Breaking Barriers: Women of Color in Superintendent Roles
Summary: In this engaging episode of the Engaging Leadership show, host CT Leong sits down with Dr. Monique Darrisaw-Akil, the Superintendent of Uniondale Union Free School District. With a vibrant background in education and a passion for equity, Dr. Akil shares her journey from a high school teacher in New York City to her current leadership role. She discusses the unique and diverse community within Uniondale and the strides they are making in fostering leadership across the board.
Dr. Akil dives into the Uniondale Union Free School District's strategic approach to leadership development, equity in education, and the importance of investing in potential leaders. She emphasizes the role of mentorship, community building, and the impact of having diverse voices in decision-making positions. Engage with Dr. Akil's inspiring insights on building a robust talent pipeline, the necessity for coaching for new administrators, and the benefits of creating an inclusive environment that champions growth and innovation.
Key Takeaways:
- Equity in Education: Dr. Akil stresses the importance of creating equitable policies that catalyze systemic change across all levels of education.
- Leadership Development: The district’s commitment to developing leaders from within by providing meaningful professional development and coaching.
- Investing in Potential: The approach to talent development is inclusive, allowing self-nominations and encouraging a culture where professional growth is prized.
- Community and Mentorship: Building communities of leaders through mentorship and creating environments where teachers and administrators feel valued and supported.
- Broadening Perspectives: The significance of having diverse voices in leadership to bring varied perspectives and innovative solutions to educational challenges.
Chapters:
0:00
Diversity and Leadership in Uniondale's Unique School District
5:01
The Journey from Teacher to Superintendent
Empowering Women and People of Color in Educational Leadership
Developing Leadership at All Levels in Education
Effective Leadership Development Without High Costs
Grassroots Leadership and Community Engagement in Education
Connect with Dr. Jim: linkedin.com/in/drjimk
Connect with CT: linkedin.com/in/cheetung
Connect with Dr. Monique: linkedin.com/in/mdarrisaw/
Music Credit: Shake it Up - Fesliyanstudios.com - David Renda
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Transcript
Today, it's a great privilege for me to be speaking with Dr. Monique Darussal Akil, Superintendent of Uniondale Union Free School District. This was actually in response to a great article that she wrote in the 74, which is a really interesting newsletter for folks who are interested in education and all things education. I found some of her insights really interesting and I thought it would be a great idea to get her on the show to share those insights and to share more about her school district and some of the good work that they're doing. Dr. Akil, welcome to the show.
[: [: [: we also have students, whose [:There's a wide range of learners, abilities, income levels family backgrounds and histories. So it's just a really interesting and dynamic place to work.
[: [: to make sure that our staff, [: [: [: in New York city. So I got a [:I started to look in Long Island and I never thought that I would be in a suburban school community. But then I found out that there are chlidren who need strong leadership everywhere and that there are thriving, diverse communities outside of New York. And I don't think I even realized that.
h the work that we're doing. [: [: [:So I was in a school where, we weren't really allowed to take the children on trips. Because someone in a leadership position thought that wasn't a great idea. And so I love teaching. I was very excited to work with children every day, but I think as a teacher I had a lot of questions about why are things the way they are?
And [: ce and being told no with no [:You are willing to write a proposal to maybe even get some funds to help offset the cost. I want to be the one that gets to say yes. I'm really glad you asked me that question cause it really brought me back to my why of leadership. It really wasn't about, I want to have a fancier title.
And actually at the time there was sacrifice. I was a young mother and I had to give up time with my children, work longer hours. But I was just really motivated to be the one who got to help inform the decisions because just as a teacher made me think that I didn't have an opportunity to help inform decisions.
'm hoping that the world has [: [: [:That's funny now that you're more mature. But no, now that I do, I've been able to see, I know that there are lots of ways to influence policy. There are advocacy groups, there are civic organizations, there are labor unions who helped to influence policy. But as a young teacher, I didn't know that.
However, I did think that being in that leadership role in the chief executive role and being able to listen to all those different constituencies for them to help inform your policy I felt was my way of contributing to creating systemic and hopefully sustainable change that will, you know, last when I'm not in the seat any longer.
ally prompted me. Being able [:This is what parents are dealing with. Really being able to stand up on the balcony and say: But if we did this one thing, it would make it better for the bus drivers. It would make it a little better for the food service workers. It would have a great impact on our children, how they learn and how they feel about being in school.
So I just want to say that everyone doesn't have to be a superintendent impact change. We know that, you know, The work that you're doing spreading ideas, having critical conversations impacts change as well. But this was my entry point into how I thought I could best be of service in terms of making a difference.
across the country. Where I [: hildren see us, they see the [: [: gnment around developing new [: [: important to me, and see if [: sibility as district leaders [:We're not preferencing or given some degree of preference for internal candidates just for the sake of doing that, but we are ensuring that our internal candidates are as compelling and competitive and as visionary as anybody else who would walk through the doors. So when I share that with the board of education, we have a win win.
it. And so there's a lot of [: [: [: ompeting for anything in the [:I am not having conversations with children or parents who are saying I think my child is having trouble reading. What should I do? They're not asking me those questions. They're asking the teacher assistant and they're asking the teacher those questions. So we want to make sure that those answers are aligned with what we think best practices are.
really touching the end user [:Because sometimes we stand up in front of an auditorium and we lecture people for a really long time, instead of saying, I think that there's some amazing practitioners in this audience. Come on up. Can you show us what you did in your last class? Because everybody should see that because it's been over 20 years since I've taught.
line. But all the assistants [:I'm going to work with them on some type of leadership project. And then at the end of their cycle of learning, all of the central administrative staff comes to a meeting where they present their projects. And we give them feedback in real time about their leadership projects. So everybody is involved in the work, but there is one person who owns it and drives it and reports back.
