How to Inspire and Support Teachers in This Pandemic

Revolutionaries and visionaries can get exhausted. They often sacrifice their own needs because they believe so strongly in the cause.

Today I’m asking aloud: Does it have to be that way? Is there a sustainable approach to fighting for liberatory education? What might it look like to create change in education without martyring ourselves?

My guest is Dr. Nadia Lopez, an award-winning educator who became a viral sensation after the popular blog Humans of New York featured her as one of their most influential people. Dr. Lopez founded Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a STEAM-focused middle school in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, in 2010, and served as the principal for ten years. Her Ted Talk on the Education Revolution has garnered more than a million views.

In 2020, Dr. Lopez ended her tenure as Mott Hall Bridges Academy’s principal as an act of self-preservation after developing a stress-related illness that threatened her life. The experience inspired her to develop a coaching program for women of color in educational leadership designed to build their capacity, with a focus on sustainability.

Listen in as she shares her experience with past (and current) burnout, and what she’s learned about finding a sustainable approach to doing good work in education.

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