Advisory Board Member

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Join the board of a grassroots volunteer group working to bring equity in education to the students of Rochester, NY.

MISSION

To take action to bring equitable funding to Rochester City students by:
- Raising the urgent funds ($86 million) needed to provide basic services for the 2020-2021
school year.
- Advocating for New York State to decrease the disparities in education between city and
suburban neighbors by fulfilling their financial obligations.

CORE BELIEFS

The Rochester City School District (RCSD) is underfunded to a level that prevents it from
providing a sound basic education to the children of this City.
We believe that given adequate funding the RCSD can provide the education that our children
deserve.
We believe that this must be done in collaboration with the parents, teachers, district
leadership and wider community of the City of Rochester.

We share REF’s core beliefs that the greater Rochester, NY community will respond to
opportunities to support Rochester city school children. That strong city schools are an
economic, cultural and social imperative for the future of Monroe County.

We believe that systemic racism in our school system and de jure racial segregation in our city
has, and continues to, harm children of color in Rochester NY. These deliberately oppressive
policies have led to a level of poverty for the children of Rochester which puts them at a
significant educational disadvantage in comparison to the surrounding wealthy suburbs.

COMMITMENTS

We commit to being an antiracist program. We will do that by challenging racial bias in
ourselves and others and taking action to dismantle systemic racism in the non-profit sector, in
education and elsewhere in our society.

We commit to tirelessly seeking the crisis funds that are needed for our schools today to
address this crisis.

We commit to tirelessly advocating for the full funding of Foundation Aid to provide a long term
solution to the chronic underfunding of our district.

We commit to distributing funds to the RCSD in a collaborative way that promotes agency in our
community.

REQUIREMENTS

Expectations:
● Complete onboarding training
● Sign and adhere to conflict of interest policy
● Publicly promote Action for Education Equity and its mission
● Make a serious commitment to participate actively in committee work
● Volunteer for and willingly accept assignments and fulfill them within reasonable
timelines
● Stay informed about committee matters, prepare for meetings
● Collaborate with other advisory board members in the spirit of teamwork and inclusion
● Attend monthly meetings and actively participate in the advisory board decision making
process
● Make a meaningful financial contribution to the fund every calendar year. The amount
that is meaningful is a personal decision based on individual financial circumstances but
at a minimum of $1 per calendar year.

The operating committee is composed of Finance and Governance,
Fundraising, Volunteer Coordination & Outreach and Advocacy & Marketing.