How We Live Classkick’s Values: Work Toward Justice
Values are real when they are lived. We’ve asked a group of Classkick team members to share their thoughts on the meanings and actions associated with Classkick’s company values: Focus on People, Work Toward Justice, Advocate for Learners, Stay Curious, and Dream.
We’re excited to have Classkick’s Business Operations Manager, Adrian Mack, PhD, share his thoughts on Work Toward Justice. Adrian brings a wealth of experience as a researcher and DEI practitioner. His informed experience contributes to the strength of Classkick’s culture.
This post is part 2 of a 5-post series on Classkick’s company values. To read more about Classkick’s values and how they came to be, click here.
What is Work Toward Justice?
Work Toward Justice is one of Classkick’s core values. Classkick envisions a world with increased learning outcomes and equitable education for all students.
Whereas equality means each individual or group is treated the same way, equity focuses on how different individuals and groups face various circumstances and obstacles and, as a result, need access to different resources to be successful. Equity takes into account concepts like intersectionality (how race and gender intersect, for example), coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, and the matrix of domination, coined by Dr. Patricia Hill Collins. Conversations about justice and liberation go a step further and evaluate how societal and systemic factors, such as systemic racism and sexism, impact various groups and how we can address these interconnected social issues.
What does it mean for Classkick?
Classkick’s emphasis on equitable education connects to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This commitment is evident in many ways, including our culture, hiring practices, policies, and learning and development initiatives. In other words, Classkick strives to operationalize diversity, equity, and inclusion across the whole company. We know working toward justice is everyone’s responsibility, not just a single role or department. We have frequent company-wide sessions and discussions, both formal and informal — not just the occasional diversity training. For example, we recently discussed the importance of supplier diversity and are taking steps to achieve a more diverse supplier base.
One example of the regular DEI meetings we have is Work Toward Justice Wednesday (WTJW). In these meetings, we talk about current events, social issues, and share personal stories. Previous WTJW meetings have focused on neurodiversity, social emotional learning, anti-fat bias, the U.S. border crisis, transgender inclusion, ageism, and more. We also have a DEI book club that meets monthly. Books have included Hood Feminism, The Other Wes Moore, Moment of Lift, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, and Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism.
Why did we decide this should be a core value?
The Classkick team includes former educators who witnessed many inequities impacting students and teachers both inside and outside the classroom. The Classkick app was created on the idea that personalized, just-in-time feedback could reach every student at the right moment. Our team’s experiences, as well as current events, have led to challenging conversations about social justice. This is how our core value of Work Toward Justice was conceptualized. Work toward justice is also foundational to Classkick’s other core values: dreaming, staying curious, advocating for learners, and focusing on people.
How do Classkick employees help make this core value a reality?
While we are intentional about Work Toward Justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion, we understand that there is always room for growth. Work Toward Justice requires significant work every day from every person at the company. Fortunately, it’s a responsibility everyone on our team is eager to take on.
