Maisie Chin

Executive Director/Co-Founder | CADRE

Maisie Chin is Executive Director/Co-Founder of CADRE – Community Asset Development Re-defining Education, an independent 300-member organization in South Los Angeles, California, led by African American and Latino parents of public school children. For 15 years, CADRE parents have been organizing and building movement to end the school-to-prison pipeline, leading to seismic changes in school discipline in LA, California, and nationally. Maisie is a board member of the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Maisie holds both a B.A. in History and a M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA.

Presentations from Facing Race 2016

Succeeding WITH Race: Grassroots Parent Organizing for Systemic Change

This session will provide participants with lessons learned from, and an opportunity to examine, the role and impact of explicit racial justice framing in successfully organizing marginalized, grassroots parents of color for long-term systemic change. Participants will learn how explicit racial justice framing led to successful parent-led organizing victories in disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. Leadership development and campaign stories from parent organizers in South Central Los Angeles (CA), West Dayton (OH), and New Orleans (LA), will then be followed by small group dialogue and practice with racial justice framing that illustrates new opportunities for parents to participate in advocacy and organizing. Participants will walk away with tactics and tools that can be applied to strengthening grassroots parent outreach, relationship building, political education, leadership development, and campaign development.

Speakers: Maisie Chin, Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, Gina Womack

Presentations from Facing Race 2012

New Rules: Organizing to End the Push-out Crisis with Solutions Not Suspensions

A report from The Civil Rights Project at UCLA highlights the shocking disparities in out-of-school suspensions for students of color and students with special needs. An advocacy initiative called Solutions Not Suspensionscombines students, educators, parents, and community members in calling for a moratorium on out-of-school suspensions and advocating for policies that support evidence-based approaches to school discipline and restorative justice practices. This workshop will discuss local and national organizing efforts and how to produce similar efforts where you live.

Speakers: Maisie Chin, Tina Dove