FOR RELEASE :July 11, 2023

CONTACT: Tonya Harris  tharris@cgcs.org

Atlanta Public Schools Chief Equity Officer Wins Council Award

WASHINGTON, July 11 – Dr. Tauheedah Baker-Jones, chief equity and social justice officer for Atlanta Public Schools (APS), was recently presented with the first-ever “Championing Equity” Urban School District Equity Leader Award at the Council of the Great Schools’ Curriculum, Research and Instructional Leaders Meeting in Portland, Ore. Sponsored by Amplify, the award honors an equity leader in a Council member district who has demonstrated leadership in developing strategies designed to dismantle inequities within their district.

Baker-Jones has served as the first chief equity and social justice officer for APS since 2020 where she leads the district’s efforts to build a culture of inclusion and advance educational equity. She has spent more than 20 years working to ensure that every child is provided with an excellent and equitable learning environment and has held diverse leadership roles across the K-12 spectrum within the district, charter, and non-profit sectors.

“This award recognizes Dr. Baker-Jones for her contributions in leading, embedding, and operationalizing equity principles throughout Atlanta Public Schools,” said Dr. Akisha Osei Sarfo, the Council’s director of research. “As the role of equity leaders in school districts is still fairly new, Dr. Baker-Jones stands out as exemplary and a model for other equity leaders across urban school districts.”

Baker-Jones began her teaching career in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and has also worked as a teacher, principal, and district leader in Newark, N.J., a non-profit leader in New York City, and an adjunct professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. 

She has received numerous awards and recognitions, including a recognition by President Barack Obama as a White House Community Leader in Education and a 2020 recipient of the Harvard University Afolabi Award for Commitment to Educational Justice. Her work in education equity and social justice has been featured in the New York Times and on the CBS “Early Show.”  

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