brightbeam

Demanding a brighter future for every child.

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Brightbeam Welcomes Laura Waters as Senior Writer and Editor

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Lawrenceville, NJ – Today, brightbeam, a nonprofit network of education activists and umbrella organization for the platform known as Education Post, officially welcomes Laura Waters as Senior Writer and Editor. Many who’ve been following brightbeam will know Laura, who has worked closely with our team since 2015, editing and creating content for her own education platform, NJ Left Behind, and for the website New York School Talk.

Laura has become a go-to person in New Jersey for her education expertise and tireless advocacy for children and families underserved by the current education system. She has built a reputation for being a fearless truth teller, an excellent writer, and a clarion voice for exposing the hypocrisy and educational injustice in New Jersey and beyond.

In her role as senior writer and editor, she will continue her work on behalf of students and families in her home state of New Jersey as she continues to build out creates NJ Left Behind, but she’ll also step into a role where she’ll work behind-the-scenes to improve the quality and impact of content across brightbeam’s digital platforms, highlighting the voices and activism of families, students, and educators.  

“We are so lucky to have Laura on our team. She’s immensely talented and dedicated to this work,” said brightbeam CEO Chris Stewart. “We look forward to seeing her influence grow even greater in the coming months and years as our organization grows right along with it.” 

Prior to joining brightbeam, Laura served as a freelance writer and was president of her local school board for nine years. She’s the mother of four children, including a young man with Fragile X Syndrome who taught her what parent advocacy meant in the most intimate way. 

“I’ve always felt like part of the brightbeam family — I’ve never encountered a team where our values are so aligned. I’m so happy to take on this new role full-time.” said Waters.

You can find more of Laura’s work at NJ Left Behind, Education Post, and New York School Talk.

About brightbeam

Brightbeam is a nonprofit network of education activists demanding a better education and a brighter future for every child. Using the power of communications, we shine a light on communities that challenge decision-makers to provide the learning opportunities all children need to thrive. We help strong voices tell powerful stories that unite and move their communities to action. Brightbeam amplifies these stories through a variety of digital platforms, including Education Post, Citizen Ed, Project Forever Free, and more than 20 local and regional sites that spotlight education issues nationally. We also sponsor on-the-ground initiatives, projects or organizations that align with our mission.

Brightbeam Welcomes Zakiya Sankara-Jabar as National Director of Activism

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CHICAGO, IL – Today, brightbeam, a nonprofit network of education activists and umbrella organization for the platform known as Education Post, named Zakiya Sankara-Jabar as national director of activism. Sankara-Jabar will grow and lead brightbeam’s grassroots activism efforts on a local and national scale. She will oversee the development of place-based action campaigns designed to help families and communities put pressure on local decision makers, in an effort to hold them accountable for improving the educational outcomes of all children in their care.

“We are thrilled to welcome Zakiya into our growing network of activists who are unapologetic in their demand for a better education and a brighter future for every child,” said brightbeam CEO Chris Stewart. “With more than a decade of experience uniting and moving communities to action, Zakiya has the strategic vision and creativity to lead the kind of movement that forces the political class to improve the educational opportunities available to the children living at the margins of their cities.”

Prior to joining brightbeam, Sankara-Jabar served as national field organizer at Dignity in Schools Campaign where she cemented herself as a leading expert in parent organizing and advocacy. She also co-founded Racial Justice NOW!, an organization dedicated to dismantling the structural and institutional racism facing black families and students. 

“I am delighted to join the brightbeam team to support the growth and leadership of parents, families and communities in holding institutions accountable to educating all children equitably,” said Sankara-Jabar.

Sankara-Jabar’s first exposure to organizing, advocacy, and policy work came organically as a parent pushing back on harmful school discipline policies that disproportionately impact black students and their families. Since then she has worked to support communities around the country, sharing tools, strategies, and skills for parents and families to exercise their power and influence. Over the years her organizing and advocacy acumen has led to significant policy changes at the local and state level.

As national director of activism, Sankara-Jabar will be immediately tasked with growing brightbeam’s network of activists around the country, leveraging data and analytics, creative thinking, and messaging to launch campaigns that motivate local communities to take action. She will then lead the development of scalable strategies aimed at helping activists hone their personal brand and communications to impact the education issues most important to them and the children in their local communities. 

Zakiya’s work has been featured on Democracy NOW, Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas by HBO and TruTV’s Adam Ruins Everything. Zakiya is a preeminent thought leader in racial and educational justice and has received numerous awards.

About brightbeam

Brightbeam is a nonprofit network of education activists demanding a better education and a brighter future for every child. Using the power of communications, we shine a light on communities that challenge decision-makers to provide the learning opportunities all children need to thrive. We help strong voices tell powerful stories that unite and move their communities to action. Brightbeam amplifies these stories through a variety of digital platforms, including Education Post, Citizen Ed, Project Forever Free, and more than 20 local and regional sites that spotlight education issues nationally. We also sponsor on-the-ground initiatives, projects or organizations that align with our mission. To learn more, visit brightbeamnetwork.org.

A Letter From Brightbeam in Response to Coronavirus

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Dear Friends and Fellow Activists,

Our brightbeam team cares about your safety and ours. 

Like you, we are closely watching the national news and government reports about the coronavirus (COVID-19) so that we can act appropriately.

We are fortunate that our organization converted to being a completely virtual team 18 months ago, which means we have the ability to keep working (so long as we’re healthy) while states, cities, and school districts take steps recommended by scientists to ensure public safety.  

At the same time, brightbeam exists to shine a light on the condition of children living at the margins of their cities, and we are deeply concerned that when schools close it will have an outsized impact on large populations of economically insecure or unhoused families. Many of our brightbeam parents and students fall into this category and we want to do all we can to make sure a tough time for all of us isn’t an even tougher time for them.

As you make plans to keep your family out of harm’s way, we hope that you will keep less fortunate families in your plans. One clear way to do that is to use your voice where possible to influence local leaders to ensure there is food for students who rely on school meals for daily nutrition, and there is care for them when their parents are not able to take consecutive days off of work.

We’ve collected some actions you can take. If you have other suggestions for how we can support children and families during this time, please add them to the comments at the bottom.

  • Meals on Wheels America delivers nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks to seniors so that no one is left hungry or isolated. You can make a donation or see if there are opportunities for you to (safely) volunteer to make an impact in your community.
  • Save the Children has set up a Coronavirus Response Fund to reach children in coronavirus-affected areas and other countries at great risk. Your donations will help keep children healthy and safe, train health workers worldwide, and supply the protective equipment and other supplies frontline health staff desperately need. 
  • RIP Medical Debt will take your monetary donations and eradicate the medical debt of those most in need. This helps people who are uninsured or inadequately insured to get the medical assistance they need sooner rather than later.
  • The Red Cross is in urgent need of blood, platelet or plasma donations to avoid shortages as they respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Donating blood is a safe process and you should not hesitate to give or receive blood (while paying careful attention to social distancing recommendations).

We believe the power of activism changes the world, and during this time it could potentially save lives. 

Best,
Chris Stewart and the brightbeam team