Program areas at Education for Liberation Network
Education Projects - When members of the Board of Directors have projects that are deeply meaningful to them, that also fit the organization's mission and vision, Education for Liberation Network will engage in amplifying and broadening that work. There are four current Board-led projects which the organization is actively engaging: Liberation 101, Ethnic Studies Movement, Lessons in Liberation, and EdLib Minnesota.
Free Minds Free People (FMFP). Free Minds, Free People (FMFP) is a national conference presented by the Education for Liberation Network that brings together teachers, young people, researchers, parents, and community-based activists/educators from across the country to build a movement to develop and promote education as a tool for liberation. The conference is a space in which these groups learn from and teach each other by sharing knowledge, experience, and strategies. The conference has been held every other year since 2007 in the following cities: Chicago, IL (twice), Houston, TX, Providence, RI, Oakland, CA, and Baltimore, MD. The conference has grown in participation each time we have convened FMFP-growing from 300 participants in 2007 to 1200 participants in 2015. In 2021, we had over 700 people for our virtual Free Minds Free People conference.The Education for Liberation Executive Director, Board of Directors, and FMFP volunteers work alongside each other to organize and plan the conference. Workshop presenters, plenary speakers, and panelists volunteer their time and skills as well.FMFP Podcast. The Free Minds Free People Podcast is a board-led project that captures and documents various topics and people leading up to the conference.
Planning to Change the World. A Plan Book/or Social Justice Teachers is a plan book for educators who believe their students can and will change the world. It is designed to help teachers translate their vision of a just education into concrete classroom activities. The planner includes weekly planning pages, references to online lesson plans and resources, inspirational quotes, tips from social justice teachers, essential questions to spark classroom discussions, and reproducible social justice awards with students.The Executive Director oversees the coordination, management and editing of plan book. The workload is managed and oganized by a team of volunteers and paid consultants.