Courtney Caldwell

Courtney Caldwell has spent her career striving to eliminate systemic inequities and achievement disparities. A twenty-year veteran in the field of Education, Courtney has worked with and in school districts, community organizations and corporations to center racial equity and cultural relevancy in their programs, policies and instruction.

Prior to joining the Courageous Conversation® team as a full-time Equity Transformation Specialist, Courtney operated as a consultant, co-facilitating multiple sessions of Beyond Diversity II and III, Educational Forums, and White Affinity spaces since 2014.

Courtney has always co-labored with those whose mission explicitly includes culturally relevant pedagogy. Having begun her career teaching elementary Spanish at Harvest Preparatory Academy, a highly successful Afro-centric charter school in the Twin Cities, Courtney studied and mastered how to build upon students’ racial and cultural identities as assets in a collaborative atmosphere. At the Fine Arts Interdisciplinary Resource (FAIR) School, an integration magnet program also located in the Twin Cities, Courtney continued to develop culturally relevant strategies with her middle school students. At FAIR she governed the site-based Equity Team, planning and delivering equity-focused staff development and advocating for students and families of color.

Following this, Courtney served as an Equity Teacher for four years in Osseo Area School District. Her job there focused on interrupting racially predictable outcomes for students through professional development trainings, equity team facilitation and instructional mediation. Having coordinated Osseo’s summer CHILDREN’S DEFENSE FUND FREEDOM SCHOOL programs, a literacy-based, Afro-centric, transformational school experience, Courtney functioned as both a recruiter and as an instructional leader for the Servant Leader Interns (SLIs), the acting teaching associates in the program. In this role, Courtney provided professional development for the SLIs
around racial equity and research-based, culturally relevant, instructional strategies before moving on to carry out a variety of district-level leadership roles, including Equity Leader for an Intermediate School District and Achievement and Integration Lead Specialist in the Twin Cities Metro area.

Courtney currently holds a position on the Minnesota Education Equity Partnership (MnEEP) Board of Directors. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, traveling and spending time with friends and family, especially her daughter, Harper.