Uplift Movement

05/15/2026

Our Teacher Appreciation Event was such a warm community centered event.

Kids In Need Foundation
Elevate Teaching
Hamline University
educators alliance

05/15/2026

UpLiFT was IN the building this week — and we came back CHANGED.

Our Executive Director just returned from the LEE 2026 Courageous Leadership Conference and we have to share what this week meant — not just for our leader, but for the UpLiFT Movement and every community we serve. 💙

This is what poured into us so we can continue pouring into YOU:
🧠 The Inner Work is REAL
We learned about the 10 Saboteurs — those inner voices that quietly undermine our best efforts as leaders and organizations. And we learned how to activate the higher Sage within to confront them. UpLiFT has always believed that strong communities start with strong, whole leaders. This week confirmed it.
📋 Self-Care is a Leadership Strategy
Our ED built a personal Self-Care Menu — and is committed to using it. Even got that long overdue massage. 😌 We cannot build thriving communities if the builders are running on empty. Rest is resistance. Rest is strategy. Rest is necessary.

💡 Our new guiding word:
“The blessing of something being destroyed falls into the eyes and imagination of the Builder.”
UpLiFT — WE are Builders. In every school, every community, every boardroom where our work shows up — we BUILD. 🏗️

🏛️ Honoring the Continuum
Touring the Civil Rights Museum was a powerful reminder that the equity work UpLiFT does every day is part of a long, sacred, ongoing movement. We stand on mighty shoulders. We don’t take that lightly.

🔥 Inspired by Leaders Who Show Up FULLY
Shoutout to Dr. Penny Lee Schwinn, Shabbat Jeffries, and Aneesh Sohoni for showing up as their complete, authentic selves on that stage. That’s the standard we hold ourselves to at UpLiFT. No shrinking. No performing. Just purpose. 💪🏽

🐾 Community Found Us
From Xavier University of Louisiana HBCU alumni to fellow Penn State graduates — the connections made this week were not coincidental. They were purposed. Our people find our people. Every time.

👑 THIS is Why UpLiFT Exists
The most powerful moment of the entire week? Being surrounded by people of color serving on school boards across this country — showing up fiercely for children who look like ours. A very special shoutout to Erica Valliant of Saint Paul Public Schools, Minnesota — We see you.

The UpLiFT Movement is heading into the next season renewed, recharged, and more committed than ever to the communities we serve.

To everyone who poured into our leader this week — thank you. That investment comes right back to our kids, our families, and our communities. 💙✊🏽
Drop a 🙌🏽 if you believe our communities deserve whole, courageous, joy-filled leaders!

05/07/2026

Opportunity…

Big opportunity alert 📚

The James Weldon Johnson Scholarship, powered by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc, through the NAACP Inspire Initiatives, is now available for students heading into full-time enrollment at an accredited institution in Fall 2026.

If you’re planning your next academic step, this is one to check out. https://naacp.org/find-resources/scholarships-awards-internships/scholarships/james-weldon-johnson-scholarship

04/08/2026

Two businesses. One purpose. 🌱 And one origin story worth telling.

Here's a fun fact: Uplift Movement didn't start as a nonprofit. It was born inside Ideation4 as a magazine — a publication spotlighting Black male educators doing incredible work across the country. But something unexpected happened. The men featured started finding each other. They showed up in virtual spaces, started supporting one another, and built something none of us planned for: community. That feedback told me everything. UpLiFT became a nonprofit because the people it was meant to celebrate needed more than visibility — they needed connection.

✊🏾 UpLiFT Movement (501c3 nonprofit)
We keep BIPOC educators in Minnesota classrooms by matching them with licensed BIPOC mentors who've navigated the same terrain. 13 educators. 8 mentors. 364 students reached — and we're just getting started.
👉 upliftmovement.org

💡 Ideation4 LLC (consulting)
The practice that sparked it all. I work with educators, nonprofits, and under-resourced communities to help them find funding, tell their story, and turn their ideas into action. Grant workshops, coaching, and consulting — built for people doing good work who deserve the resources to prove it.
👉 ideation4.com

25+ years in education taught me that the right people are often doing the most important work with the least support. UpLiFT exists to change that for educators. Ideation4 exists to change that for organizations and communities.

Same heart. Two lanes. One story.

