Projects
Jinny Chalmers Fund
Grant Awardees
The Jinny Chalmers Fund for Education Justice was founded as an action-oriented memorial to Jinny Chalmers and her visions for excellent, inclusive education and racial justice.
From training youth for activism and mentorship, to providing experiential outdoor STEM education, to supporting aspiring educators of color as they pursue their careers, to building freedom and power for the most marginalized in society, our grant awardees exemplify the kind of work that Jinny nurtured and championed.
To learn about projects the Jinny Chalmers Fund for Education Justice has supported, view our annual reports and see examples below:
Boston Public Schools MTEL Prep Program
The MTEL Prep program strives to increase teacher licensing among aspiring educators of color, whose MTEL exam pass rates have often been documented at 20 percent to 30 percent lower than that of their white counterparts. Exam registration fees and test preparation costs often reach thousands of dollars for MTEL candidates—and those costs balloon for those who need to retake the exam.
The Chalmers Fund’s $5,000 grant enabled the MTEL Prep Program to establish the Jinny Chalmers Aspiring Urban Educator MTEL Scholarship, which provides $500 scholarships to 10 aspiring educators of color through the Boston Education Development Fund. The scholarships cover study materials and registration fees.
Boston Teachers Union (BTU) Ethnic Studies Now Organizing Committee
The Organizing Committee’s goal is to develop Ethnic Studies courses and curricula that center the histories and experiences of people of color. The BTU’s advocacy has helped secure initial steps by the Boston Public Schools in investing in Ethnic Studies. The next step is to develop courses in several disciplines.
The Chalmers Fund’s $6,500 grant helped to provide stipends for a community leader with background in the pedagogy and frameworks of Asian American Studies to convene and facilitate the Asian American Studies work group; for members of the work group to assist in developing materials; and for community members to provide feedback.
Building Audacity, Jean Charles Academy
The Jean Charles Academy (JCA) opened a dual-language, project-based school this fall that offers interdisciplinary learning opportunities that center the experiences of Black, Latinx and students and families of color. A Blackfounded organization based in Lynn, Mass., Building Audacity envisions freedom and power for the most marginalized in society and empowers youth to lead change in their communities.
The Chalmers Fund’s $6,500 grant covered the tuition and materials for one student in the JCA’s Building Audacity program.
The City School
The City School’s Pathways to Change program offers three career pathways for youth to develop as educators, organizers and advocates, and organizational leaders. Each pathway is rooted in training and mentorship and supports participants (first as youth and later as adults) to become effective leaders for social justice. Youth learn many skills within the three pathways, including curriculum and workshop design, facilitation, public speaking, base-building and outreach, finances and budgeting and board participation.
The Chalmers Fund’s $6,500 grant assisted Pathways to Change with salary support for its 2021-2022 program to serve mostly BIPOC, queer and trans/gender non-conforming youth age 14-19, especially in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan.
Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership
Located in Rockland, Maine, Hurricane Island offers experiential education programs for youth ages 11 – 18, integrating science education, applied research and leadership development. The Hurricane Island hands-on science curriculum offers opportunities for students to explore and connect with the natural world along the island’s rocky shore—and to emerge as leaders who leave the island feeling more empowered to build a sustainable future.
The Chalmers Fund’s $6,000 grant enabled Hurricane Island to bring four Boston middle school students to two of the program’s one-week summer 2021 programs: MS Marine Biology and Women of Water.
St. Stephen’s Youth Programs (SSYP)
The SSYP B-LiDER community organizing program among parents creates social ties and a network of relationships through social and emotional support programs; provides workshops and classes; and helps parents distill large public education problems into winnable issue campaigns and make their voices heard.
The Chalmers Fund’s $6,500 grant partially funded a new part-time parent organizer position to work specifically on the B-LiDER campaign focus. Goals include expanding the program’s geographic base to include South Boston, Dorchester, Hyde Park and Roslindale, and increase numbers of organized Latinx and Black parents as well as the number of schools included in B-LiDER leadership development activities.
The Young People’s Project, Inc. (YPP)
The YPP has partnered with the Boston Public School Teacher Cadet program to address the need for innovative math instruction to meet the educational needs of low-income children of color in Boston. The YPP partnership with Boston Public School students is aimed at addressing racial inequity and the disproportionate assignment of Black students to special education classes, and under-assignment to advanced classes.
A Chalmers Fund grant of $5,000 funded two college math literacy workers to support the YPP/BPS Math Literacy Workers’ Design Lab, an accelerated program that served 20 middle school students beginning in the summer of 2021 and continuing during this academic year.