The Collaboration Council’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R.E.D.) Committee, led by the Collaboration Council in partnership with County and community partners, examines policies, practices, and programs to advance equity for youth of color.
In 2025, the R.E.D. Committee partnered with Everyday Canvassing to organize a series of community conversations focused on the School to Prison Pipeline within Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). These discussions were informed by Addressing Racial Inequity in the School to Prison Pipeline, a 2023 report by the Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight authored by Dr. Elaine Bonner-Tompkins. In 2023 and 2024, the Collaboration Council helped facilitate three Town Halls addressing this issue, setting the stage for deeper community engagement in 2025.
The 2025 initiative included a Data Walk and Roll, where community members explored key data related to racial disparities in school discipline and student involvement in the criminal legal system. This event, the first of its kind for the R.E.D. Committee, was one of five gatherings the committee held between June and October 2025, engaging 21 community members.
A key metric in our approach was the engagement of community members, especially young people who previously were not engaged in county-wide conversations such as these. These efforts centered on the voices of those most impacted by racial and ethnic disparities, lifting up their priorities and creating opportunities for advocacy and community-driven recommendations with local agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, MCPS, and the County Council.
The participants, who collectively agreed to refer to themselves as Community Advocates, arrived at recommendations in three priority areas for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in their communities. These areas are: 1) disciplinary practices and the School to Prison Pipeline, 2) educational equity and resource allocation, and 3) equity in data collection, representation, and application.
2025’s final session focused on advocacy skill building, and future work for the R.E.D. Committee will focus on phased learning and grassroots partnerships. This includes organizing capacity-building opportunities for committee members and community advocates.
