Pods in Action: African Leadership Group

Case Study: A community of learning to support immigrant families

Prepandemic, the Denver-based African Leadership Group helped immigrant families navigate public schooling, finding that districts generally did not respond adequately to immigrant students’ and families’ needs. Knowing that children from African immigrant families were among those most at risk of falling behind when COVID forced school closures, the African Leadership Group created a learning pod that helped students access remote learning and academic supports.

Key Lessons

1. Existing administrative and financial supports helped a community advocacy group quickly create a learning community for its members’ children.
2. Longstanding relationships and intimate knowledge of African immigrant families’ educational challenges and needs proved a key element of the pod’s success.
3. Firsthand exposure to schooling enhanced the organization’s understanding of the challenges immigrant students face in public schools and thus its ability to engage in education advocacy.