Shaping the Future of Education Civil Rights with a Powerful Network of Impacted Communities
(October 3, 2024) After three successful cycles of IDRA’s Education Policy Fellows Program, we invite you to meet our four new fellows! They will gain real-world advocacy experience and training during the 2025 Texas and Georgia legislative sessions.
We know state policymakers can make stronger decisions by working with advocates who are connected to impacted diverse communities.
Students of color make up most of the two states’ public school population: about 63% in Georgia and 74% in Texas. Yet, diverse advocates often are rarely present in the rooms where decisions about the lives and opportunities for students of color are made.
“We are thrilled to introduce our new class of IDRA Education Policy Fellows, and we’re so proud of the caliber of the incredibly talented applicant pool,” said Morgan Craven, J.D., IDRA National Director of Policy, Advocacy and Community Engagement. “The legislative sessions in Texas and Georgia will be particularly challenging, so it is more critical than ever that voices of advocates from diverse communities are centered.”
IDRA launched its first Education Policy Fellows Program in 2020 with groundbreaking accomplishments. Our new Education Policy Fellows will work with coalitions, students and families to advance a student-centered education policy agenda and join a network of advocates and policy influencers focused on improving equity in education policymaking spaces.
The 2024-25 cycle of this program is being generously supported by the Trellis Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation. Georgia Advocacy Director and former fellow, Mikayla Arciaga, M.A.Ed., coordinates the programming for the new cohort of fellows.
IDRA Education Policy Fellows
DeAndrea Byrd, Georgia Fellow
East Atlanta roots and Dekalb County upbringing have shaped DeAndrea Byrd into a dynamic force for change. A devoted mother of three, she balances her thriving career as an entrepreneur and community advocate. She has dedicated her efforts to helping other parents navigate student discipline and special education systems.
Vivek Datla, MPA, Regional Fellow
Vivek Datla taught English in two high school campuses in Pflugerville and also served as a 504 coordinator at a third high school in the Austin area. His concern for the educational inequities he observed across different schools led him to pursue a graduate degree in public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
Isabelle Philip, Policy Communications Fellow
Isabelle Philip is an international affairs student at the University of Georgia and a graduate of Georgia public schools. Having experienced an array of learning environments at both Title I and well-funded schools, she works at the intersection of communications and policy to advocate more just and equitable education for every student.
Kaci Wright, Texas Fellow
Kaci Wright is a master’s student at the University of Texas at Austin, studying education policy and planning. She taught fourth grade in Dallas and East Austin, where she implemented restorative justice initiatives on her campuses. As a teacher, Kaci became heavily invested in advancing equitable policies for all students.
Media contact: Thomas Marshall III, M.Ed., thomas.marshall@idra.org.
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