Shifting Self and System

Ruby Ababio-Fernandez is the executive vice president of programming and development at Courageous Conversation (c) and comes to the work with over twenty-three years of educational experience and an unyielding commitment to a vision of transforming lives of adults and children as well as transforming communities and school systems. Dr. Ababio-Fernandez served as associate vice president for equity and leadership development for the New York City Leadership Academy (NYCLA) before her transition to the role as deputy superintendent and senior executive officer of the Office of Equity and Access (OEA) for New York City's Department of Education. Her extensive portfolio includes the citywide Implicit Bias Initiative, Advanced Placement for All, DREAM-Specialized High Schools Institute, as well as several youth development programs. Dr. Ababio-Fernandez's leadership in confronting racial inequities helped forge new paths for developing the will, skill, knowledge, and dispositions needed to achieve educational equity for underrepresented and underserved students, families, and communities. As chief strategy officer of NYC's Department of Education, Dr. Ababio-Fernandez directly supported the chancellor of schools in creating and managing a comprehensive and coherent vision for the agency and in developing effective leaders to advance racial equity. Dr. Ababio-Fernandez earned a bachelor's degree in English from Framingham St. College, a master's degree in curriculum and instruction with specialization in literacy from Lesley University, a master's in educational leadership studies, and a doctorate in urban educational leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University. She currently resides in New York with her family. Courtney Winkfield is a veteran educator, executive coach, and racial equity leader with over twenty years experience leading at the school and district levels in public education systems. Winkfield has helped develop strategic initiatives and strategies to address long-standing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities and promote equity and excellence in education through policy and advocacy, both within and outside of the NYC Department of Education. From 2006 to 2016, Winkfield served as a founding teacher, assistant principal, and principal of the Academy for Young Writers, a public secondary school in East New York, Brooklyn. Under Winkfield's leadership as principal, young writers took significant steps toward expanding opportunities for young people, including increasing the number of AP courses offered, creating multiple STEM pathways for students of all abilities, developing a nationally recognized 6-12 Gender-Sexuality Alliance to empower and give voice to LGBTQ+ students, and establishing a student-led restorative justice program. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from Lewis & Clark College, a master's degree in English education from CUNY Lehman College, and a master's in educational leadership studies from CUNY Baruch College. She lives in South Orange, New Jersey, where she serves as a member of the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education, with her husband and two children.

Pillar One: The Journey Pillar Two: Adaptive Leadership Pillar Three: The Training Chase - Pitfalls and Possibilities of Equity Work Pillar Four: Emergence Pillar Five: Mastering Healing for a Better Humanity Epilogue

