As our nation becomes ever more divided, Roots ConnectED envisions a unified world built upon a foundation of justice.
Our Mission
Roots ConnectED empowers educators to create classrooms and schools where children and staff are community builders, critical thinkers, understand and biases, and realize their capacity to create change.
We are committed to each child seeing the humanity in one another.
The heart of our work is captured in our Tree of Love.
Our Roots
Roots ConnectED (RC) became a 501c3 in early 2019, after piloting its programming 3 years prior, at its learning site, Community Roots. RC believes that theory and action should be in tandem. We use practical, tangible examples to support schools in realizing and actualizing practices of anti-bias education at their own sites. One way we do this is through our learning site model, the first of which is Community Roots.
Our Executive Director Sahba Rohani, was a founding teacher at Community Roots before transitioning to her role as the Director of Community Development of the school for over a decade. In that time she took a learning stance, working to understand what it means to build authentic communities of belonging for all stakeholders in a racially and economically integrated and inclusive school setting. She was curious about how human connection can be centered in a school and the role that anti-bias education can have in practice. She spent her time co-creating, facilitating, and supporting programming that did just that.
She believes that all children deserve this type of education and to grow up in communities of belonging. That learning inspired herself, Allison Keil, Sara Stone, and a few others at Community Roots to create Roots ConnectED - to share that learning and support schools, networks, organizations, districts and educational non-profits in the work of creating just and equitable school communities; with an anti-bias lens.
Our Core Values
Our core values reflect our belief that today more than ever, educators need to be empowered to create a world we all aspire to live in. One that builds connections across lines of difference, one that recognizes the humanity in each individual, one that values justice as a precursor to unity, and one that cherishes the education of children.
We believe in the power of teaching children to see the humanity in one another; with schools at the forefront of this work.
OUR PROMISE
Through Workshops, Coaching, and Institutes that foster collaboration, and a variety of educator resources founded in our anti-bias framework, Roots ConnectED gives educators the tools to encourage deep connection among children not despite their differences, but through honoring them.
We know this work is hard and on-going, and we value the process. We also believe that to do this work well we must approach it with love, patience, and a commitment to continuous work.