With decades of combined experience, our
team guides schools and organizations in
building equity-driven, transformative
practices.
With collective effort,
antiracism is possible.
Our Misson
- Our mission is to collaborate with
schools, businesses, and
community organizations to
cultivate sustainable racial equity
by centering a coaching
framework. We foster racial
literacy and antiracist practice
through a dialogue-to-action
approach, equipping clients with
the skills to become leaders in
dismantling systemic racism
within their unique educational or
organizational contexts.
We envision a future where every
organization has the capacity to
lead in equity efforts, where racial
literacy flourishes, and where
sustained antiracist action
becomes a core value. Through our
coaching approach, we aim to
empower organizations to build
inclusive, just environments where
all members belong, contribute,
and thrive.
Our Vision
About Us
- Ben Blaisdell is an Associate Professor in the
College of Education at East Carolina University,
where he teaches courses on multicultural
education and cultural proficiency. His
scholarship uses Critical Race Theory (CRT) to
examine how white supremacy and anti
blackness are normalized in schools and on
schools as racial spaces, spaces that invest in
white students and divest from students of color.
Dr. Blaisdell has been conducting equity coaching
with schools for almost 20 years. He has worked
with multiple school districts and over two dozen
schools in both the US and UK.
Trilce Márquez is the Coordinator for Instructional
Equity and Leadership in Chapel Hill-Carrboro
City Schools, leading professional learning on
racial literacy and equitable instruction. Rooted in
culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy and
Critical Race Theory, her work builds capacity for
transformative change. With over 15 years in
equity coaching and leadership, she was a district
equity leader in NYC’s Critically Conscious
Educators Rising Series and served on her
school’s Racial Equity Advisory Team. She holds a
B.A. in Sociology from UNC Asheville and an M.A. in
Childhood Education from Fordham University.
- Elizabeth Vail served as an Equity Specialist for
Instructional Equity in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
Schools, following ten years as a classroom
teacher. She led restorative practices, co-
chaired her school’s equity team, and helped
develop anti-racist curriculum. A frequent
presenter at the Let’s Talk Racism conference,
she also piloted AVID Elementary at Northside
Elementary. Liz was Northside’s 2021-2022
Teacher of the Year and a CHCCS Teacher of
the Year finalist. She holds a B.A. in Elementary
Education with a focus on Language and
Literature from UNC Chapel Hill.
We are a collective of educators who center race-equity in our work.
We focus on community building
to advance antiracism and anti-
oppression by leveraging
restorative practices,
particularly through circles, and
incorporating structured
dialogues. These approaches
recognize that dismantling
systemic racism requires more
than individual awareness—it
demands creating spaces for
honest, transformative
conversations and fostering
relationships rooted in trust and
accountability.
Community Building
We specifically center an equity
coaching approach in our work
with schools, businesses, and
community organizations. Equity
coaching is a collaborative
approach to examining systemic
racism for the purposes of
fostering racial literacy and
antiracist action. This approach
helps leaders, administrators,
and staff to sustain racial equity
efforts beyond one-time training
and professional development
sessions and to develop the
capacity to lead racial equity
efforts in their own settings.
Equity Coaching
- Workshop Series: Culturally
Responsive Teaching
Cohorts - Learning Session: What is
CRT? - Learning Session:
Introduction to Race and
Racism - Learning Session: Racism and
You - Learning Session:
Responding to White
Discourse
Other Offerings
What We Offer