Expert selection is our favorite time of year at Catalyst:Ed. This year, we brought in 103 new experts. We have folks who co-founded high-performing schools and school systems, designed innovative nonprofit programs, and managed high-impact portfolios at national foundations. Learn more about them (and get inspired!) by exploring our interactive infographics here.

Earlier this year, we kicked off a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative here at Catalyst:Ed. NewSchools Venture Fund had been hearing from leaders who wanted to build more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations, but needed help getting started or advancing this goal. In response, they approached us to design, build, and launch the DEI Expert Hub, so these leaders could connect with experienced DEI coaches, consultants, and technical assistance providers.

Six months in, we’ve provided hands-on guidance to over 30 schools, nonprofits, and foundations as they’ve navigated the process of articulating their DEI needs, scoping their projects, and identifying expert supports. Hundreds more have used the website to explore project options. Over the course of our expert intake process, we’ve also got to know over 70 DEI coaches, consultants, and technical assistance providers. Through each of these conversations and interactions we’re gaining insight into the drivers and barriers for organizations and experts taking on this work. We share a few of these lessons below:

On the demand side

There is latent demand for DEI work

The organizations that have reached out to us for hands-on guidance have ranged from school systems to nonprofits to foundations [1]. They include:

• a national foundation that wanted to build staff capacity to engage in and advance racial equity work,

• a large urban school district that sought to understand how they could incorporate an equity lens in how they designed and used student, teacher, and school-level evaluations,

• a charter management organization that wanted to train its teachers on how to incorporate culturally responsive and inclusive practices in their teaching, and

• a national nonprofit that supports school systems that needed support developing and implementing an organization-wide equity plan.

In most cases, the desire to take on DEI work was driven by the organizations’ growing awareness that they needed to be more intentional and explicit about how they approached diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many leaders referenced the current political climate as a moment of reckoning for themselves as well as their teams. Some spoke to how recent conversations within their teams had lifted a veil on the experiences of their staff of color. While in many instances the leadership was taking the lead in putting DEI on the organizational agenda, in others the staff (and often teachers) were the driving force in demanding that their organizations do more.

But leaders often need help getting started

Typically when organizations reach out to us at Catalyst:Ed for more general projects like strategic planning or evaluation, they already have a pretty clear sense of their needs and their project budget. For our DEI Expert Hub work, we’re seeing leaders reach out to us for guidance much earlier in their decision-making process. Many are just starting off on their DEI journeys. Many are unsure about what the path will entail, and some have doubts about their readiness to take on the work. Where should we start? How should we prioritize between all the things we need to get done? When is a good time to bring on an external consultant? How prepared do we need to be internally? How much should we budget for this work? These are all questions that surface repeatedly in our initial conversations with leaders. We sense their urgency to take on DEI work – and we also hear their concerns that they are not fully prepared to do so.

Organizations are starting the work at different places

One of our goals with the DEI Expert Hub was to highlight all the ways in which organizations could start infusing diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work, and we’re seeing the different paths that organizations are taking reflected in the projects listed so far. While some organizations are starting with an assessment of where they are and charting a path forward from there, others are starting with workshops to help their teams build a shared understanding of this work. Still others feel like they need to dive headlong into technical solutions, such as training their teachers to implement culturally relevant and inclusive curriculum and instructional practices.

Resources are a real constraint

Any organizational shift requires an investment of leadership time, attention, and resources. Yet DEI efforts are often under-resourced—and through our work, we’re seeing how the resources allocated by organizations to this work fall far short of what’s needed to realize their intent. Few organizations have specific budgets for DEI. Even when they do, the funds are often meager. In most cases, organizations are repurposing a part of their professional development budgets and leaning on staff volunteers to help them move the needle on this work. As a result, organizations are often signing up for one-off workshops instead of investing in the deeper work needed to enable organizational shifts.

On the Supply Side

Significant expertise exists in this area

As we went through the expert intake process for the DEI Expert Hub, we learned that a deep pool of expertise already exists in this area. In all, we’ve identified 72 individuals and teams who work on DEI. This includes large organizations like the National Equity Project and Promise 54, collaboratives like Becoming Better Together, smaller teams like PeerConnect and oneTILT, as well as individuals like Caroline Hill and Joanna Scott. We also came across organizations like Charter Board Partners and NYCLA that are primarily known for their broader work in areas like governance and leadership: recognizing the importance of imbuing greater diversity, equity and inclusion in their programmatic work, these organizations have been intentionally investing in developing their DEI expertise. While all providers in our sample had some experience working with education organizations (K-12 and higher ed), several providers also had experiences from outside the sector, including from the corporate sector, healthcare, city governments, and faith-based organizations.

The depth of expertise varies across areas

DEI strategy, organizational culture, and building staff DEI capacity are areas where we see the greatest number of providers. Areas with a relatively low density of providers include applying an equity lens to designing edtech product and grantmaking programs, infusing more equity in schools and school systems, and codifying DEI knowledge. Taken together, these seem to indicate a greater need for providers who can translate equity principles into programmatic work.

