Need in Deed has hosted three Educational Equity Forums, providing community members with recent knowledge about multiple ways to advocate for educational equity in Philadelphia. These hybrid events (held in person with an online option) took place at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown.
Feb. 9, 2026 Embracing Community Wisdom: How whole school, classroom, and neighborhood approaches support transformational learning
Moderator:
City Councilmember Kendra Brooks
Panelists:
- Dr. Pauline Cheung, Principal, Francis Scott Key School
- Suzanne Cilli, Third grade Teacher, Albert Greenfield School
- Mekia Elizabeth, Community Impact Director, Harmony Hill
Feb. 19, 2025 Philly Schools as Humane Spaces: Advocating for the rights & needs of public school kids, especially immigrant, LGBTQIA+, and Black & Brown children
Moderator:
PA State Representative Chris Rabb
Panelists:
- Shanée Garner, Executive Director, Lift Every Voice Philly
- City Councilmember Rue Landau
- Erika Guadalupe Núñez, Executive Director, Juntos
- Kristina Moon, Senior Attorney, Education Law Center
News Articles:
Chestnut Hill Local- Rep. Rabb Moderates Educational Equity Forum
WHYY- Educators, advocates wrestle with a question: How should Philly schools serve students in the Trump era?
Feb. 5, 2024 Unfair Funding’s Impact on Philadelphia’s Public Schools
Moderator:
Debbie Wei, founding member of Asian Americans United, founding principal of the Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School, and social studies curriculum specialist for the School District of Philadelphia
Panelists:
- Kyra Atterbury, Executive Director, Need in Deed
- City Councilmember Kendra Brooks, Working Families Party
- Dr. Erika Kitzmiller, Term Assistant Professor in Education at Barnard College, historian of race, inequality and education, and author of The Roots of Educational Inequality: Philadelphia’s Germantown High School, 1907-2014
- Dr. Roseann Liu, Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Studies and
- Asian-American Studies at Swarthmore College; author of Designed to Fail: Why Racial Equity in School Funding Is So Hard to Achieve
News Articles:
CHALKBEAT: Nonprofit helps Philly students discuss Israel, gun violence, and other tough topics
WHYY: Education Equity Forum in Germantown addresses funding disparities in Philly public schools