"Shifting Self and Systems is a must-read book that offers actionable tools for transformative leadership that center racial equity, healing, and the power of the collective so that our nation's students, especially the most marginalized, receive a quality education that honors their full, authentic selves." -- Dena Simmons "Working toward equity is a journey not a destination. The authors of Shifting Self and System paint a picture of just what that journey entails. Through personal story and deep analysis, the authors illustrate what it can look like to uproot educational injustice through a shift in the system and ourselves. The authors acknowledge historical truths, bring an honest assessment of the pitfalls related to leading for equity and provide a path forward rooted in possibility, humanity, sustainability, and justice. For those looking for ways to make change in comprehensive ways, I recommend taking a deep dive into this text." -- Jamila Dugan "[Ababio-Fernandez and Winkfield] shared insight into decades-old limitations of equity work--the inertia that forces the system to remain in homeostasis--and they explain how and why this happens in uniquely insightful and sound ways. I recommend this text to anyone who has been wondering why we have not yet made the systemic changes students and families so deserve." -- Virginia E. Kelsen "I have never experienced a book with so many tangible suggestions for improvement of practice, such effective reflection prompts, so many real examples of the theory in practice, and such insightful analysis of the actions taken in each case study. If you are a leader committed to transforming education into a liberating, revolutionary, and humanizing institution - why haven't you bought this book yet?" -- Mari Ann Banks "Shifting Self and System is a must-read for those who are serious in doing equity work. More importantly it provides the courage needed so that you stay focused because this type of leadership is on-going and can be contagious when done correctly." -- Elizabeth Alvarez "The journey of school and district leadership requires a multitude of skills and capacities. Ababio-Fernandez and Winkfield take us into a depth of skills and capacities that are reminiscent of abolitionist education. The focus of abolitionists was to end the practice of physical slavery as a means of impacting cognitive slavery that presumed superiority or inferiority based on race and ethnicity. Ababio-Fernandez and Winkfield highlight the five pillars of leadership that require an abolitionist orientation necessary for an equity leader to build a free person's education. They center the realities of self-discovery, inside-outside approach, and healing as the endeavor of what schools can do in this abolitionist movement." -- Edward Fergus Arcia, Ph.D. "The authors mention that there are many examples and guideposts in the history and evolution of this country's search for its soul. I count this book amongst them. Shifting Self and System: How Educational Leaders Propel Excellence for Achieving Equity offers clarity, truth, and will equip school leaders with the necessary tools to move beyond the performative to developing and sustaining the will and skill to persist in this work courageously, even, and especially in the face of resistance. This book is an absolute gift! Through their shared experiences as school leaders, core considerations, case studies, discussion questions, as well as independent and collaborative practices, the authors invite readers on a journey that includes fearlessly honest introspection, vulnerability, and humility leading to holistic, sustained transformation with a focus on healing and wholeness. I give this book my highest recommendation!" -- Afrika Afeni-Mills "There are a lot of books out there that purport to give you answers, but this one really does. Not the answers that make the hard stuff seem easy, but the kind of answers that make you face hard truths, look at yourself in the mirror, and commit to persevere. This is the book we need, at the exact time we need it, by the people we need to hear from, for the people who need it most. It is a must read for any educator or education leader who is dissatisfied with the status quo." -- Sasha Rabkin, Ed.D "If you genuinely care about equity this book is for you. Infused with real-life stories, research, and solutions, "Shifting Self and System: How educational leaders propel excellence to achieve equity" will challenge you to reflect on how one shows up in our own lives and the lives we've been charged to impact. It is refreshingly honest and unapologetic. Ultimately, there will never be equality without equity- Dr. Ruby Ababio-Fernandez and Courtney Winkfield get it!" -- Shanell Dunns "The authors offer windows into a collective human experience that unites our histories and futures. A refreshing perspective at the intersection of identity, spirituality and the developing leader. Bold, poignant and nuanced in its call for self-mastery as a pathway to transformative leadership in contemporary times. Systems are made of people. When systems have mission aligned, healed humans they function well. There isn't a single stand of racial awareness or strategy ~ one must fully understand herself, her place in the world and what she is meant to uniquely contribute within systems. Only then can systems provide quality and efficacy. Some of the best leaders of our time ask us to consider our relationship to ambiguity. Throughout the text, this theme shines. How does leadership manage/lead dynamically? Shame and Hope can coexist. They can both be true at the same time" -- Dia Bryant "Shifting Self and System: How educational leaders propel excellence to achieve equity will shorten the educator's required journey on becoming an adaptive leader to serve the students with whom they are entrusted. Dr. Ruby and Courtney have the origin stories and experience to prepare our educators through adapted leadership to ensure that all students thrive in a 21st-century where AI, robotics, and automation requires that they are seen and supported as STEM-capable, regardless of their origin stories." -- Marlon Lindsay "This book, Shifting Self and System: How educational leaders propel excellence to achieve equity, reminds us that everyone needs healing and all of us can lead system change initiatives from the inside out. The authors guide us into thinking deeply about the personal mirror work that each of us must do to drive systems changes in our education systems. Dr. Ruby and Courtney's vulnerability and empathy shine through their courageous storytelling and reflections. They present an opportunity for us (agents of change) to see ourselves as authentic human beings who can engage in truth-telling while leaning into the transformation work of system change necessary to better youth no matter their needs. The book offers practical and focused strategies that help to create the change we want to see. We are presented with an invitation to wash our faces, see who we really are, and bring others along with us." -- Maurice Swinney