Stacey Yakimowich Chavez is an instructional leader at her school site, an advocate for racial justice, and a union activist who has consistently fought for human rights throughout her career. She has been a leader on the United Teachers Los Angeles Equity Team for the last five years. In this capacity, she has actively organized to recruit BIPOC educators into leadership positions in her local.

She also has worked with members of Student CTA, promoting the teaching profession with an emphasis on teaching with fairness, inclusivity, justice and freedom integrated in her mindful curricula and pedagogy. She led the way in planning and implementing a three-part “Brave Space” series in 2020. In collaboration with fellow educators, the series sought to eradicate discrimination within her school site, local and beyond. Hundreds of educators participated in how to engage in courageous conversations about race. Through a project to educate union members in Los Angeles on ways to support students and families with housing insecurity, Chavez is striving to build more effective school, family and community partnerships.

Chavez has demonstrated leadership at the state level, including as a CTA State Council delegate, and nationally as part of the NEA Board of Directors At Large.

As an educator, Chavez creates curricula that are anti-racist, culturally responsive and that aim to abolish the oppressive systems that plague traditional schooling. Her students engage in social justice-focused learning opportunities on a regular basis.

She is committed to furthering human rights for all. “As educators, we’re always fighting for our students and our communities,” she says. “I’m also a fighter for unionization and workers’ rights. Unionization is a human right. Workers’ rights are human rights.”

Watch Stacey Yakimowich Chavez’s short video here. Read about the other Human Rights Award winners here.