06/22/2026
We celebrate Juneteenth by building on the legacies of our ancestors who fought for our freedom. At the Brotherhood of Elders Network, we are creating a Bay Area where Black men, boys, and families have the community, resources, and support they need to build and sustain intergenerational wisdom and self-determination.
In that spirit, I want to highlight our partnership with the Aya Education Coalition. The Brotherhood is proud to join organizations and advocates committed to strengthening the Black educator pipeline and Black student achievement across California.
This past April, our inaugural Black Educator Advocacy Day was a sweeping success. Co-hosted by the California Department of Education, 55 Black educators from 12 school districts across the state met with over 20 lawmakers, observed formal hearings, and practiced telling their stories as experts on policy principles important to them.
We strengthened our union partnerships with the California Federation of Teachers committing to a quarterly forum for Black educators to connect with state leadership. We met with legislative champions like Asm. Corey Jackson who committed to amplify our communications at the state level and build a parallel local district strategy. The California Department of Education also committed to supporting our annual return to Sacramento for Black educator advocates.
The Aya Education Coalition shows how urgently we need an organized base of Black educators prepared to advocate for each other, their students, and the future of the profession. When Black educators come together to raise their collective voice and experience the pace and pressure of policymaking firsthand, it energizes them, affirms why they entered the profession in the first place, and boosts the kind of retention that provides Black students and families with the passionate, seasoned, and resourced educators who they so richly deserve.
In the year ahead, the Aya Education Coalition plans to deepen our research capacity by partnering with the Center for Research on Expanding Educational Opportunity (CREEO) at UC Berkeley, as well as expand our activities with support from the Sierra Health Foundation. Our long-term vision is a platform where all 10,000 Black educators in California view civic engagement as part of their professional identity.
Juneteenth honors the cultural power, strength, and freedom of Black communities, and we know that taking action today protects this legacy into the future. As we continue to uplift Black youth, educators, families, and communities, we welcome your support to expand our vital partnerships and programs.
Invest in the future of Black educators by considering a contribution to the Brotherhood and by spreading the word about our work. Share our story with your community to grow the network of people invested in building thriving, healthy, and robust Black families and communities.
In Unity,
Baba Greg Hodge
