The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has announced grants totaling more than $9 million in support of efforts to expand the pipeline of diverse teachers, administrators, and education leaders nationwide.

Ten grants were awarded in support of strategies to reduce barriers for populations historically excluded from the education workforce — from pre-service teacher education, to leadership development for education administrators and entrepreneurs, to training for school board members. Recipients include Black Voices for Black Justice Fund, which was awarded $175,000 to invest in Black leaders and Black-led organizations working to address structural and systemic racism in America; Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, which will receive $2 million to provide coaching and technical assistance to teacher education programs at minority-serving institutions; the Hunt Institute, which was awarded $1.25 million toward a campaign to increase the number of teachers of color by a million and school leaders of color by thirty thousand by 2030; and School Board Partners, which will receive $1.5 million to connect, inspire, and support school board members and help them champion educational equity in their districts.

"A diverse teacher workforce not only fosters affirming spaces for students of color but helps prepare all students to thrive in an exponentially multicultural world," said CZI head of education Sandra Liu Huang. "We can – and must – do more to ensure our classrooms reflect the world around us."

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