Conferences & Institutes

Building for Education and Democracy (BEAD)

Strength comes from being in community with other professional educators who care deeply about public education. This professional learning event is designed for pre-K-12 educators who are seeking strength, connection, a deeper understanding of their rights, and a portal to a larger movement to save our public schools and best serve our students. Through extensive dialogue on education policy past and present—and the pivotal relationship between education and democracy as well as hands-on workshop and storytelling sessions to share and learn from others’ experiences—BEAD provides a safe space for freedom dreaming and professional learning.

Building on Bank Street’s history, tradition, and expertise in progressive education and centering the critical link between civic engagement and progressivism, this event will support educators in navigating the current policy context while exploring the transformative potential of education to restore and renew democracy.

This series is sponsored by Bank Street’s Public Engagement and Research Initiative (PERI). For questions, please email peri@bankstreet.edu.

2025 Theme | Lifting Our Voices Toward Democracy and Education: A Juneteenth Conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones

Wednesday, June 17 from 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Bank Street College, 610 West 112th Street, New York, NY 10025

The third installment of our Building for Education and Democracy (BEAD) event is a powerful Juneteenth celebration featuring Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of The 1619 Project, in dialogue with Tracy Fray-Oliver, Vice President, Bank Street Education Center. The event will include a special performance of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” snacks and dinner, and opportunities for community-building.

Featured Speaker: Nikole Hannah-Jones

Nikole Hannah-Jones is the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of The 1619 Project and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. Her deeply researched reporting on racial inequality and injustice has also earned her numerous awards, including a Peabody and a MacArthur Fellowship. Her six-episode Hulu documentary series, The 1619 Project, won the Emmy for Best Documentary Series. Hannah-Jones was also named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. She is a founder of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting; founder of the 1619 Freedom School, a free after-school literacy program in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa; and founder of the Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard University, where she serves as the inaugural Knight Chair in Race and Journalism.

Join us at Continuing Professional Studies this summer

Interested in Deepening Your Practice?

Bank Street Graduate School of Education offers programs in general education, special education, dual language/bilingual education, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and more—designed for educators committed to equity, inclusion, and progressive practice. If the themes of this conference resonate with you, explore how our graduate programs can help you grow as an educator or leader and advocate for meaningful change in schools and communities.

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