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Our Research
Research Agenda: Advancing Black Leadership to Transform Outcomes
Innovation For Equity (IFE) is committed to advancing educational equity by strengthening and amplifying Black leadership across the education and workforce ecosystem. Our 2025–2027 research agenda focuses on generating survey-based, cross-sector insights into the experiences, challenges, and impact of Black leaders from early childhood through K–12, higher education, and workforce development. Grounded in IFE’s mission to connect and cultivate Black leaders—and our belief that investing in Black leadership drives systemic change—this agenda translates research into actionable strategies that inform practice, policy, and leadership development. Designed to guide IFE’s internal program learning and long-term sustainability while contributing new evidence to the broader education equity field, this work aims to catalyze collective action, influence decision-making, and improve lifelong outcomes for Black learners.
To achieve this, IFE’s research plan centers three priority areas:
1. Black Leaders – Pathways & Sustainability
Key Question: How have Black leaders advanced and sustained themselves in educational leadership roles?
This area explores the barriers and enablers affecting leadership sustainability; career trajectories and retention strategies; and the pathways that shape how Black leaders rise, remain, and succeed across the education ecosystem.
2. Black Learners – Leadership Impact
Key Question: What impact have Black leaders had on the educational opportunities, experiences, and outcomes of Black learners from cradle to career?
Focus areas include understanding how Black leadership influences academic performance, social-emotional development, discipline practices, attendance, postsecondary access, and workforce transition across K–12, higher education, and career pathways.
3. IFE Program Impact
Key Question: How have IFE’s fellowships, convenings, and networks strengthened Black leaders’ career trajectories and their influence on Black learners?
This includes examining leadership skill development, organizational influence, learner-level impacts, and how IFE’s network fosters collaboration, knowledge sharing, and long-term leadership sustainability.
Together, these priorities form a comprehensive, actionable research agenda designed to elevate Black leadership, shape equitable policy and practice, and advance outcomes for Black learners nationwide.
GenAI Equity Symposium: Advancing Responsible AI for Black Learners
IFE convened its first GenAI Equity Symposium, as a pre-convening hosted alongside the ASU+GSV Air Show on April 6, 2025, in San Diego. This half-day gathering brought together 30–40 Black and mission-aligned ally EdTech innovators, researchers, and investors working across three critical facets of the GenAI space: design, research, and solutions.
Designed as a curated environment for collaborative action, design thinking, and field influence, the symposium explored pressing questions shaping the future of AI in education, including:
How do we center equity and responsible inputs in the design, research, and implementation of GenAI tools?
Where are the current bright spots driving equitable AI for Black learners?
What challenges and opportunities are emerging as GenAI adoption accelerates across the education sector?
How can we better support and amplify Black leaders in GenAI so those most impacted are positioned to shape the field?
With guidance from Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies and Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings, IFE produced a white paper summarizing the key insights from the convening: Generative AI Use by Black Educators for Black Learners.
This resource highlights the symposium’s most important takeaways, strategic recommendations, and opportunities for collective action to advance equitable AI in education.
Sign up to access the white paper and learn more about IFE’s expanding research agenda.
Our goals at a glance
Advancing educational equity
Our mission is to achieve educational equity for Black leaders and learners through rigorous data-driven research.
Empowering Black leaders
Highlighting the pivotal role of Black teachers, principals, and leaders in influencing the academic and life outcomes of Black students.
Addressing research gaps
Innovation For Equity (IFE) is committed to filling critical research gaps and promoting activities that prioritize equity for Black learners and leaders.
Strengthening evidence and impact
IFE aims to build a strong research foundation demonstrating the profound influence of Black leadership in educational settings, aiming to reduce racial disparities and improve outcomes for Black leaders and learners.