A lack of resources constrains the growth and sustainability of providers

Most providers are small in size. The small size of projects, low margins, fluctuating revenue streams, and high business development costs are some of the possible factors behind the fragmentation in the DEI provider market. There are also limited funding sources available to providers interested in scaling up so they can invest in a team, manage working capital constraints, and do the outreach necessary to build a project pipeline. As a result, providers have limited capacity to do R&D or codify their practices, and they constantly face the risk of burn-out.

Questions We’re Asking

• How can investments in DEI be increased and sustained? For instance, can funders provide DEI capacity building grants to education organizations or increase funding to DEI overall? Equally, how can we encourage education leaders to allocate more funding for DEI from within their existing resources?

• How can we encourage more leaders to see DEI as core to their work? What conditions are needed in order to push leaders to integrate DEI into their existing initiatives rather than just add it on as a new one? Are there lessons to be gained from other domains (e.g., like data and evaluation), which have similarly moved from the fringe to the center of organizational work?

• How do you grow, support, and build capacity among providers? How do you increase the scale and reach of promising DEI providers? Can we help them access start-up and growth capital that will help them grow their organizations? Is there a need to create incentives that will bring in new providers into the market for current and emerging areas of need? Are there ways to help providers reduce their costs through operational efficiencies and low-cost service delivery models? Is there a need for more structured professional development opportunities? Should providers who are already collaborating closely with each other start exploring consolidation?

• How can we build our collective will and capacity as DEI leaders? What stories should we be sharing to instill greater clarity, courage, and confidence among leaders? What lessons emerging from the projects themselves should we be capturing and sharing? And finally, recognizing that each DEI project is just a milestone along each organization’s longer DEI journey, how do we translate project-level successes to overall DEI outcomes?

What’s Next

Over the next year, we’ll continue to expand our work to support more education leaders nationally and explore the questions we’ve highlighted. We’ll also be sharing insights from our work to spark more ideas, initiatives and partnerships. Stay tuned for more on this!

We’d love to hear your ideas. Add to the comments below or email us at info@catalyst-ed.org.

[1] Interestingly, two of the organizations have been nonprofits that work outside of education in community mobilization and youth leadership development.

We are excited to announce that the Catalyst:Ed Summer selection cycle 2018 will open on Tuesday, May 29, 2018.  

Catalyst:Ed was founded on the premise that we can catalyze impact and improve outcomes for all young people by leveraging the best education expertise to solve the most pressing challenges. A year and a half later, we have had the privilege of getting to know over 470 outstanding education leaders and subject matter experts who form our expert network. Each of them brings deep expertise vital to the effectiveness and dynamism of our education ecosystem and a strong desire to live a life of purpose and impact. We’ve watched in awe as they’ve rolled up their sleeves and helped schools, schools systems, nonprofits and grantmakers complete critical projects and address major challenges. And we’ve deepened our resolve to identify the best and most diverse talent in education and amplify their impact so we can together help our educators, families and kids. Learn more about our model and impact here.

Applications for this cycle close on June 28, so if you think you (or someone you know) might be a good fit, here’s more.

Who we’re looking for

As we build out our network further, we’re looking for diverse education leaders with:

• A strong commitment to working in education and serving all students, especially students from low-income families.
• Deep domain expertise in one or more areas relevant to K-12 education (here is a non-exhaustive list of project areas where clients reach out to us for support) as demonstrated by a track record of impact.
• Project-based work experience, serving internal or external client teams.
• Alignment with our values.

Our experts include school leaders, educators, strategy consultants, design thinkers, researchers, project managers, evaluators, curriculum specialists, data scientists, technologists and many more. While some work as independent consultants, others work with small and large firms. Still others have full-time roles, but are open to small, yet high-impact project-based opportunities. 

Our commitment to diversity: We believe that diversity leads to better – more creative and more robust – solutions and are committed to building a network of experts that is reflective of the diversity of our nation and the students we serve. Our expert network is steadily becoming more diverse – 50% of the experts who joined our network in our last two selection cycles were people of color and 60% were women. 

How we define expertise

Here are some questions to help interested applicants reflect on their experiences and identify areas where they have developed domain expertise:

• Experience: Have I worked on this domain area for a significant length of time (we look for at least two years of experience in the area) and ideally in multiple contexts?
• Growth: Have I made my mistakes and learned from them? Am I driven to continuously learn and improve in this area?
• Impact: Can I point to evidence of the impact that I’ve had through my work in this area? 
• Applicability of learnings: Will I be able to apply my learnings from one context to another context? 
• Comfort: Am I confident in my knowledge and expertise so that I can guide others, ask questions and encourage calculated risk-taking?