And this is our way to also identify who the next level of talent that maybe we don't see when we go into classrooms because maybe they're like in the back doing like some other heavy lifting. So we want to make sure that we're keyed in to who the superstars are throughout the organization.
[: [: rship in the next two years, [:So you either already have your toe in the water because you already in a program, you completed a program, but you're not sure what's next, or you weren't even thinking about a program, but then you're saying I want to see what this is about. And so one is that we send it out district wide.
So people have the opportunity to self nominate. So it doesn't go directly to the principal to say, give us who you think. We tell everyone, anybody who wants to give it a try, apply for this process. There's two steps. One, we want a principal sign off.
Because if the principal is not invested in working with you, it's very fruitless for us, to cut out the most important factor in this equation, which is the leader of your building, where we're expecting that you're going to rise through at some point to become the leader of an inquiry team, then you might have some other teacher leadership type of role and maybe an administrative role.
incipal to say, yes, this is [:So maybe your principal doesn't even know that you're interested in leadership opportunities, but now that you had to go through this process and actually have to meet your principal. Now we having a conversation and they're saying, Oh, you want to do that? Here's something you could actually get involved in right now.
development assistance suit [:With everyone, it's about a 15 minute conversation just to say, what are you thinking? What are some of the areas that you'd like to work on if you were given the opportunity? So we're basically saying to a teacher, if you had a magic wand, what would be the thing that you would touch first? And why?
Because we really want to hear their thinking. Are you willing to make the commitment? It's after school, it's on your own time. You're gonna read some books, you're gonna meet some folks, you're gonna identify a project, you're gonna present it to your senior leadership team. Are you interested in that?
And those who sign up said they've had a really great time doing it. So yeah.
[: [: [:That's great. The way that you've spoken about this, you have a obviously someone who's responsible for talent development, but it sounds like this goes beyond just a single department or a function. This expectation of developing leaders and growing them goes all the way to even the principles of building leadership level and others in the administration.
How do you go about thinking of this and communicating this to all the other leaders like standing leaders today in your cabinet and in your team.
[: A [: n AP until I retire, that is [:No one gets to be stagnant. That's just not okay. You can grow in your role. But you have to grow. So we make that very explicit. We provide reading materials, conversations. We bring teachers to present to our principals. We bring students in to present. If assistant principals, if you're doing great work and we hear about it, you're going to present to everybody.
Everyone should have an opportunity to share the great work that they're doing. And we think that's also a way of developing and affirming talents.
[: d contribute more in service [:This sounds like a magical hack that you're getting people to do more with less and at the same time grow from it.
[:And we hope that to be true, but being in a community and a cohort is probably going to have a greater impact on your practice than me sending you to Hawaii for some type of leadership conference for a weekend, even though we all like Hawaii who doesn't? So I think it's a combination of both.
es to be in different spaces [:But also, I had the good fortune of being in places where I was able to travel the country and visit schools and be a part of these national networks. So in a smaller scale district with a lot tighter budget, everyone doesn't get those opportunities. So yes, we do bring speakers in.
We do invest in coaches, all of our new administrators get a coach. So that's outside of the work that we do. We'll pay a retired leader from someplace else or internal retired, administrator to walk with that person that first year. And so again, I was struck by my experience of being a new teacher.
mentor their first year as a [:Of course not. That's that would be ridiculous. We all need coaching and mentoring. So that's something that again, with the board support saying this is why. It doesn't mean the person can't do the job. But I think that if they had someone was not their supervisor to speak to, they could ask hard questions.
sups don't do their job, but [:There are investments that we make, but I think there are a lot of things that we can do with our existing leadership team. That doesn't cost so much money. So we try to stay with that. And also then the relationship is with us. If I bring in a high paid consultant to do some of the leadership development work when they're gone, like, how do my people access? I have someone on staff, they have a question or thought, they can call, they have more regular access to that person. So it is a combination of both.
[: their leadership development [: [: ge gets out there. The other [:Don't make it something that's so laborious. Our sessions run from, five to six weeks, it's not all year long. They're not in college. They're not in grad school. So we're not loading them with books and papers. They've done all that. It's really more about conversation.
It's more about problem based scenarios. And it's really about people who are looking at problems differently and are thinking about how to solve for those things within the locus of control that they possess. So that's our approach. Again, we're not trying to weed people out. We're not trying to make a graduate school.
We're trying to create communities of leaders and that's even more important. Even in a small district, as a teacher how sometimes it can be, I won't say isolated, but very narrow. We as leaders, I get to walk into schools all day long.
er I want. Teachers are very [:And so giving them the freedom to work with colleagues and visit colleagues from across a district opens up their eyes and gives them a privilege that I think they deserve, especially if they're going to come back into their classroom and say, I've seen some really great practices. I'm going to put this in place right now.
I think that it's about creating community even more so than an individual leadership title. And we've heard that they say, I've never gotten to see my colleagues right across the parking lot. And now, because it's experience, I have access to more. The assistant principals are connecting with each other.
without us? That's the goal.[: [: [: ms. So I'm always interested [: [:
