcend network to gain access to real-time support such as fundraising advice, business development acumen, and knowledge of measurement and impact, in order to deepen their capacity to build effective and sustainable learning environments.