Sep 4 2024
Back to School and Forward into Power
September 4, 2:00 pm ET
Communities on the ground are gearing up for the 2024-2025 school year, proactively preparing to navigate the anticipated challenges and changes. Join Communities for Just Schools Fund partners for an insightful discussion on the opportunities and obstacles ahead. Learn how youth, caregivers and educators are organizing to address post-election scenarios, school closures and changes in school financing and budgeting. Discover strategies for building the governing power necessary to foster equitable partnerships among communities, educators, labor and education system leaders.
While others are welcome to attend, this event is intended for members and education grantmakers.
There is no cost to attend this Grantmakers for Education program. Registration closes 15 minutes prior to the program time. By registering for this program, you agree to our Learning Environment Commitment. Thank you for your patience; we review each registration in advance.
REGISTER FOR EVENT ❯About the Speakers
Jessica Alcantara
Senior Staff Attorney
Advancement Project
Jessica Alcantara is a Senior Staff Attorney in the Opportunity to Learn program at Advancement Project. Jessica supports Black and Latinx communities on issues of the school-to-prison pipeline and school closures, with the goal of increasing Black and Latinx students’ access to quality, sustainable community schools, as well as winning police free schools. She also works on the intersection of education law and immigration law.
Jessica joined Advancement Project in 2016 as a Skadden Fellow. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where she earned a B.A. in Geography and Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies, as well as a minor in Spanish Language and Literature. Following her time at Dartmouth she joined the Peace Corps, serving for two years as a Youth Development Volunteer in Azerbaijan. Jessica attended Columbia Law School, where she served on the Columbia Journal of Race and Law and was involved in the Black Law Students Association, the Latino Law Students Association, and the Student Public Interest Network. She is an alumna of the Prep for Prep program in New York City, where she has also taught. Prior to law school, she earned a M.A. in Latin American and Latino Studies at Fordham University.
Manuela Arciniegas
Executive Director
Communities for Just Schools Fund
Manuela Arciniegas brings more than 20 years of experience in the racial justice nonprofit sector, ensuring young people and women from low-income communities grow as leaders and have the opportunity to hold their governments to account and step into their most powerful social, cultural, political and spiritual lives.
Manuela was previously the Program Officer for Ford Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership on the Civic Engagement and Government Team, where she stewarded over $60M+ in grants supporting organizations growing the civic participation and power of emerging leaders, including youth of color, LGBTQI+, Disability Justice, Immigration, Education Justice, Youth Justice, and other intersectional issues. Prior to her tenure at Ford, Manuela was director of the Andrus Family Fund, overseeing a grantmaking portfolio advancing policy, community organizing, direct service and capacity building for organizations serving youth advocating for change nationwide including Puerto Rico. She has additionally served as a grantmaker and community organizer across issues, including environmental justice, narrative change, arts and culture and education access.
Manuela is a funder organizer and the founder of the Visionary Freedom Fund, and has served as co-chair of Funders for Justice and on the advisory board of the Youth First State Advocacy Fund, the Youth Engagement Fund, the Funder’s Collaborative on Youth Organizing, the Youth Organizing and Cultural Change Fund, Filantropia PR, and Funders for Justice. She is a cultural arts organizer and is the founder and director of an all-women’s Afro-Puerto Rican and Dominican folk drumming troupe, Legacy Women and a performer and manager of Afro-Puerto Rican bomba ensemble Alma Moyo. A proud mother of 4, Manuela is pursuing a PhD at the CUNY Graduate Center in Ethnomusicology focused on the role of Afro-Cuban religious music and power.
She is a selected participant of the Soros Social Justice Fellowship and New York Humanities Fellowship and a recipient of prizes from the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, the New York State Council of the Arts, along with being recognized with the Kennedy Center’s Next 50 cultural leadership award.
Elsa Bañuelos-Lindsay
Executive Director
Movimiento Poder
Bañuelos-Lindsay is the Executive Director of Movimiento Poder (MP), which is dedicated to its mission and vision of reimagining and transforming our society through collective healing, transformational leadership development, community wealth-building, civic engagement, and community organizing. She started her organizing journey in high school on educational justice issues. Elsa is passionate about improving the lives of young people through organizing and healing.
Angel Gober
Executive Director
412 Justice
23 years ago, Angel joined the Northside Coalitions for Fair Housing tenants union that fought back against mass eviction in public housing where she lived with her daughter. Since then she has been a fearless community organizer, working on Housing, and Education Justice. Through her work as a parent organizer, Angel has driven campaigns against School PushOut. She has fought for Community Schools, affordable Early Childhood Education and ending suspensions for our youngest learners. In 2010, as part of a coalition of labor, community, faith-based and environmental organizations, Angel worked to pass the cities Prevailing Wage for Service Workers and Clean Water laws. She has been a successful Campaign Manager, winning Mayoral and School Board races locally and nationally, as well as co-authoring policy to stop the school-to-prison-pipeline.
Angel envisions, and strategically works towards, a beautiful, well-resourced world for Black children. She is dedicated to state-wide and national coalitions to make change. Her background led her to become a political strategist, developing Black leadership in local systems of power. Currently Angel is the Executive Director with 412 Justice– a social justice membership organization of impacted Western Pennsylvanians that focuses our efforts around economic, environmental, and education justice.
Alexandra Mane-Nuñez
Deputy Director of Development
Communities for Just Schools Fund
Alexandra Mane-Nuñez is a senior fundraising professional with nearly 20 years of experience in fund development. Her career is a testament to her unwavering dedication to nonprofit organizations, driven by a deep passion for social justice, the arts, education, and nature. Alexandra is a staunch advocate for the transformative power of education, particularly for first-generation students and marginalized communities—a belief that fuels her work every day.
Her leadership and fundraising expertise have been shaped through significant roles, including as a fundraising consultant for Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC) and the Maria Fund, Vice President of Development for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and National Director of Development for the Posse Foundation.
Nailah Summers-Polite
Co-Executive Director
Dream Defenders
Nailah Summers-Polite is a strategist, communicator, and co-founding member of the Dream Defenders, where she serves as Co-Executive Director. Her journey into activism was ignited by the tragic murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012, sparking a deep commitment to justice that led her to help form the Dream Defenders. As a member, Nailah established the Gainesville, FL chapter of the organization, served as chair of the member leadership council, became a campus organizer and trainer, and utilized her passion for Black history, culture, and graphic design to hone her skills as a communicator.
In 2017, Nailah joined the staff as Director of Communications, bringing her creative and strategic vision to the role and leading on narrative strategies at the local, state, and national levels. In 2022, her dedication and leadership culminated in her appointment as Co-Executive Director. Nailah is also an alumna of the Reframe Senior Cohort and a board member for Momentum Action. This year, Nailah embraced a new chapter in her personal life, welcoming her first child with her husband, marking another milestone in her journey as a leader, advocate, and mother.