Shifting Self and System: How Educational Leaders Propel Excellence for Achieving Equity

The pathway to equity begins with YOU.

Good intentions are not enough. To dismantle the structural inequities that continue to plague our schools, dedicated leaders must move beyond buzzword rhetoric to a place of action, where concrete steps trace a path to strategic action and sustainable impact.

The authors of this book have made that shift. Drawing from their experiences leading the educational-equity agenda for the nation’s largest school district, they present their model for practical, outcome-oriented antiracist leadership. Features include

• An original framework built on five interdependent pillars: Self Mastery, Adaptive Leadership, Racial Literacy, Emergence, and Whole-Body Healing
• Real-life vignettes providing insights into the pillars and how they work together
• Structured opportunities and tools that support processes at the individual and collective development levels

Disrupting and dismantling inequities is a complex, yet urgent, process. If you’re ready to meet this moral leadership challenge, Shifting Self and System will equip you with the knowledge, disposition, and capacity to create equitable schools and systems for all the students you serve.

Dr. Ruby Ababio-Fernandez currently serves as Superintendent-In-Residence at McGraw Hill and is a co-author of Shifting Self and System: How Educational Leaders Propel Excellence for Achieving Equity. She is an accomplished educator, speaker, and transformational leader with over two decades of experience in education and leadership development. She brings a wealth of experience across various roles, including teaching, school leadership, and district leadership. Dr. Ruby specializes in developing leaders who unapologetically lead a movement of educational equity. With an unyielding commitment to transforming the lives of adults, children, communities, and school systems, her work centers on addressing problems schools aim to solve by exploring their historical context and complexity. She leverages evidence-based decision-making to forge new paths that break generational cycles of economic and educational insecurities from childhood into adulthood. Her unique qualifications, combining Western and African-centered perspectives- collaboration, adaptive leadership, systems thinking and emergence strategies- position Dr. Ruby as a vital force for leaders and organizations across sectors dedicated to creating positive, lasting change. She was recently enstooled as Nkosohemaa (Queen of Development) of the Apirede Township in the eastern region of Ghana. Dr. Ababio-Fernandez earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Framingham St. College, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with specialization in literacy from Lesley University, a master’s in educational leadership studies, and a doctorate in urban educational leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Courtney Winkfield is a veteran educator, executive coach, and racial equity leader with over twenty years experience leading at the school and district levels in public education systems. Winkfield has helped develop strategic initiatives and strategies to address long-standing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities and promote equity and excellence in education through policy and advocacy, both within and outside of the NYC Department of Education. From 2006 to 2016, Winkfield served as a founding teacher, assistant principal, and principal of the Academy for Young Writers, a public secondary school in East New York, Brooklyn.
Under Winkfield’s leadership as principal, young writers took significant steps toward expanding opportunities for young people, including increasing the number of AP courses offered, creating multiple STEM pathways for students of all abilities, developing a nationally recognized 6–12 Gender-Sexuality Alliance to empower and give voice to LGBTQ+ students, and establishing a student-led restorative justice program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Lewis & Clark College, a master’s degree in English education from CUNY Lehman College, and a master’s in educational leadership studies from CUNY Baruch College.
She lives in South Orange, New Jersey, where she serves as a member of the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education, with her husband and two children.