Here’s a thumb-rule: For any given area, a “yes” to all or most of these questions indicates that you’ve identified an area of core expertise. If you’ve answered “yes” to at least two of the questions, you’ve likely identified an area of emerging expertise.

Applications open on May 29 and close on June 28.

If you think you’re a good fit, we encourage you to apply. Application instructions and the timeline will be available on our website. Interested applicants can also learn more about our selection process and our program model during our live informational webinar on June 6.

Know someone who might be a good fit? We would deeply appreciate your help in getting the word out. Refer an expert 

Thank you so much for your support. We hope the education leaders who answer this call will emerge as catalysts in the sector, bringing the extra insight, tools and capacity needed to build a stronger education ecosystem and ensure that all kids succeed.

Act with integrity, treat each other with respect, and work in the best interest of kids.

The Catalyst:Ed Expert Code of Conduct applies to the experts in our network. It is derived from our mission and values, and informed by our collective experiences as education leaders. It can be summed up as: “Act with integrity, treat each other with respect, and work in the best interest of kids”.

The CE Expert Code of Conduct articulates the high expectations we have from CE Experts as it relates to their work and interactions with clients. In exchange, we promise to do our utmost to provide our Experts with the support they need to meet to these expectations.

The specifics outlined in this Code are not intended to be exhaustive. Instead, they are illustrative of our expectations. Thus, we expect all CE Experts to be guided by both the letter and the spirit of this Code and rely on good judgment to uphold high standards of ethical and professional conduct. When in doubt, we encourage you to reach out to us at Catalyst:Ed via email (info@catalyst-ed.org).

Our Overarching Purpose

We expect CE Experts to be driven by a desire to ensure that all kids have an excellent education that will prepare them for a successful and meaningful life. When faced with a difficult decision, we expect that CE Experts will put the interests of kids and their clients ahead of their own.

Honesty: Adhere to the highest ethical and professional standards of conduct and continually work to earn and retain the trust of your clients.

• Deliver on contractual and other commitments on time and within budget. Flag for client-approval any changes in project scope, budget and timeline due to unforeseen circumstances. Minimize surprises.
• Preserve client confidences. Do not access or share confidential material either during or after the completion of the project without the client’s explicit authorization. In general, disclosure of any client information should be on a strict “need to know” basis. When in doubt, err on the side of discretion or ask Catalyst:Ed for guidance.
• Address differences of opinion and conflicts with clients, team members or Catalyst:Ed through open, honest conversations. Demonstrate a willingness to admit and learn from mistakes.
• Avoid conflicts of interest and circumstances that reasonably present the appearance of a conflict. Conflicts of interest may arise when you are in a situation in which competing loyalties could cause you to act in a way that is against the best interests of your client. If you need advice on a potential conflict of interest, ask Catalyst:Ed for guidance.

Ownership: Take ownership for client success and your own personal and professional growth.

• Focus on results, persist in the face of difficulty and show resourcefulness in identifying solutions to challenges.
• Handle any client resources and assets ethically and responsibly. These resources include, but are not limited to, financial assets, data, networks, intellectual property and physical property. If you spend money on a client’s behalf, make sure that the cost is reasonable, directly related to the client’s requirements and supported by appropriate documentation. Likewise, if you have access to client data, take steps to ensure that it is protected from unauthorized access.
• Act with urgency. Use time – your own as well as your clients’ – wisely. Come prepared to meetings and delegate tasks appropriately.
• Be ready to differ from clients. Surface any issues respectfully and proactively and participate in finding solutions.
• Ask for feedback and request help as needed to ensure your own success and the success of your clients. Equally, show a willingness to share constructive feedback with your clients.

Generosity: Strive to add value. Help others grow.

• Offer the best of your skills and capabilities to ensure the success of your clients. Share the information and resources that others on your team need to be successful.
• Build client capacity to ensure sustained improvement even after the end of the project. Before transitioning out from a project, ensure that your client has the information, tools and training required in order to continue the work independently and be successful.
• Mentor and support others at client organizations and among peers.

Presence: Treat others with respect and as you would like to be treated by them.

• Treat everyone with respect, irrespective of who they are. Act without harassment, intimidation, bias and unlawful discrimination of any kind.
• Give others a voice, and to listen and try to understand where others are coming from.
• Be responsive to client needs and communications. If something doesn’t work, fix it.
• Be fully present at meetings and refrain from multi-tasking when meeting with clients either in-person or by phone.

Simplicity: Aim for simplicity in service of clarity.

• Develop clear expectations for the project upfront, including goals, activities, deliverables, timelines, communication protocols, decision-making processes, invoicing and payment etc. Ensure expectations are met.
• Ask, don’t assume. Equally, provide clear and transparent answers to questions.
• Speak and write in plain language and avoid the temptation to sound clever. Check for understanding.
• Invest effort into designing or identifying simple, elegant solutions, recognizing that simplicity leads to clarity, which motivates action and surfaces issues.
• Shun drama. Escalate issues appropriately.