Join us to hear from members of the Pre-K Priority along with state and local community leaders as they discuss equity, quality, Forsyth County statistics, and the economy as it relates to Pre-K. This webinar will be moderated by Shenell Thompson, and will feature Kellie Easton, Dr Ebonyse Mead, and Bob Feikema.

“The energy around equity in our community is exciting and greatly needed,” said Shenell Thompson, Senior Program Officer at the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and moderator for the Equity webinar. “Our mission is to ensure that Pre-K is recognized as an important piece of the equity conversation. We know from national, state and local studies—as well as conversations with teachers, principals and other leaders here in Forsyth County—that children who don’t have access to high-quality Pre-K often never catch up in school or in life. We believe this is unacceptable.”

“Our hope is that by hosting conversations around the issues and disparities with Pre-K in Forsyth County, we’ll see more of our community and political leaders including Pre-K in their discussions around educational equity,” said Feikema. “Now is the time to take stock of how we are investing in not just the futures of our children but in the future of our community.”

MODERATOR

Shenell Thompson
As Senior Program Officer of Local Impact in Forsyth County for the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, Shenell oversees grant making activities for vulnerable and underserved communities in Forsyth County. Shenell also manages the Trust’s special initiative, Great Expectations with a goal to ensure all children in Forsyth County enter kindergarten ready to learn and leave set for success – regardless of the color of their skin, their income, and where they live. Great Expectations has provided grant funding to help support aspects of The Pre-K Priority’s work over the last three years. Prior to joining the Trust, Shenell was CEO of Brick by Brick Consulting, offering direct support to nonprofits working to address racial disparities, asset building, and economic mobility. Her experience addressing local inequities and creating systemic change includes her tenure at Financial Pathways of the Piedmont as director of assets and opportunities and program assistant at Simon Green Atkins CDC.

PANELISTS

Kellie Easton
Kellie is the Executive Director of Action4Equity, a black-led, intentionally multi-racial coalition of educators, parents, students, faith leaders, and community members working to advance equity for students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in the areas of academic achievement, access to high-quality instruction, and safe and healthy school environments. In her role as CEO and Co-Founder of Easton Reid Group, a strategy and management company located in Winston-Salem, Kellie has worked with an extensive list of women and minority business leaders on various business development and policy issues. She has served as the SVP of Business Development for Black Girls Vote where she was recognized for establishing the Corporate and Advocacy Strategy behind Activate the Vote. Kellie proudly serves as the President of the Young Adult Committee of the Winston-Salem Chapter of the NAACP, the Board Chair of Hustle WS, and Vice Chair for the City of Winston-Salem Minority and Women Business Enterprise Advisory Committee.

Bob Feikema
With over 45 years of experience in human services, Bob currently serves as the President & CEO of Family Services. The agency provides behavioral health services, interpersonal violence programs, and delivers the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Forsyth County. Bob has served as the convener of The Pre-K Priority since 2014 and helped steward the coalition’s vision of providing all four-year-old children with the opportunity to attend accessible, affordable, and equitable high-quality Pre-K programs. Prior to coming to Winston-Salem, Bob worked in administrative positions at human services agencies in Pittsburgh (PA), including as the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.  He developed the Citizens Leadership Initiative, which provided training and support to enable people from low-income neighborhoods to address poverty by advocating for changes in public policies and community conditions. Bob also pioneered the establishment of a multi-agency collaborative for families with pre-school children that received a Robert Rice Innovative Program Award from Family Service America.

Dr. Ebonyse Mead
Dr. Ebonyse Mead is an instructor at both Georgia Southern and Winston Salem State University and president of the Educational Equity Institute. For 18 years, Ebonyse has worked in communities to improve the health and educational outcomes for children of diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Since 2016, Ebonyse has provided training on diversity, inclusion, and equity with a particular focus on examining structural barriers to educational equity, implicit racial bias, and culturally responsive instruction to the early childhood workforce. Dr. Mead is a Certified Family Life Educator and holds a Doctor of Education in Early Childhood and a Masters in Human Services from Concordia University Chicago. In 2015, Ebonyse completed a Masters in Family Studies from Texas Woman’s University. Dr. Mead has presented nationally on racial equity in early childhood and has published articles on implicit bias and culturally responsive family engagement in early childhood and family science publications. As president of the Educational Equity Institute, Ebonyse is deeply committed to creating brave spaces to talk about structural racism and promote equitable and just programs in early childhood.