amplifiED Podcast
EdAllies’ amplifiED podcast digs into the nuances, details, and lesser-known aspects of education equity through discussions that poke and prod at policymaking, systems, and much more. Hosted by Josh Crosson, EdAllies’ Executive Director and Margaret Sullivan, EdAllies’ Programs and Outreach Manager, amplifiED has discussed topics such as student discipline, innovative schools, chronic absenteeism, teacher diversity, literacy reform, legislative progress, the power of youth advocacy, and more!
You can listen and subscribe to amplifiED on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at the player below!
This is AmplifiEd, the EdAllies podcast.
At EdAllies, we partner with schools, families, and communities to ensure that all Minnesota students have access to a rigorous and engaging education. We advance policies that put underserved students first, remove barriers facing successful schools and programs, and foster an inclusive conversation about what’s possible for students.
In the AmplifiEd podcast, we dig into the issues of the day, the opportunities and challenges facing students, educators, and families, and the ways policy, advocacy, and collaboration can ensure better outcomes for us all.
In this candid, unscripted conversation, host and EdVoices cohort member Courtney sits down with Andre, a single Black father raising five children, including a son on the autism spectrum. Andre opens up about what it's like to navigate Minnesota's special education system largely on his own: the lack of communication from schools, the absence of meaningful family support services, and the feeling of being shut out of decisions about his own child's care.
Courtney and Andre talk candidly about gender bias in custody and advocacy spaces, the cultural disconnect many Black and Brown families experience with teachers and service providers, and the emotional weight of raising children with disabilities without a built-in support system. Andre reflects on growing up in Chicago, the ”village” that raised him, and his hope to give his own children a different, safer path—even as he works largely without the institutional support he needs.
The conversation is raw, personal, and unafraid to name what's missing: cultural competency, consistent communication between schools and families, and real recognition of fathers as equal caregivers and advocates. It's a conversation about resilience, the gaps in Minnesota's support systems for families of children with disabilities, and what it means to build a village when the one you grew up with isn't there anymore.