Lift As You Climb

Pathways to leadership for social and educational justice

Lift as You Climb (“Lift”) is a community-engaged social justice leadership development program operating across all departments and programs in the College of Education. Lift’s goal is to promote leadership among educators in order to challenge systemic injustices that profoundly impact schools and limit educational opportunities.

Lift participants work with faculty and staff mentors, community leaders, CPS students, and clients of anchor community organizations to address challenges facing the city’s educational systems and surrounding communities. Rectifying deep-seated chasms in education–growing concerns regarding housing, immigration, discrimination, segregation, and access to essential resources–requires forward-thinking approaches to systemic change. The nation’s educational landscape is transforming drastically: an increasingly diverse student population, escalating rates of teachers leaving the workforce, persistent student poverty and rising trauma, and growing inequality. Lift as You Climb offers College of Education students an opportunity to understand and address these challenges.

Lift Mission Statement

Lift as you Climb promotes leadership among educators by supporting them in tackling complex, real-world problems confronting schools and by building relationships with young people and communities most directly impacted by social and educational inequality. It expands and connects an engaged community of change agents and is committed to inclusion, equitable opportunities/representation, collective agency, and a shared dedication to social change.