James B Hunt JR Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy Foundation

Hunt-kean Leadership fellowsthe hunt-kean Leadership fellows (hk fellows) program brings together senior, state-level political leaders who have the skill and will to be effective, reform-minded education policymakers in their states with leading minds in education, Policy, and politics. The hk fellows curriculum is designed to equip participants with the knowledge, relationships, and inspiration they need to engage in critical conversations about equity and lead on education reform in their current roles and as they pursue higher office. Each cohort includes at least 20 hk fellows with each representing a different state and with the cohort maintaining a bipartisan balance.

Cross-state team engagement and other programsthe Hunt Institute has also been intentional about continuing to enhance its brand and national presence, expanding its webinar series, creating a national op-ed presence in the wake of covid-19, partnering with john m. belk endowment to continue the john m belk impact fellowship program, and deploying staff to and hosting sessions at partner convenings. Our one million teachers of color initiative aims to build systems to hire leaders and teachers of color by 2030. The Hunt Institute continues to recognize the value of fostering both inter- and intra-state learning by convening state teams from across the country to discuss topics from across the education continuum. Our content teams have expertise in early childhood, k12, equity, and higher education. These convenings can be topical in nature, such as the 2022 literacy summit, or geared toward convening state teams comprised of governors' advisors/policy directors, state chiefs, higher education reps, legislators, and others to discuss topical issues addressing the education continuum.

State engagementthe Hunt Institute is currently partnering with Illinois, Missouri, north carolina, north dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, and west Virginia to provide a series of programming designed to build the capacity of state legislators as they tackle the education challenges facing their states. In each of its partner states, the Institute hosts a state legislators retreat (slr) and offers ongoing learning experiences to legislators, such as regional visits to innovative and impactful programs across the country and/or a Policy discussion series that, over the shared experience of a meal, successfully connects a bipartisan group of policymakers with key national experts in education policy.our work with current and former governors culminated with a governor's education symposium in Utah. The Hunt Institute is currently conducting a scan of additional states as it looks to expand the slr model. Oklahoma was a new partner state for the Institute for the year ended june 30, 2022. In 2022, this program category also included planning work towards launching state engagement in new states like new mexico and Indiana.