Edyoucan Consulting, Inc. is an educational consulting firm based in Glastonbury, Connecticut that provides critical race theory-aligned “antiracism” workshops and faculty retreats on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The firm was incorporated and is led by Tonya Claiborne, the director of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Glastonbury Public Schools.

Background

Edyoucan Consulting, Inc. was formed in 2020 in by Tonya Claiborne, the director of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Glastonbury Public Schools. ¹ The business was registered as a provider of “educational services” as well as “educational support services.” ²

According to a “consultant report card” of Parents Defending Education, a right-leaning education watchdog, Edyoucan Consulting has won at least $29,500 in contracts from school districts. ³

Activities

On January 21, 2021, Claiborne gave a presentation to the Equity and Social Justice Committee of the Berlin Public Schools in Connecticut, along with that school system’s assistant superintendent, Erin McGurk. During the meeting, Claiborne discussed “norms for conversations about race” based on the work of social justice author Glenn Singleton. Additionally, she shared a four-part framework on “awareness, absorption, accountability, and action,” that according to published minutes, “will underpin the work of the committee.” Additionally, during the meeting, Claiborne presented national and local statistics from the federal Office of Civil Rights regarding bias in school discipline. In that vein, in the “Bias resources” section of her presentation, Claiborne suggested that meeting participants take an “implicit Bias Test,” a digital “bias test” offered by Harvard University’s Project Implicit. ^{4 5}

In a document posted by Glastonbury Public Schools on June 16, 2021 and later updated on July 15, Claiborne is listed as the district’s “director of equity, diversity, and inclusion.” ⁶ According to the document, recent initiatives undertaken after Claiborne’s hiring included “Hiring of administrators, teachers, and staff members who are exceptionally qualified and people of color,” and exploring “means to increase curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students of color.” ⁷

Tonya Claiborne

Tonya Claiborne is the founder of Edyoucan and the director of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Glastonbury Public Schools. In a presentation given to a committee meeting of the Berlin Public Schools Equity and Social Justice Committee, Claiborne featured a biographical slide with the logos of various educational institutions, implying experience working at or with them. These institutions were the public schools of East Longmeadow, and Springfield, as well as the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. ⁸

1. “Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.” Glastonbury Public Schools. June 16, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://defendingedstg.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Glastonbury_Tonya-Claiborne.pdf
2. “Edyoucan Consulting Inc.” OpenCorporates. September 20, 2020. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ct/1360832
3.  “Edyoucan Consulting Inc.” Parents Defending Education. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://defendinged.org/report/tonya-claiborne/
4. “Preliminary Information.” Project Implicit. Accessed November 22, 2021.

   https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

5. “Berlin BOE Equity and Social Justice Committee: Minutes.” Berlin Public Schools. January 21, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://p18cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_664795/File/Board%20of%20Education/Equity%20&%20Social%20Justice/Berlin%20BOE%20Equity%20and%20Social%20Justice%20Committee%20Minutes%201.21.21.pdf
6.  ^[1] “Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.” Glastonbury Public Schools. June 16, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://defendingedstg.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Glastonbury_Tonya-Claiborne.pdf
7. “Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.” Glastonbury Public Schools. June 16, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://defendingedstg.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Glastonbury_Tonya-Claiborne.pdf
8. “Equity and Social Justice Advisory Committee January 21, 2021.” Berlin Public Schools. January 21, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021.  https://p18cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_664795/File/Board%20of%20Education/Equity%20&%20Social%20Justice/January%2021,%202021%20Presentation.pdf