“We have a lot of power as educators.”

Zataya “Shack” Shackelford Walter

English / Humanities Teacher, Founding Educator, Network Administrator, School Leader

“You can’t do this work without being hopeful.”

What can you do to make a greater impact on the communities you serve? Educational Leader Zataya Shackelford Walter, also lovingly known as Shack, has been pursuing the answer to that question for over 21 years. Remembering her own elementary school experience in the Bay Area, she discusses her mothers sacrifice that allowed her to access a quality education and the cost of going from being the smartest kid in the room to the only Black kid in the room. Very early on, Shack recognized that school looked different for kids in different places.

“How am I going to dismantle this system, this very institutional and historical system?”

After beginning her career in education, Shack relocated from California to Chicago, where the segregation of the schools was mind blowing. Her father was a trail blazing educator, and she followed in his footsteps, using education as a form of activism. Having school aged children of her own, embracing the notion of self care for educators, and reflecting on the impact of her decision making are all factors that have influenced her perspective on education, and how she’s working to create spaces that affirm and elevate instead of cause harm or reinforce bias.