Centering the Caregiver

We are applying to The Elevate Prize to elevate the role of parents and caregivers in school ecosystems and communities. Centering the Caregiver’s mission is to empower caregivers to activate themselves, their schools and communities. The intended outcome is a village who listens, speaks up, and shows up, supported by a school that centers their power, needs, and rights as caregivers.

We would use the funding to provide our pilots at no cost for the first three years to the families, kids, and staff in the school ecosystems. Our major expenses will be tied back to our vision and mission: supporting,  investing, and compensating caregivers by means of salaries/benefits, programmatic expenses and stipends, communal care like meals & childcare to support caregivers' participation, and contracts with existing and trusted BIPOC contractors in our community.

This idea was inspired by our lived experiences and parallel journeys in motherhood, educational equity, and community organizing. As children, co-founders Krysta Grangeno and Jackie Gold experienced trauma and scarcity rooted in systems of oppression. Now, we are called to build bridges among diverse communities and find equitable, community-led solutions to the problems we face as caregivers ourselves and break the intergenerational cycles of harm to reimagined futures of joy and liberation.

Krysta is a passionate family advocate, working to link parent stability and advancement to children's educational success; she has a deep interest in redesigning the educational system, and others, to be more equitable, centered in the voices and experiences of those impacted, while also using best practices in the field.  

Jackie is a behind-the-scenes leader and connector who develops, empowers, and advocates for others. She listens deeply to others’ strengths, needs, and interests; she then aims to build connections and  community that allows individuals and organizations to think critically, grow daily, be their very best, and seize opportunities and pathways that will align with their values and needs. 

We deeply believe that we can create the world we believe in for one another, our children, and our community.

Across the country, organizations are mobilizing Black and Latinx parents to advocate for changes that benefit their children. Yet, at Centering the Caregiver and as parents ourselves, we believe that support and care must come first to sustain advocacy and action. At every stage, our purpose will be to create the conditions necessary for parents to fully show up and advocate for an equitable education.  Our vision is that one day, parents, caregivers, and school administrators will foster thriving villages of communal care, authentically partner to equitably lead their school ecosystems, and work together to raise the next generation. 

Most school environments are not positioned to, or don’t have the resources to, prioritize connections needed to foster strong ecosystems amongst its community. To shift our reliance on traditional school institutions that implement policies and dynamics that perpetuate systemic racism, it is imperative that Centering the Caregiver works with schools to build villages of communal care based on trust and collective power.   

Once basic needs are met, our research-based framework develops skills, infrastructure and support to empathize, lead, and organize through group dialogue, professional development, and collective impact in their schools over a 3 year scope.

Our approach centers parents and will disrupt the traditional school/parent dynamic to create school ecosystems where caregivers and school administrators authentically partner to develop school communities that ensure better futures for Black and Latinx caregivers. “Family engagement requires shifts in the mindsets of families, teachers, and others who work with children, changes in organizations’ policies, and broader public understanding of the importance of family engagement and what it entails in their community,” (Carnegie Corporation, 2018, pg.10).

We help caregivers to put their oxygen mask on first, breathe deeply, and then shift their energy to show up for their kids and community. In centering their needs first, then we can create a synergy between school ecosystems and a village of communal care to reimagine communal care and engagement for caregivers, students, and schools.

With this philosophy in mind:

• We provide a circle of trust and an infrastructure of healing and reconciliation; 

• We build and train parent powered teams with collaborative support of the community; 

• We train school leaders on parent engagement and work with leaders to build the structures necessary for caregivers to thrive.

• We provide pathways to collaborations with existing organizations to increase their impact within the community they serve.

Through this 3-year scope and sequence, caregivers’ voice and needs will be centered and amplified. The results will be high retention of and investment from students, families and staff along with cultural shifts rooted in anti-oppression.  

Year One: Building trust through dialogue & communal care connections

~Partnering with two public school elementary systems (global majority neighborhood school; socio-economic diverse district) to create belonging and agency for 40 caregivers, along with training their school leaders on best practices in parent engagement.

Year Two: Building capacity and leadership

~Leverage skills of 40 graduates from Year One to recruit and facilitate 60 additional participants engaging in dialogue and leadership development initiatives with trainers and experts. Participants will train more leaders to effectively advocate for their children, design, and implement projects that will lead to a more equitable outcome for the students.

Year Three: Ensuring sustainable infrastructure and a lasting village

~100 empowered caregivers will focus on establishing infrastructure, steering leadership development, and driving systems and sustainability in their schools and communities. The caregivers and staff leaders will also design a lasting framework to ensure the communal village continues once CTC's program is completed.  

And this model's impact will be broadened over time.