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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Erased Civilizations? The Silurian Hypothesis - Dr. Gavin Schmidt, Dir. of GISS, NASA