Erin Jones — Educator, Activist and Author

Presenter

Educator, author, and activist Erin Jones will join RARE’s Open Discussion session on Monday, February 28 at 7 p.m.

Jones has been involved in and around schools for 30 years. She has taught in a variety of environments, from predominantly Black schools to predominantly White schools to some of the most diverse communities in the nation. Erin received an award as the Most Innovative Foreign Language Teacher in 2007, while teaching in Tacoma and was the Washington State Milken Educator of the Year in 2008 while teaching in Spokane. She received recognition at the White House in March of 2013 as a Champion of Change and was Washington State PTA’s Outstanding Educator in 2015.

After serving as a classroom teacher and instructional coach Jones worked as an executive for two state superintendents. She left the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2012 to work in college-access at the school district level. She left her job to run as a candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and was the first Black woman to run for any state office in Washington state, a race she lost by a mere 1%.

Jones is the author of Bridges to Heal US: Stories and Strategies for Racial Healing, published in July of 2021.

RARE’s monthly Open Discussion sessions are free and open to the public.