Category: About Us

Today, Stand for Children officially announced our very own Jessica Handy as our new Illinois Executive Director. Jessica brings to this new role a deep well of policy expertise and statewide relationships to lead the organization into a new era.

You’ve surely seen Jessica’s name in your inbox for a long time now. She’s been a fixture at Stand for over 12 years, leading our government affairs department in Springfield. During her time at Stand, she’s helped to enact some of the most impactful education policies of the last decade.

This session, Jessica is excited to lead the team as we advocate for a significant increase to the Evidence-Based Funding Formula, to end the unjust practice of imposing court fines and fees on Illinois youth, and to create a comprehensive statewide literacy plan.

When she’s not at work, Jessica stays busy standing for children in other ways. She is now in her sixth year as a foster mom. As a former teen mom herself, she has a special interest in supporting teen moms in care to become successful parents. Inspired by the literacy advocates she met across Illinois, Jessica also recently earned tutoring credentials to support students with dyslexia.

We look forward to working with you all in the weeks to come as the legislative session culminates, and in the months and years to come as we look to create a brighter future for us all.

Four news flashes about members of the Stand Illinois Team.

Tommorrow Snyder, Stand’s Regional Organizing Director, has been appointed to the statewide Work Group for implementation of the Jett Hawkins Act. This Act bans hair discrimination in schools. Tommorrow brings a rich perspective to this issue – in addition to leading Stand’s community and family engagement partnerships, she is a licensed cosmetologist. The Jett Hawkins Law Work Group is working with the Illinois State Board of Education to create a model toolkit and resource guide for schools.

The Springfield Business Journal has selected Jessica Handy, Stand’s Government Affairs Director, for its annual 40 Under 40 list. Jessica’s inclusion on this list of movers and shakers highlights the dedication and impact she has across the state and in her hometown. She has been a leader in advocating for increased school funding, a more equitable funding formula, and access to advanced coursework. When asked for her proudest professional accomplishment, Jessica cited legislation that stopped millions of federal funds from being siphoned each year from classrooms serving low-income students and students with disabilities. Jessica is a mom, a foster mom, and an affordable housing advocate.

For a few years now, the Stand Illinois office has had the tremendous help of Brandi Watts, a colleague who would travel back and forth from our Texas affiliate. We’re thrilled that she has now moved to the Prairie State and joins us as Stand’s Educator Partnerships Director. Brandi leads our educator engagement strategies and will be helping shape state and district education policy, while continuing to play a key role in our organization’s national Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts.

To commemorate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Chicago honored 12 individuals for their contributions to their communities and the entire city. Mimi Rodman, Stand’s Executive Director, was one of these honorees and was selected for her support and advocacy for the Chicago’s youth. Mimi is a first-generation Korean American. Chicago has the fifth largest population of Asian Americans in the country.

One of the most remarkable parents I have had the privilege of knowing during my time at Stand is Kimberly Payton. Many folks called her Kimmie, and the passion and depth of caring she brought to her advocacy was infectious.

I am terribly sad to tell you that Kim recently and suddenly passed away. She leaves behind five children and an irreplaceable void here at Stand.

Kim’s personal motto was “each one, teach one, reach one.” She lived by those words every day. No matter what life threw at her, Kim found ways to make her community a better place.

Kim first became involved with Stand in 2014 through our program, Stand University for Parents. She had been with us ever since, putting those advocacy skills to work across Chicago and the state. Kim was there when we fought for fair school funding. And she and her family participated in our early literacy programs, Beat the Odds Reading and Every Child Reads.

Kimmie was a constant at Stand as One retreats, welcoming folks with a warm smile and a contagious laugh. She shared her truth and made the retreats a safe and welcoming space where everyone felt like family. Kim served as chairperson of the Local School Council and vice-chairperson of the Parent Advisory Council, both at O’Keeffe School of Excellence.

One of Kim’s most profound legacies is the lower crime rates of the streets of her community. After a serious altercation at the school, Kim sprung to action to convince Chicago Public Schools that the children of South Shore needed Safe Passage. Teaming with Stand, Kim led a door-to-door campaign, collecting over 100 petition signatures. Kim later told me that she kept ringing doorbells even though she heard shots ringing down the street. You can read more about Kim’s heroic efforts and the impact they made.

I hope you’ll join me in saying a short prayer, sending a positive thought, or sharing a quiet moment with a loved one as a tribute to Kim.

Today, the Center for Antiracist Education (CARE) is launching to respond to the enormous number of teachers who want to contribute to ending racism in their schools and in society, but say they lack the tools, resources, and professional development to do so.

According to a survey conducted by EdWeek, 84% of teachers want to teach from an antiracist perspective, but only 14% feel they are well-equipped to do so. CARE will bridge this massive gap by empowering teachers to identify racism in learning materials, providing guidance on materials that align with antiracist principles, and offer valuable professional learning via a first-of-its-kind certification program. CARE will also conduct research and evaluation to rigorously assess the impact of its resources.

“Teachers see the tremendous suffering and strife and the massive waste of human potential that racism causes in society, and also how racism hurts and holds back students,” said CARE Executive Director Maureen Costello, who previously led the highly successful Teaching Tolerance program. “They want to help their students to do better and their schools and our society to be better by strengthening what they teach and how they teach it.”

CARE is an initiative of Stand for Children, a nonpartisan national nonprofit focused on ensuring all students receive a high quality, relevant education. CARE is led by widely respected educators Maureen Costello, Valeria Brown, and Kate Shuster and guided by a distinguished Advisory Board of educators and researchers including University of Pennsylvania Prof. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Harvard Kennedy School Prof. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, University of California, Berkeley Prof. Kris Gutiérrez, Ohio State University Prof. Hasan Kwame Jeffries, University of Texas at Austin Prof. Daina Ramey Berry, and National Teacher of the Year candidate Juliana Urtubey.

“Antiracist educators see the humanity and potential of every student and ensure that what we teach and how we teach helps students to flourish, see each others’ shared humanity and perspectives, and learn to recognize and combat racism and systemic inequities. It is our duty to holistically embody what it means to be antiracist educators,” said Urtubey, a learning strategist at Booker Elementary School in Las Vegas. “The outcome is huge — more joyful and just classrooms and a better future is achievable for every educator — and CARE is here to help every committed educator progress and reap the benefits.”

Across the country, hate crimes and racial terrorism are on the rise, as are the number of students who report experiencing hate-driven bullying by their peers. The rise of highly public acts of hate combined with the nation’s reckoning with racism and the stark racial inequities laid bare by the pandemic have produced an enormous appetite among teachers for tools and resources to help them ensure every student is seen and learns to see the world from different perspectives.

A dozen prominent groups of educators and education leaders, including AASA, The School Superintendents Association; the National Council for the Social Studies; and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) have already endorsed CARE’s principles for an antiracist future.

“Teachers are asking for the tools to do better,” said Stefanie Wager, President of the National Council for the Social Studies. “They know we ourselves were taught an incomplete version of the story of this country, and they know that we build a stronger country by building well-informed citizens. CARE is offering an answer to the question they’re asking.”

For more information about CARE, visit AntiracistFuture.org.