National Series on Leadership for Antiracist Education: Minnesota State University, Mankato, Twin Cities campus

Energizing and Enhancing the Spirit of Our Community

On October 12, 2026, Becoming Leadership Group, Teachers College Press, and Minnesota State University, Mankato College of Education invite you to the National Series on Leadership for Antiracist Education. This student summit will convene scholars, educators, students, and community leaders to explore the ideas shaping antiracist leadership in education today. Through dialogue, scholarship, and community engagement, the Series creates spaces where theory and practice meet—strengthening democratic learning communities and amplifying the work of authors and practitioners committed to equity and belonging.

This event will bring together Teachers College Press authors, university faculty, local authors and artists, students, K–12 educators, and community leaders for a day of dialogue designed to foster learning, reflection, and collaborative action.

Agenda

4:00–4:15 PM: Registration & Welcome

4:15–5:20 PM: Moderated Author Panel with Gloria Ladson-Billings, Patrick A. Duffy, Yvette Jackson, and William Ayers

5:30–6:25 PM: First Concurrent Breakout Sessions

• Surviving the New Nadir: The Struggle for Our Democracy | Led by Gloria Ladson-Billings
  Current race relations are analogous to a period in our history during the post-reconstruction period. Despite being discouraged, there are strategies those committed to democracy can employ to regain our power and demonstrate what it means to be citizens in a democracy.
• Been, Being, Becoming: Where Identity Meets Action | Led by Patrick A. Duffy
  Leadership begins with identity. Through guided reflection, storytelling, and collaborative dialogue, participants will examine the experiences that have shaped them, explore who they are becoming, and identify concrete actions that align purpose, values, and leadership practice.
• Igniting the Brilliant Mind Within: Transcendent Thinking as the Pathway to Confidence, Strength, and Self-Actualization | Led by Yvette Jackson
  When students are inspired to think transcendentally, through equitable pedagogy that cultivates belief in and recognition of their innate potential for genius, they discover a brilliance within themselves that no uncertainty can extinguish. Experience how the Pedagogy of Confidence leverages the neuroscience of transcendent thinking as the cognitive and emotional catalyst to nurture expansive, purpose-driven thinking, personal strengths, unshakeable confidence, and determination to contribute, igniting their journey toward self-actualization.
• Awakening and Energizing the Spirit | Led by William Ayers
  In the dark times will there be singing? Brecht asks. Yes, there will be singing, singing about the dark times. We will sing here about hope, not hope as an idle wish but as a dynamic and muscular practice. We resist despair as we choose hope, making a lovely future closer and more imaginable as well as our work and life today bearable, purposeful, even exciting. Hope demands attention; hope wants action.

6:30–7:00 PM: Second Concurrent Breakout Sessions

• Are We There Yet? Teachers' Perceptions of Their Antiracist Journey | Led by Natalie D. Rasmussen, Bernadeia Johnson, and Pam MacKinnon
  Results from the examination of a five-year-long Institute for Courageous Teacher Leadership which provided a learning opportunity to build knowledge, skills, and confidence toward effective antiracist teaching. Increased perceived teacher efficacy emerged.
• ICE Out of Our Schools: Reflections from Minnesota K12 Educational Leaders Regarding Operation Metro Surge | Led by Leslie Ann Locke
  This qualitative study centers the question: What educational leadership decisions, actions, and motives were foundational in considering the needs of students and families during Operation Metro Surge (OMS) in Minnesota? The perceptions, experiences, and actions of eight school and district leaders in the Minneapolis metro area as they worked to ensure safety and educational access for students and families during the 2.5-month OMS period are highlighted. Thematic findings point to the leaders being logically prepared; understanding the OMS was racialized; partnering with communities; and having concerns for the future.
• A Longitudinal Examination of Racial Equity-Focused School Leader Change: The Institute for Courageous Leadership | Led by Melissa Krull, Candace Raskin, and Kristina A. Doyle
  Results from a long-term examination of the impact of the Institute for Courageous Leadership, a two-year, cohort-based program designed to develop equity-centered leadership study, show strong positive effects in racial self-awareness, shifts in equity-oriented leadership practices, and improved confidence and observable gains in student outcomes.
• Beating the Odds: Successful Diversification and Increased Completion Rates in an Educational Leadership Ed.D. Program | Led by Antonia Felix
  This presentation explores actionable, systemic interventions designed to bring “long hauler” ABD candidates through to completion and cultivate a more richly diverse student cohort and faculty. Attendees will discover specific implementations enacted by a department committed to producing racially conscious leaders that fostered a significant increase in completion for White and Black students.

7:00–8:00 PM: Reception & Book Signing—Dinner Provided

About the Panelists

Gloria Ladson-Billings is Kellner Family Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the 2005–2006 president of the American Educational Research Association. Her books include The Dreamkeepers, Comic Edition, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, and Critical Race Theory in Education.

Patrick A. Duffy is Executive Director of Students United, an adjunct professor of educational leadership at the University of Minnesota, and founder and principal consultant of Becoming Leadership Group. As an educator, researcher, and author of Becoming an Antiracist School Leader, his work explores student leadership, democracy, identity, and the conditions that help schools and communities thrive.

Yvette Jackson is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, founded at the College Board and Teachers College, Columbia University. She is internationally recognized for her work in assessing the learning potential of disenfranchised urban students. She is the author of The Pedagogy of Confidence.

William Ayers is Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois Chicago (retired). His books include To Teach, Fourth Edition, about Becoming a Teacher, and Teaching with Conscience in an Imperfect World.

About the Moderator

Rev. Anthony Galloway is Senior Partner at The Dendros Group, former Executive Director of the ARTS-US Center for the African Diaspora, and Pastor of Wayman African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A nationally recognized speaker, facilitator, musician, and storyteller, he is the co-founder of Dare 2 Be Real and co-host of Minnesota Public Radio's award-winning Counterstories podcast, where he brings wisdom, compassion, and hope to conversations on racial equity, community, and transformational leadership

About the Breakout Session Leaders

Natalie D. Rasmussen is professor, doctoral program coordinator, and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her research includes racial equity in K-12 and higher education. 

Bernadeia Johnson is associate professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato, former Superintendent in Minneapolis, MN, and Deputy Superintendent in Memphis, TN. She partners with community organizations to address racial disparities in education.

Pam MacKinnon is Coach for the Center for Engaged Leadership at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is a teacher, fierce conversation facilitator, school improvement specialist, program lead for the aspiring transformational principal academy, and professional development consultant.

Leslie Ann Locke is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her research, teaching, and service are informed by a desire to understand the barriers students experience in K12 and higher education systems and to broaden access and opportunity.

Melissa Krull is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her research and practice are dedicated to eliminating school racial disparities and developing school and district leaders toward racial equity. She is a co-author of Principal Leadership for Racial Equity.

Candace Raskin is professor emeritus at the Department of Educational Leadership, Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her
research and practice are dedicated to eliminating school racial disparities and developing school and district leaders toward racial equity. She is a co-author of Principal Leadership for Racial Equity.

Kristina A. Doyle is in the Department of Educational Leadership, Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is a doctoral candidate and graduate assistant in the Department of Educational Leadership and serves the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Mounds Park Academy, MN.

Antonia Felix is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Minnesota State University, Mankato. As a New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five books across nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, her work includes political biographies profiling influential women leaders such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Condoleezza Rice, and Elizabeth Warren.