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Our vision is to spark a REVOLUTION through education to liberate our community⚡️🌍 We won’t stop until we #SHIFTtheCulture
@youngblackeducators

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What happens when you stop collecting data just to have it—and start using it to make better decisions?

On this episode of The She Can Work Podcast, I’m talking with Dr. Shontoria Walker about what it really means to measure impact, listen to the people you serve, and use what you learn to build stronger businesses and programs.

Shontoria has experienced She Can Work from both sides: first as a program participant building her own business, and now as the researcher helping us understand what is actually happening inside our programs. That perspective has shaped how she thinks about data, storytelling, sisterhood, and the responsibility organizations have to respond to what their communities are telling them.

We also talk about her journey from trying to define the right business problem to realizing that research, patterns, and impact measurement were already at the center of the work she loved—and turning that expertise into an offer of her own.

And one of the biggest takeaways? Collecting data is not the same thing as creating impact. The value comes when leaders are willing to listen, adjust, and make decisions based on what the data is actually showing them.

If you lead a business, program, nonprofit, or community and you’ve ever wondered, “How do I know this is actually working?”—this conversation is for you.

🎧 Listen to the latest episode of The She Can Work Podcast

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Your goals are not the same thing as your data.

You may know the revenue number you want to hit.

You may know how many clients you want to serve.

But what information are you using to decide what to do next?

Dr. Shontoria Walker reminds us that data can show up in more places than a spreadsheet. Sometimes it is a pattern in the numbers. Sometimes it is what happens in a room when a conversation makes everyone lean in.

The value is in noticing it and using it.

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“We carry a load that is not seen.”

That is one of the things Dr. Shontoria Walker heard more clearly when she moved beyond surveys and into one-on-one interviews with women business owners.

Business. Family. Parents. Children. Personal needs. All moving at the same time.

Without that context, distance can be mistaken for disengagement.

Sometimes the data point tells you what happened.

The conversation helps you understand why.

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From “I learned here” to “I lead here.”

Shontoria first entered She Can Work as a participant.

Now she is helping us build our data and impact practice.

That shift came with something bigger than a new title: accountability.

The work was no longer something she could simply tinker with. Other people now depended on her to do it well.

This is what we want an ecosystem to make possible. Not just participation, but movement into leadership.

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A goal tells you where you want to go. Data helps you decide what to do next.

Businesses can have revenue goals, sales targets and client goals.

But the goal itself does not tell you which decision to make next.

Dr. Shontoria Walker makes an important distinction in this conversation: useful data does not only live in dashboards and reports. Sometimes it is also what you notice in the room.

A question gets asked. Everyone leans in. A conversation exposes something the program had not anticipated. Someone names the pattern. Leadership responds.

That is data-informed decision-making in practice.

The point is not to collect more information for the sake of having it. The point is to become better at noticing what the information is telling you and using it to decide what comes next.

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Graduation Success
This Friday, September 25, I will be presenting for the Harford County Office of Drug Control Policy Symposium on Barriers to Graduation for Black Males in K12 systems.

Registration is free using this link:

https://www.harfordcountymd.gov/3813/Symposium-on-Addiction-Recovery

🔵Learn more on how you can support Black males in your community!

❗️Follow @iamtjhill on IG & Tik Tok for classroom culture and climate strategies for success

#TeacherLife #StudentEngagement #EdChat #PositiveSchoolCulture #harfordcounty

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Teacher Observation Tip
Do you have an upcoming scheduled formal observation or evaluation? Prepare your students for your big day as well.

Want the best results?
❗️Add an incentive
❗️Remind Them
❗️Engage Them

🔵 A little incentive can change a lot!
🔵Get That Highly Effective Rating!
#TeacherLife #StudentEngagement #EdChat #PositiveSchoolCulture #ProfessionalDevelopment

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Classroom Climate Tip
Stop calling the main office❗️
You are the manager of your classroom and you set the tone.
When you send your challenging scholar to the office, you take away your control!
* Reinforce ✅
* Reconnect ✅
* Reengage ✅
❗️Follow @iamtjhill on IG & Tik Tok for classroom culture and climate strategies for success
#SchoolCulture #SchoolClimate #TeacherSupport #EdChat #PositiveSchoolCulture

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Culture & Climate Tip #education #Edchat #schoolculture #schoolclimate #restorativejustice

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The She Can Work Podcast is five episodes in, and the conversations are already getting real.

We’ve talked about building wealth with intention, proving your impact with data, changing the habits that keep you stuck, building what doesn’t exist yet, and what it really takes to grow a business when the journey doesn’t go according to plan.

If you’ve missed an episode, or meant to listen and never quite made it back, consider this your sign to catch up!

🎧Listen to the She Can Work Podcast on Apple, Spotify and YouTube!

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When the Rules Around Books Change, What Should Remain Constant?

A new school year often brings a new principal, revised curriculum expectations, unfamiliar terminology, and new rules governing classroom and library books.
Teachers may inherit collections they did not select. Homeschooling families must decide which histories, voices, and perspectives belong in their curriculum. School leaders must explain why particular materials serve an educational purpose.

California’s Department of Education, for example, advises educators to document why a work is appropriate for a particular class, which instructional objectives it meets, and how students will benefit. New Jersey now requires districts to establish standards for curating school-library materials and procedures for reviewing removal requests. The American Library Association likewise recommends evaluating books according to age appropriateness, educational value, authority, accessibility, authenticity, and the developmental needs of students. California Department of Education | New Jersey Department of Education | ALA Selection Criteria.

The American Library Association documented challenges to 4,235 unique titles in 2025, including 1,671 books representing the experiences of people of color and LGBTQIA+ communities. These numbers remind us that educators need more than a list of permitted or prohibited titles. They need a defensible educational philosophy. ALA 2025 data.

Consider the significance of Dr. Nah Dove’s THE AFROCENTRIC SCHOOL: [A BLUEPRINT] in this conversation.

THE AFROCENTRIC SCHOOL can help without reducing education to politics. It moves the conversation away from labels and toward educational purpose, intellectual rigor, cultural accuracy, and the healthy development of children.

Continue the conversation…

The Afrocentric School: [a blueprint]
Nah Dove, Ph.D.
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-942774-05-1
eBook ISBN: 978-1-942774-13-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.65724/LKCU7144

#TheAfrocentricSchool #NahDove #AfrocentricEducation #CurriculumDevelopment #AyoSekai #NewPrincipals #TeacherEducation #Africology #wewilltellourownstory

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Nominations are now closed, but don’t let that stop you from uplifting a Black teacher who impacted your life this Thursday, May 7!

Think back to the Black teacher who saw you before anyone else did.

This Black Teacher Appreciation Day, we're partnering with the National Black Teacher Pipeline Coalition, Black Educators Matter, and Aimly to celebrate the educators who continue to shape lives and to rebuild the pipeline for the future.

This year's theme: Black Resistance and Joy: Celebrating Black Educators and Teaching as a Practice of Freedom.

Tell us who deserves to be honored. We look forward to celebrating them on May 7, 2026.

Nominate your favorite Black teacher through the Linktree in our bio.

#WeNeedBlackTeachers #ThankABlackTeacher #BlackTeacherAppreciationDay This image is a promotional flyer for "Black Teacher Appreciation Day" on Thursday, May 7, 2026. It encourages nominating Black teachers who have made a difference. The flyer includes photos of individuals wearing shirts with the text, "We Need Black Teachers." At the top, there are logos for the Center for Black Educator Development and "We Need Black Teachers." The background features colorful circular brushstrokes.

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