If you know someone who needs either — share this. And if that someone is you, reach out. 👇

03/01/2026

We wrapped up February with our very first Soulful Saturday — a space created for Black and Brown educators to connect, reflect, and recharge together. ✨

Hosted in partnership with Uplift Movement ,
Black Educators Association, and Elevate Teaching , this gathering closed out Black History Month with community, laughter, and joy.

If you missed it, you missed a soul-filling spread — fresh-baked waffles, greens, smoked sausage, dirty grits, and more — along with HBCU trivia, a powerful story about Harriet Tubman, and meaningful discussion around our upcoming BIPOC educator survey.

We’re grateful for the mentors, mentees, supporters, and partners who showed up in love and purpose. 💛

Stay tuned — our next Soulful Saturday is already in the works!

02/12/2026

We’ve known of El-Mekki for some time, having connected with him back in 2019 when he was featured as one of the Black male educators in our UpLiFT Movement publication—produced in the wake of the COVID pandemic and months before George Floyd’s murder. His leadership as Executive Director of the Center for Black Educator Development
in building a national pipeline of Black educators is deeply inspiring. This Black History Month, the Center is partnering with Morehouse College to host “Remembering, Honoring, and Multiplying the Black Educator Pipeline” in Atlanta, a powerful evening lifting up the legacy and future of Black teachers.

If you are in Atlanta, you do not want to miss this gathering of educators, students, and community members committed to transforming what is possible for Black children.

Our team resonates with this work on many levels, especially the question: what can the community impact be when businesses, nonprofits, universities, and organizations lean in on shared values and aligned missions? Events like this are living proof that when we move in alignment, we don’t just remember and honor the pipeline—we multiply it for generations to come.

Register: https://lnkd.in/gHbT_8U8

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

02/11/2026

Opportunities…

Tag: Center for Black Educator Development

https://thecenterblacked.org/careers/

01/03/2026

We are honored to welcome Dr. Rashid Faisal to the UpLiFT Movement Board of Directors.

Dr. Faisal is an Associate Professor and Department Chair at Davenport University College of Urban Education, a former turnaround principal, and a nationally respected instructional leader. His career spans public and charter schools, higher education, and leadership coaching at institutions including Teachers College, Columbia University

As we advance our strategic governance goals, Dr. Faisal’s expertise in culturally responsive pedagogy, school improvement, and leadership development will help guide UpLiFT’s next chapter. Our board members serve as ambassadors, and Dr. Faisal’s work exemplifies partnership-driven impact for educators and students alike.

🎓 Urban Education • School Improvement • Equity Leadership

Welcome to the board, Dr. Faisal.

01/02/2026

We are proud to welcome Robert Harper, MPP to the UpLiFT Movement Board of Directors.

Robert is the founder of R.D.T.H Consulting, bringing a powerful blend of public policy, DEI strategy, and operational leadership. His work has resulted in $76M in contracts secured for Black- and Brown-owned businesses and $92M in minority-owned expenditures at the University of Minnesota—impact that moves beyond theory into measurable systems change.

As UpLiFT Movement strengthens governance and prepares for the 2026–2028 strategic planning cycle, Robert’s expertise will help advance our commitment to accountability, partnerships, and sustainable growth. Board members at UpLiFT serve as ambassadors, and Robert’s track record reflects that responsibility in action.

🎓 Humphrey School of Public Affairs
📊 DEI • Policy • Economic Equity

Welcome to the board, Robert.

01/02/2026

We are honored to welcome Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. to the UpLiFT Movement Board of Directors.

Dr. Hutchings is a nationally respected education leader, former K–12 superintendent, professor at Howard University, and founder of Revolutionary ED, LLC and Hutchings & Associates. With over 25 years of experience across teaching, district leadership, governance, and executive coaching, he brings deep expertise in equity-centered systems change.

As we close 2025, this board appointment marks progress toward a core strategic goal: strengthening governance and engaging board members who actively serve as ambassadors, expanding visibility, partnerships, and impact.

Dr. Hutchings’ scholarship and practice—especially his work on dismantling systemic inequities—will help guide our 2026–2028 strategic planning cycle and national partnerships supporting Black male educators and the broader BIPOC education community.

📘 Author of Getting Into Good Trouble at School
🤝 Governance • Equity • Leadership Development

Welcome to the board, Dr. Hutchings.