CCEPG Team
Carmen Johnston
CCEPG Coordinator
I have over twenty five years of experience in education, youth development, teaching and diversity leadership. Chabot has provided a unique and powerful opportunity for us an educational community to provide anti-biased, anti-racist, equitable educational experiences for our students. Equity work is about humanizing education and stretching ourselves to reach our full potential as self-actualized human beings. We get to play, experiment and learn together. To put it simply, we get to have lots of fun as we build an equity movement at Chabot! My love for working with educators and getting to know my colleagues across campus fuels the work I am lucky to do with the CCEPG.The courage and vulnerability shown by the Chabot community is inspiring.
Kristin Land
CCEPG Coordinator
I started teaching 20 years ago with the goal of transforming schools into more equitable learning spaces and soon discovered that self-transformation is the foundation upon which such a lofty goal must be built. For me, equity is about uplifting humanity, returning to a belief system that centers community well-being, that centers dignity for each individual. Equity work is heart work; it is joyous and creative and it stretches us to be better caretakers of one another, of our land, and of ourselves. It reminds me to move with humility and to remember that together, we know a lot. Equity work challenges me to listen better, to acknowledge my privilege and use it for change. It challenges me to strive toward freedom, daily.
Clara Mclean
I have always been compelled to think and act on injustice. I believe deeply that we, and our institutions, can and do transform, though it will not happen without setbacks and profound struggle.
As a community college teacher, there is nothing I value more than those exciting, empowering moments of shift and awakening in my students. I believe our minds are hungry for this kind of deep work, and that moving into difficult areas, into areas of discomfort, is often where real learning lies. Working with the CCPEG has been an amazing opportunity for me to have the same kind of profound learning experiences that I wish for my students.
I first got involved with CCPEG work in 2015 through a pilot project organized by Carmen Johnston and Kristin Land. A group of instructors got together throughout the semester to learn about transforming our teaching and institutional work toward more equity-focused, explicitly justice-oriented practices.
Working with this group was so enriching; we had some of the most exciting discussions I’ve had in my teaching career. The exercises we did on rethinking our course curricula through a more conscious equity lens have forever changed the way I design my classes.
I’ve now been working with the CCPEG for 6 years, in a variety of capacities—attending workshops and leadership retreats, leading equity trainings for part-time instructors in my division, and participating in and leading sessions for a campus-wide affinity group for those of us with white privilege who want to become better allies for our BIPOC colleagues and students. In the Covid era, we’ve actually been able to hold more sessions, and draw in more participants, than we could before, so it seems like the work has been thriving and rippling outward. Each session has a different focus, and each one brings new opportunities for learning and growing in our roles on campus, and contributing to the gradual transformation of the institutional culture of the college.
Heather Clements
I believe that to achieve equity for students at Chabot we have to look at our pedagogy and practice. Students are amazing and successful when they are inspired by teachers and content. Instructors can learn from each other. I started out as a Special Education professional in K-12 and that is all about equity. Students have different abilities and succeed and different ways. As an educator, PD will always be relevant and necessary. My practice can always be better and improved upon. I have always learned the most from colleagues. My dreams and hopes for equity PD at Chabot are that every member of our community view it as a priority and step into the work with humility. I hope that our community will truly honor what is means to be working toward liberation, and not just talk about it.
Marisa Traylor
In 2017, I attended a retreat led by Carmen and Kristin in order to connect with other
equity-minded educators at Chabot. During that retreat, I found myself having some
of the most honest conversations that I had ever had in a professional setting. Since
then, I have worked with CCEPG in order to continue reflecting, learning,
and creating with educators committed to serving the students that the school system
was not designed to serve.
Mark Anderson
Joining the Chabot community in 2015 offered me the opportunity to join an Equity
Faculty Inquiry Group (FIG). I initially did so hoping to improve classroom culture
for my students, offering them more opportunities to connect with each other and increasing
engagement with the material. I have received a lot more: the chance to develop relationships
with colleagues, to interrogate the systems that undergird American educational culture
and practice, and to tie this learning to my own teaching. I have been inspired by
colleagues who have applied principles of equity to campus matters ranging from student
services to curriculum to hiring.
I’m committed to Equity PD because it has consistently offered me the chance to step
out of my own experience, learn from my colleagues, question my practices, and learn
to listen more clearly to the experiences of my students. In these training sessions,
I have grappled with political and theoretical questions surrounding education as
developing my teaching toolbox.
Michael Lai
Equity Professional Development (PD) is growth. In order to best serve our students, I must grow as an instructor/counselor and as a person. My own college career started at a community college and I believe community colleges offer a unique and special opportunity for developing leaders. As a counselor, health and wellness is center in much of my work. When I heard Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade, one of the leaders in equity and education, speak and express “equity is wellness” and “students get what they need when they need it”, it all came together for me. All community college work is equity work. My hope is that instead of equity being another thing place on top of our “work”, equity becomes the core, and all our duties and responsibilities are built around it.
Michael Thompson
I’ve been involved in equity work for several years now. My involvement began with my participation in learning communities (particularly Umoja) and interest in engaging in ongoing conversations, formal and informal, about equitable teaching. It continues to be my desire to become a better teacher for all of my students and engage others in discussions centered around equity and pedagogy. My hope is to help institutionalize a Center for Teaching and Learning focused on issues of equity.
Sandra Genera
I am committed to equity Professional Development because I feel the need to continue
the work that my mentors started with me. I believe in showing by example, if I am
going to be a mentor to upcoming counselors & faculty, I need to show that this work
is continuous.
My dreams & hope for equity PD at Chabot is to let my colleagues know that there is
a community of us here on campus & that even though the work may seem heavy and lonesome,
to know we are not alone & it does not always have to be heavy, that there are colleagues
that we can trust and share the load with.
Sarah Flores
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be part of equity focused professional development at Chabot College. The unexpected relationships we have built, the different perspectives that have changed our thinking, the stories of bravery that inspire us, the self-examination that has us humbled - we dig deeper for those honest answers that will bring us closer to solidarity in our communities. My hope is by working together we can make a positive change in the equity climate at Chabot College.
Simon Abramowitsch
I am committed to equity work because I believe that none of us are free until all of us are free. Equity work is the collective work to bring into being a shared vision of the world as a place of freedom, purpose, and joy; it's the ability of each to live to our fullest potential as humans. At Chabot equity work means to me the project of cultivating a community of care and learning to help us confront unjust ideas and practices in every aspect of college life. I want to see students smile and thrive on their own terms.
Terra Lee
I am committed to this work because equity is necessary and not optional. I want equity mindfulness to be the norm for everyone that is connected to Chabot. I want to expose my blind spots, and be an agent of change. I am in the CCEPG to grow, learn, and be an active participant to address and identify/fix the ever-present equity issues.There is still a disconnect when it comes to equity for employees, particularly Classified Professionals. My dream and hope for equity PD at Chabot is that we continue to bring awareness of inequities and develop actionable plans to address equity issues.