As a Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky award-winning DEI educator—recognized nationally for my work—I lead conversations that spark impactful, equity-focused leadership rooted in our local communities.

In response to and driven by both fear and love, I wrestled with the question of how to protect my son when the world stops seeing him as “cute” and starts seeing him as a threat. In 2021, I co-created a Social Equity course for high school students. It was the first of its kind in my district, designed to give students space to explore race, identity, and justice. 

As the only Black educator in the district, I knew how urgently that space was needed. But as national backlash to “critical race theory” intensified, local pushback quickly followed.

By June 2021, Kentucky State Representative Joseph Fischer filed Bill Request 60, which sought to ban public K–12 schools from using curriculum or supplemental materials that explore systemic racism. He cited my course directly, stating that a predominantly white and affluent school “sought to add a course called ‘Social Equity’ that would focus on a range of social justice” (Courier-Journal, 2021).

In response, I stepped into roles as a teacher leader, Regional Network Lead, and board member with education justice initiatives across Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati. These positions allowed me to facilitate courageous conversations and build deeper partnerships with educators committed to doing the work. They stop fearing hard histories. They ask hard questions.  They begin the journey toward co-conspiratorship.

This is what led to the creation of the Elise Carter Collective, a justice-centered initiative, partnering with educators and community leaders across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to teach the histories that shape us, challenge the DEI narratives that confine us, and empower people to lead with truth, courage, and lasting impact.