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Championing

for Justice & Equity

Championing for Justice & Equity (CJE) is a three-year conversation on race, justice, and systemic inequity.

CJE is an education, a look in the mirror, and a path forward.


Reflecting on Summer Search's 31 years of experience mentoring and empowering young People of Color and First-Generation individuals, we present CJE as a space for our broader community to learn, engage, and take definitive action in your personal and professional lives.


9/28 - Closing the Education Equity Gap

On September 28, 2021, our panel of thought leaders as examined racial equity in the education system and sought to understand how/why school opportunities, outcomes, and environments differ along racial lines. Our attendees walked away with a greater understanding of:


  1. Education reform and policy development;

  2. How race plays a role in opportunities and outcomes for students;

  3. How COVID exasperated learning along racial lines in urban areas;

  4. The future of education equity and how we can all play a role.

CJE will return in 2022!

Our Speakers

Lisa Salley

Host: Lisa Salley


Member & Committee Chair, Board of Directors, Arduro Sustainable Rubber.





Antonio Gutierrez

AJ Gutierrez


Co-founder, Chief of Marketing & Communications, Saga Education.

Summer Search Boston Alumnus.

Dr. William Hite

Dr. William Hite

Superintendent, The School District of Philadelphia.




Paul Reville

Paul Reville

Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Education Policy and Administration, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Former Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts.


Karen Holmes Ward

Moderator: Karen Holmes Ward


Director of Public Affairs and Community Services, WCVB Boston.


Thank You For Supporting CJE

Learn How Your Company Can Get Involved

Past Event: The Future of Work 

CJE - The Future of Work - Infographic

After discussing corporate America’s role in advancing racial equity, we dug deeper into diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace with our conversation, Racially Speaking: The Future of Work. We invite you to watch the full conversation and check out the recommendations and resources.

VIEW OUR FULL RECAP

About CJE

We launched our Black Lives Matter Community Series to bring the Summer Search community together to heal, learn, and take action. That series has evolved into our CJE initiative.

Throughout this series, we will discuss the importance of listening, receiving feedback, reflecting on our own actions and those of others, and using diplomacy.

This three-year initiative is designed to:

  • Support our larger community to gain greater understanding on inclusion, diversity, and innovation;
  • Promote healing, minimize harm, and create a sense of belonging for all in the larger community;
  • Work with experts in the larger community to build practices that deepen understanding of differences and further increase collaboration.
View Justice & Equity Resources

CJE Leadership

Kris Leja

Kris Leja


Executive Director, Summer Search Bay Area


kleja@summersearch.org

510.601.2149

Dr. Marc Spencer

CEO, Summer Search

mspencer@summersearch.org

415.637.9569




Hermese Velasquez

Hermese Velasquez


Executive Director, Summer Search Boston


hvelasquez@summersearch.org

617.390.1998

Sylvia Watts McKinney

Sylvia Watts McKinney


Executive Director, Summer Search Philadelphia


smckinney@summersearch.org


215.399.9104

View CJE Sponsorship Opportunities

BLM Community Series 2020

How to Get Involved

CONTRIBUTE TO THIS WORK

Check out a recap of our complete BLM Series on our blog. Learn more about receiving a print of the live illustrations from our events.

Below are some additional ways to contribute to the organizing work that's taking place in our communities, for our causes and resources for deepening our learning. It's important that in this time, we not only check in with each other, but also with ourselves to care for our spirit as we move through this together.

View Our Black Lives Matter Art