Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within organizations requires a steadfast commitment to ongoing dialogue, learning from missteps, and changing hearts and minds. As workplaces (including those of many education organizations) increasingly adopt and embrace virtual work, it is critical for leaders to consider how remote work dynamics affect DEI across their internal culture and external work.
Yet, this work can be daunting for many remote organizations. Much existing guidance around the intersection of DEI and work focuses on traditional, in-person workplaces, and resources that might exist do so behind paywalls or through costly consulting services, out of reach for small businesses and nonprofits in need of support. There are organizations tackling this issue, but much like the innovation efforts underway to improve teaching and learning in schools, their work is happening in isolation. The field needs open knowledge and communities to do remote DEI well.
To tackle this challenge, TLA launched the Remote DEI Collective (RDC) in 2019, a research and development community of practitioners aiming to advance DEI specifically within remote environments. Beginning with a group of seven virtual, nonprofit and for-profit education organizations and growing to 12 member organizations alongside a partnership with Promise54, the community dedicated time to building and openly sharing practices for the field. The Remote DEI Toolkit launched in 2020 to showcase actionable insights, strategies, and resources for remote organizations. TLA contextualized these learnings for K-12 practitioners in 2024, ensuring the insights would remain actionable for school leaders and individual practitioners seeking to move this work forward.
Collective Members
- 2Revolutions: a fully virtual education design lab that uses the design process to help school communities develop and implement solutions.
- Deans for Impact: a partially virtual nonprofit that works to ensure every child is taught by a well-prepared teacher.
- EdTec: a partially virtual social enterprise committed to improving public education by supporting charter schools with business, operations, and performance services.
- Gradient Learning: a fully virtual nonprofit that creates technology solutions to meet the holistic needs of every child while fostering success for all.
- Highlander Institute: a partially virtual nonprofit that partners with communities to imagine and create more equitable, relevant, and effective schools.
- Illustrative Mathematics: a fully virtual nonprofit committed to creating a world where learners know, use, and enjoy mathematics.
- Next Generation Learning Challenges: a fully virtual nonprofit supporting the educators who are reimagining public education.
- The Leadership Academy: a partially virtual nonprofit that supports and develops school and system leaders to lead equitable schools.
- PowerMyLearning: a fully virtual nonprofit that activates the power of collaboration between teachers, students, and families.
- Transcend: a fully virtual nonprofit that supports communities to create and spread extraordinary, equitable learning environments.
- Transforming Education: a fully virtual nonprofit that partners with school systems to support educators and leaders in fostering whole-child development.
- Promise54 (DEI expert partner): a fully virtual consulting organization that helps adults thrive so that they can do their best work.
