Our Journey
How it all started
It all started with a frustrated school leader, a parent complaint and the reflection that we can do better.
In 2015, our founder, then a hard-working Principal in southwest Houston, TX was attempting to escape the parking lot school after a long day. A quick wave to one of her more vocal parents ended up becoming a critical and honest conversation. Kelsey’s mom pointed out that her daughter felt invisible still too often. One of a few Black females in her grade in the majority Latinx school, her daughter was a great student and a leader.
Karima thought to herself… If we’re working this hard and still failing her, who else needs more?
She also wondered what more she had to possibly give. But Karima could not deny the truth in this parent’s experience. A seed was planted. Karima began to see what else was missing, in the school, in our teachers’ professional development and in the larger educational ecosystem to ensure all students, but particularly students of color, felt seen, affirmed and challenged within our schools.
Karima thought to herself…
If we’re working this hard and still failing her, who else needs more?
In 2015, our founder, then a hard-working Principal in southwest Houston, TX was attempting to escape the parking lot school after a long day. A quick wave to one of her more vocal parents ended up becoming a critical and honest conversation. Kelsey’s mom pointed out that her daughter felt invisible still too often. One of a few Black females in her grade in the majority Latinx school, her daughter was a great student and a leader.
Forged Ed Today
What started in that parking lot soon became a bigger vision. There was a long road of conversations with school leaders, workshops here and there and graduate school. Forged Ed is now a team of 7 powerful women determined to support building a better stronger educational ecosystem. Our mission is to help educators build schools where students of color thrive.
We are a group of educators working to support educators, in meeting the needs of the students that we are entrusted to care for and teach. We know that equity means every single one of our students gets what they need to learn and grow each day. We also know how difficult a task this is, and how impossible it can feel in isolation. We are here to guide schools in this work, collaborating and supporting your team as you develop equity as a practice.
Our work
Across our workshops, audits and other services, we interweave 3 key strands within an applied learning approach: Understanding Oppression, Envisioning equity, Building Capacity for Action, and Developing Self-Awareness.
We believe that more critical and conscious teachers and administrators inside our school systems are a necessary component to the creation of liberatory educational spaces. We have already seen great shifts in mindset and outcomes for our clients, such as decreased turnover, decreased discipline, and increased graduation rates for students of color.
We also know that hard-working teachers need amazing tools. In 2019, we launched a pilot of our advisory. After a pause for the pandemic, we are back in full gear, developing our first product, a student-centered culturally relevant advisory program that places the students in our schools at the center of their own social-emotional development. We’re excited to continue to grow and learn with our partnering organizations.
Join us in reimagining what education can be for all students.
The Team
Karima Wilson
FounderKarima is a facilitator, bilingual educator, capoeirista, and former School Leader. She believes deeply that all students deserve school systems built with and for them.
Tanecia Snid
Operations ManagerTanecia is a proud mama of three plus a bonus furbaby, graphic designer, & planner committed to assisting with tackling systemic equity, diversity, and inclusion challenges and achieving meaningful progress.
Carolene King
DEI Education & Curriculum SpecialistCarolene is a proud Pinay, mama, writer, teacher, & breathwork facilitator committed to the deep learning and unlearning we must do to build a more liberated world.
Sherrelle Harrell
Special ProjectsSherrelle is an educator who has a love for writing who composes various documents for the organization including workshop scenarios. She is passionate about equitable treatment for students in discipline and access to educational resources and opportunities.
Breanne Diaz
CoachBreanne is a visionary educator with a zest for life and leadership who uses a strategic development approach to create success with others. Formerly a School Leader, Breanne is currently an ICF-certified leadership coach.
Elizabeth Niehaus-Hall
DEI Curriculum DesignerElizabeth is a cultural scholar, educator, and movieholic dedicated to fostering cultural responsiveness through education in order to better support students of color and shift school cultures toward greater equity.
Christelle Tambwe
DEI Education & Curriculum SpecialistChristelle is a Congolese refugee and advocate for educational and social change. She is on the mission to foster safe inclusive classrooms for scholars in communities much like the ones she grew up in.