Children and Families
What We Do
Sankofa is a nonprofit, educational service agency that offers direct and support services to children, families and early educators. The work of Sankofa divides roughly into three areas: 1) consulting; 2) professional development and training and 3) advocating for the social and economic betterment of children, families and early education professionals.
Children, families, early educators and communities are at the heart of our work
We partner with children, youth, families, early educators, community members and organizational leaders across sectors, i.e., early education, health care, social services and mental health professionals, to create and improve educational opportunities (internal and external to the classroom environment) and ensure that every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
We realize that centering the needs of children and families requires the development of services and policies that also support the social, economic, political and mental health needs of early education professionals.
Our Mission
Through the philosophy of Sankofa, we aim to transform early education programming and workforce systems by adopting evidence-based practices to guide early educators, organizational leaders, policymakers and communities through the process of dismantling inequitable systems and building more equitable, inclusive and liberating early education programming and early education workforce structures where children, families and early education professionals can thrive regardless of their social identities.
Our Vision
We envision a world where all children and families, regardless of their identities, will gain equitable access to social agents, resources, opportunities and experiences to support their academic and postsecondary success. And, a society that prioritizes the social, economic, political and mental health needs of early education professionals.
Social Justice & Equity is essential to our mission and centered in our work and appraoch
Equity and Inclusion: We recognize historical and ongoing disadvantages faced by marginalized populations. We work to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed by aiming to remove early education structural burdens and supporting the development and implementation of fair and just policies, laws and systems. We work to create an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and welcome to contribute their unique perspectives and experiences.
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Self Reflection and Personal Growth: As a team, we are deeply committed to fostering our own personal growth. Critical self-reflection allows us to become aware of our conscious and/or unconscious biases that can influence our organizational and policy decisions. Critically examining our own experiences, assumptions and values allow us to identify potential shortcomings that could lead to inequitable outcomes in our policy approach, design and implementation. ​
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Effective policy analysis and development requires collaboration and trust with diverse groups of stakeholders. Engaging in honest self-reflection also demonstrates our commitment to addressing our own limitations and actively listening to others. ​
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Advocacy, Action and Transformation: An an organization, we use our collective voice and solidarity to raise awareness about and speak out against social injustices that negatively impact children, families, early education professionals and ultimately the society at large. Our goal is to invoke change by helping to build a society where just and equitable early education systems can be realized.
