Leading Across Boundaries

The National Disability Mentoring Coalition recently inducted 25 individuals and four organizations into the Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame. Curtis Richards, the director of IEL’s Center for Workforce Development, is among this year’s honorees. The honorees — nominated by their mentees — were selected based on their dedication to mentoring and their impact on the lives […]

IEL stands up for the causes of those in high-potential communities who fight to provide opportunity in the face of poverty, trauma, and inequity. We strongly condemn the racist ideology displayed in Charlottesville and find the hateful actions of white supremacists egregious and unacceptable. To the families, communities, youth, and educational leaders we support, we

In June, IEL hosted the 4th National Family & Community Engagement Conference in San Francisco. Over 1,700 participants gathered to learn and share, and it was an overwhelming success! Attendees included school district leaders, community organizers, parent leaders, nonprofit partners, student leaders, and more! Highlights included hearing from parent and student leaders as well as

How does the community schools strategy positively impact schools? Recently, Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, released a report in conjunction with the National Education Policy Center entitled Community Schools: An Evidence-Based Strategy for Equitable School Improvement. The report demonstrates how community schools are a successful strategy for improving schools

In this changing political climate, IEL’s new president, Johan E. Uvin, shares his thoughts on the future direction of IEL and how we can position ourselves to address the challenges of today and tomorrow. Some solutions include ever-increasing support of equity, investment in collaborative leadership development, continue to strengthen our work with schools and workforce

I am grateful for the more than 30 years that I have been at IEL, the last eight, as president. Connecting leaders from grassroots to grass tops has always driven my work. It’s a principle that is even more important in this era of the “devolution revolution,” with the federal government reducing its commitment to

IEL’s board of directors appointed Dr. Johan E. Uvin as IEL’s sixth president. Previously, Uvin was the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education. “The IEL board is grateful for Marty Blank’s leadership over the past eight years. Marty has transformed IEL into a

Recent growth of a “culture of health” has included the principle that health is influenced by complex factors that must be addressed by collaborating systems. More than 25 years ago, IEL and the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality supported the National Health/Education Consortium, a group that advanced cross-boundary community health solutions and the notion that

Seven years ago, IEL created a stem- and career-focused mentoring model for transition-age youth with disabilities involved or at risk of becoming involved in the juvenile justice system. Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, IEL’s Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP) was recently awarded its fifth RAMP grant, this one for $3 million. These

Reuben Jacobson, deputy director of IEL’s Coalition for Community Schools, recently published a report with Brookings. He emphasizes that the institutions of a neighborhood are vital to its health and economic strength, and public schools are one of the most important shared institutions. They function not only as centers for providing education but also as