Power and Privilege: Successfully Navigating a Corporate-School District Partnership

Description

As good neighbors, local corporations—including local subsidiaries of national organizations—collaborate with school districts offering resources, expertise, volunteers, and other services. These partnerships can also be vehicles for corporations to fulfill their social justice missions.

Despite the best intentions of all parties, these partnerships can have mixed results. In many communities, these partnerships bring together organizations with leadership and managers that reflect the power, privilege, race, and cultures of the dominant social identity groups in our country with school districts where the students and families/caregivers belong to traditionally marginalized social identity groups.

This presentation will explore the role of the private partner in a successful partnership, including understanding the challenges and opportunities presented by dynamics of unequal power and privilege, along with guidelines and tools to facilitate designing and monitoring partnership operations.

Learning Outcomes

• Become prepared to mitigate your unconscious biases and increase your cultural competence
• Embrace your role in the partnership as an ally and not a savior; plan and behave accordingly
• Partner for sustainability; align your objective with the district’s and check your privilege