Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance (TECA)

Donors include several left-of-center grantmakers including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Gates Foundation. ^{2 3}

Background

The Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance focuses on increasing the number of racial minority educators across the state of Tennessee by providing mentorship, networking, and leadership training to existing and potential educators of color. ⁴ It was founded by Diarese George in 2016 and filed as a nonprofit in 2017. George was a former classroom teacher who felt that racial minorities were not represented in education policy decisions. ⁵

In TECA’s initial years, George was a recruiter for the Nashville Teacher Residency and began to establish TECA along with a part-time working board of directors. He used seed money from the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition. In 2019, the NewSchools Venture Fund awarded TECA a grant that enabled George to focus on TECA as a full-time executive director. ⁶

As of April 2024, TECA claimed over 4,000 racial minority educators in its network and over 600 members across Tennessee. ⁷

Programs

TECA began hosting DiversifiED in 2018. ⁸ It is a one-day annual conference for educators and activists that addresses “the systemic racial disparities and issues of racial justice in education, how they show up in the policies and practices in our school systems, and what actions stakeholders in Tennessee can take.” ⁹

The Ascension Project is a leadership development program that was launched in 2022. It provides training on education policy, “racial identity development,” advocacy strategies, and activism to teachers of color in colleges and universities. ^{6 10}

TECA offers a one-year Tennessee Educators of Color Fellowship to racial minority educators and focuses on leadership development, especially in the areas of advocacy and education policy. The fellowship is offered to over 30 individuals statewide. ⁶

The TECA Advocacy Academy provides participants with an overview of local, city, and state education policy in a five-week course. Participants advocate for or against a policy and reach out to policymakers. ¹¹

Advocacy

In 2021, the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance advocated for the Educator Diversity Policy which required that recruitment and retention goals are set for educators of color in each Tennessee school district. The bill was passed. ^{7 12}

TECA advocates for the inclusion of critical race theory concepts in the Tennessee education curriculum, claiming that “Tennessee’s students need to know their history.” ¹³ In 2021, TECA wrote a letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) urging him to veto a bill that would prevent the teaching of critical race theory concepts in Tennessee.  The bill prevents teachers from claiming that the United States is “fundamentally or irredeemably sexist or racist and that a person is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive because of race or gender.” The governor signed the bill into law. ^{14 15 16}

In December 2024, the Biden Administration awarded TECA part of a $1.6 billion grant from taxpayer funds to pursue “environmental justice,” claiming that TECA’s leadership advocacy training will develop teachers who “will be poised to collaborate with government officials on local environmental issues.” A number of left-wing activist groups were awarded similar grants, including the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an activist group that supports defunding the police, and Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, which sponsors start-up left-wing activist groups. ¹⁷

Memberships

The Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance is a member of the Tennessee Alliance for Equity in Education which was organized by The Education Trust. It was launched in 2021 and focuses on opportunities for “students of color, English learners, immigrants, undocumented youth, rural residents, and those who are economically disadvantaged or have disabilities.” The Education Trust is a left-leaning advocacy group headed up by John King, who was U.S. Secretary of Education under former President Barack Obama. ¹⁸

TECA is a member of advocacy organization Education Leaders of Color that advances left-of-center policies to focus support on Black and Latino students. ¹³

Funding

Startup funding for the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance was granted by Conexion Americas as part of its educational equity grant program. ⁵ Conexion Americas is a Latino support organization and pro-immigration advocacy group that partners with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and is funded by several left-of-center organizations including Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, the Migration Policy Institute, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. ^{19 20}

TECA lists several organizations as partners on its website including the NewSchools Venture Fund, the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund, The Education Trust, the KNOX Education Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Scarlett Family Foundation, and the Bill and Crissy Haslam Foundation. ²

Additional donors to TECA include the Gates Foundation, ³ the Walton Family Foundation, ²¹ the United Way of Middle Tennessee, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ²²

Leadership

Diarese George is the founder and executive director of the Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance. Previously he served as director of recruitment for the Nashville Teacher Residency, focused on recruiting racial minorities. Previously, he taught for five years as a high school teacher. George has a master’s degree and doctorate in education leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University. ^{23 24}