March is Women’s History Month, and the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) joins other organizations in recognizing and celebrating of the vital role of women in American history.
At our organization, we are proud to have a staff comprised of 75% women! Each person on our team plays an important role in the work that we do. To showcase some of the meaningful accomplishments these women have achieved, we’re spotlighting one of the female leaders making a deep impact in advancing equitable outcomes for the communities we partner with:
Ebony Watson
Ebony Watson is the Deputy Director for the Center for Workforce Development at IEL and the National Program Director of the Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP), a career-focused mentoring program for youth with disabilities who are justice involved and/or at-risk of involvement.
For the last sixteen years, Ebony has provided counsel, assistance, and guidance to youth and families involved in the juvenile justice and foster care system, collaborated with schools to improve attendance and graduation rates for system-involved youth, and mentored youth in goal-setting and decision-making skills.
For the last eight years, she has streamlined best practices for mentoring youth with disabilities to include recruiting and training mentors, mentor-mentee match support, engaging families, case management, and records review. Additionally, she developed and facilitated trainings sharing the learned strategies and best practices of the RAMP program to assist in the development of peer mentoring programs across the country.
Ebony leads in a pivotal role in sustaining and expanding a nation-wide effort to provide communities access to implementing the RAMP program. Under Ebony’s leadership, IEL’s Center for Workforce Development (CWD) has achieved great impact to benefit the lives of youth, especially those with disabilities and/or are justice-involved, including:
- Enrolled over 3,000 youth in RAMP since 2009
- Expanded RAMP to 15 current sites in 10 different states
- Planned annual meetings that bring youth, program staff, mentors, and family members to Washington D.C. since the founding of RAMP
Ebony goes above and beyond in her role – she is also a leading member of IEL’s Sunshine Committee, which works to support work-life balance, fun celebrations, and opportunities for connection for our staff. She is a current Fellow in IEL’s Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP) D.C. Chapter and is leading IEL’s youth town halls that tackle important and engaging topics related to students and youth voice.
Ebony holds a Master of Social Work degree from Walden University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Augusta State University. Ebony is also a graduate of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services Leadership Development Institute.
Ebony is a leader of influence and an instant source of inspiration for many staff on our team. We’re so grateful to all that Ebony does at IEL and appreciate her dedication and kind spirit!