Educational Equity Leaders’ Well-Being as Essential for Collective Thriving

• In Event: Well-Being as Foundational to Women of Color Efforts for Equity and Social Justice Leadership

Abstract

Educational equity leaders are essential to advancing equity in schools, yet they operate in a precarious context that threatens their well-being (e.g., Irby et al., 2022; Ishimaru et al., 2023; Mehta, 2025). This study examines those threats and the strategies leaders employ to maintain their well-being to sustain their equity work. We adopt a collective view of well-being that situates leaders within their broader institutional contexts and draw from theories of racialized organizations and intersectionality to find that leaders rely on a range of strategies to mitigate against the structural and personal attacks they experience. Ultimately, we argue that the collective thriving of educational systems requires ensuring the well-being of leaders on the front lines of advancing equity.

Authors

• Ditra Backup, University of Maryland

• Meghan Comstock, University of Maryland

• Dayna Muniz, University of Pennsylvania

• Deborah Euzebio, University of Maryland