The Center for Racial Justice in Education is a critical race theory-aligned diversity consultant that provides training, consulting and long-term partnerships to educators. Originally named Border Crossers, the organization rebranded as the Center for Racial Justice in Education in 2019. ¹

The Center for Racial Justice in Education asserts that the United States is systematically racist, and that racism and white supremacy must be eliminated from the education system. ²

The center is funded through private grants and contributions, government funding, and a fee-for-service structure charged directly to users of their services, such as public school systems. ³

Background

The Center for Racial Justice in Education was founded in 2001 as Border Crossers by Sachi Feris. ⁴ Feris is a blogger at “Raising Race Conscious Children,” a site that advises adults who are trying to talk about race with young children. ⁵ Feris has written in support of critical race theory and one of its leading exponents, the late legal academic Derrick Bell. ⁶

From 2001 to 2010, Border Crossers worked directly with students. In 2010, the organization shifted to focus on educators of Pre-K to 12 students, providing training and workshops on how to talk about, address, and fight racism with children. ⁷

In 2019, Border Crossers was rebranded as the Center for Racial Justice in Education. ⁸

The Center for Racial Justice in Education supports the thesis that the United States is mired in racism and white supremacy, and the education system suffers from systematic racism, which must be eliminated. ⁹

Programs

The Center for Racial Justice in Education offers training, consulting, and long-term partnerships to educators. ¹⁰

Training workshops include Talking About Race, a single-day training workshop for educators, and Talking About Race for Parents: Raising Children for Racial Justice, a single-day training workshop for parents. There are two follow up training workshops for educators that reinforce concepts learned. ¹¹

The Racial Justice in Organizations Program is a full-year partnership with the educational organization that incorporates coaching, ongoing support, and assessment. ¹²

Clients

More than 220 organizations are listed on the Center for Racial Justice in Education website as “partners in racial justice.” These are all organizations that have utilized the center’s services. ¹³

Financials

The 2019 tax return for the Center for Racial Justice in Education reports contributions and grants of $459,321. It also reports program service revenue of $826,169, which constitutes payments made by the educational institutions that employ the center’s services. Executive leadership was paid $206,463. ¹⁴

The center receives funding through foundation grants, individual contributions, government funding, and a fee-for-service structure charged directly to users of their services. ¹⁵

Donors

Donors to the Center for Racial Justice in Education include W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Boone Family Foundation, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, Langeloth Foundation, ImpactAssets Fund, and Communities Foundation of Texas. ¹⁶

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation has contributed $750,000 to the Center for Racial Justice in Education. ¹⁷ The Kellogg Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. ¹⁸ Its priorities focus on children and race-based causes. ¹⁹

The Boone Family Foundation is a private foundation that focuses on social justice issues, including women’s rights and children’s education. ²⁰

The Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Deutsche Bank and focuses on programs that incorporate equity and inclusion. ²¹

The Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation is a private foundation that supports health and racial equity. ²²

Leadership

Michelle Wonsley-Ford has worked as Center for Racial Justice in Education executive director since January 2020. ^{23 24} Wonsley-Ford is founder and CEO of Londonplane Advisory, which provides leadership development and executive coaching on diversity and inclusion. ²⁵ She is a board member of the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, which provides left-of-center social-policy education to young women and “gender expansive” youth. ²⁶

Kehinde Togun is currently board chair. Togun is a senior director at The Arkin Group and previously was deputy director of PartnersGlobal. Before that, Togun worked at the National Democratic Institute. ²⁷

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2. “About Us.” Center for Racial Justice in Education. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://centerracialjustice.org/mission-vision-values/
3. “Border Crossers.” NBCDI National Black Child Development Institute. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://www.nbcdi.org/point-of-proof/border-crossers
4. “Our Story.” Center for Racial Justice in Education. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://centerracialjustice.org/our-story/
5. The Good Men Project – Sachi Feris. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://goodmenproject.com/author/sachi_feris/
6. “In Honor of Critical Race Theory and Derrick Bell.” Raising Race Conscious Children. Accessed November 12, 2021. http://www.raceconscious.org/2021/07/in-honor-of-critical-race-theory-and-derrick-bell/
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11. “Trainings.” Center for Racial Justice in Education. Accessed November 11, 202. https://centerracialjustice.org/trainings/
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13. “Our Partners in Racial Justice.” Center for Racial Justice in Education – About Us. Accessed November 11, 2021. https://centerracialjustice.org/our-partners-in-racial-justice/
14. Center for Racial Justice in Education Inc., Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990-Part I), 2018.
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16. “About Us – Our Supporters.” Center for Racial Justice in Education. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://centerracialjustice.org/our-supporters/
17. W.K. Kellogg Foundation – Grants. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.wkkf.org/grants#pp=10&p=1&q=border%20crossers
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20. Boone Family Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.theboonefamilyfoundation.org/
21. “Responsibility.” Deutsche Bank. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://country.db.com/usa/responsibility/#
22. Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.langeloth.org/
23. “About Us – Our People.” Center for Racial Justice in Education. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://centerracialjustice.org/staff/
24. Twitter – Center for Racial Justice in Education. Posted January 13, 2020. Accessed November 11, 2021. https://twitter.com/racejusticeed
25. Londonplane Advisory. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://www.londonplaneadvisory.com/index
26. “About Us.” Sadie Nash Leadership Project. Accessed Novembr 12, 2021. http://www.sadienash.org/about-us
27. “About Us – Our People.” Center for Racial Justice in Education. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://centerracialjustice.org/board/kehinde-togun/