In this episode, I welcome Yaribel Mercedes to the podcast to talk about your personal journey in education, life as a teacher influencer on social media, the need for principal preparation programs to train principal candidates into anti-racist school leaders, and much more! To learn more about Yaribel's work, you can follow @yari_mercedes on Instagram.
BIO: Yaribel Mercedes is a graduate of the 2018 Cohort o the Summer Principals Academy, New York City. Currently, she serves as an Academic Response Team Specialist, situated in Manhattan’s Borough/Citywide Office, for the Department of Education. As an ART Specialist, she works in a collaborative partnership with districts, school leaders, and various stakeholders to build capacity and accelerate student learning. More specifically, she leads through a social justice and anti-racist leadership disposition to advance racial equity, inclusion, access, and opportunity. As a radicalized being, she understands the impact of race in education, and her passion and purpose is grounded in her commitment to disrupt racist and oppressive systems, structures, and policies that marginalize and minoritize Black, Indigenous, students of color. She deeply believes in the brilliance of every child and work with community stakeholders to cultivate curiosity, knowledge, intellect, and skills for all students to achieve at the highest level possible. Her greatest superpowers are words, writing them, speaking them, and BEING them.
