The Skillman Foundation

Each day, principals pour their energy and hearts into supporting teachers, staff, and students. To support their courageous journey, The Skillman Foundation has partnered with educational experts Rema Reynolds Vassar, PhD of Eastern Michigan University and Dr. Curtis Lewis of Black Male Educators Alliance to offer an 11-month experience. Through group learning sessions and one-on-one coaching, participants will strengthen as people and as school leaders alongside a community of peers.

The 2021 Principal Wellness Professional Learning Community will be specifically geared for Black Detroit principals who have 1-5 years of experience as school leaders, as of the 2020-21 school year. It has been designed for principals who have, early in their leadership roles, had to grapple with the COVID-19 health pandemic as well as the racial inequities and trauma that have been amplified over the past year.

The Principal Wellness Professional Learning Community will provide school leaders with transformative practices and a support system of peers that support individual and school-wide wellness. Principals will develop ways of deepening their capacity to alleviate their stressors and adopt a self-care plan; identify areas of professional growth; and create brave spaces for change within their school that nurtures the mental and emotional wellbeing of the students, teachers, and families.

The Principal Wellness Professional Learning Community consists of:

• Monthly Group Sessions:  4 hours per session; In-person + virtual; Held on weekends
• One-on-One Coaching: 1 hour per month; Virtual; Based on personal schedules
• Group Text Messaging: On-Going Check-Ins and Support
• Discuss and provide feedback on PWPLC impact and effectiveness: Maximum of 5xs

A stipend will be provided to help offset the time investment this opportunity requires. 

View more details about the program and application process
Applications are due by July 23, 2021.
Apply Here.

About The Skillman Foundation’s support for Detroit Educators

The Skillman Foundation has supported Detroit schools, school leaders, and teachers for decades. Our current supports to this end include funding educator support programs through Teach 313, Teach for America, People in Education, Detroit Children’s Fund, New Teacher Center, and the Every School Day Counts Peer Learning Network and Professional Learning Communities. We also have another opportunity for Detroit principals coming soon! Principals will have the opportunity to apply for funding for in-school efforts that support educator and/or student well-being and promote healthy school climate and culture. To receive the announcement directly to your email, please enter your information here. You can also look for updates on our website and by signing up for our enewsletter.

About the Wellness Works Initiative

The Skillman Foundation was founded with the mission to help children thrive and excel into adulthood. To do so, we constantly seek to understand and address the biggest factors standing in the way to young people’s happiness and prosperity. One key theme emerged in our conversations with Detroit youth and their champions during the pandemic—personal wellness was in a fragile state. Our kids, and the adults who serve them, have undergone a good deal of hardship and stress and long to feel whole, stable, and well. To respond, The Skillman Foundation launched the Wellness Works Initiative. From the summer of 2021 through the summer of 2022, we will grant $3 million toward wellness programs and activities for Detroit youth, educators, and youth-service providers. Wellness Works is partially supported by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.