For this episode, I welcomed my good friend Denise Manning, who is the Outreach Director for the Boston Chapter of the non-profit organization, Educators For Excellence (E4E). In our conversation, we talked about the national campaigns that E4E has recently launched around the needs of teacher diversity and creating positive school culture in our communities.  To learn more about E4E and/or to donate the organization, please visit the website at www.e4e.org.    

BIO: 

Denise Manning is a Boston native and proud graduate of Boston Public Schools. Witnessing violence in her community growing up, Denise learned the importance of self-advocacy and sought enrichment opportunities. She worked with mentors from Minds Matter Boston on Saturdays to improve her writing skills and was admitted into prestigious summer programs that gave her access to greater educational opportunities. Through these programs, Denise saw the educational inequalities that exist, as well as the power of knowledge.   Denise graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and returned to her community to work in Boston Public Schools as a paraprofessional. While working in BPS, Denise advocated for students and families to have access to information and opportunities to support student growth. Denise then earned her license to teach high school English and early education, as well as her master’s degree. With her hands-on experiences in teaching, she focused on the importance of authentic community and family engagement for student academic and social-emotional support.