" Most HBCUs exist to provide access and to give people an opportunity to change their lives through education. That is absolutely what EPI is positioned to do. " - DR. DAMARA HIGHTOWER MITCHELL
and other partners build their own capacity so the work can continue after EPI’s direct involvement ends. For Mitchell, that growth is an opportunity to continue rethinking how educators are prepared and supported. “I am passionate about this work. I am proud of EPI and what it is becoming,” Mitchell said. And she remains focused on what comes next. “I am committed to helping our institutions rethink how we prepare, support and advance educators,” Mitchell said. “We’re just getting started.”
“If you are talented, we want you to help reproduce more talented educators,” Mitchell said. “We are absolutely trying to fortify that pipeline from start to finish.” For Mitchell, that mission also connects the center to the historic role of HBCUs. The center was founded at Voorhees, an institution itself founded by educator Elizabeth Evelyn Wright-Menafee. Mitchell said HBCUs have long created educational opportunities where they did not otherwise exist, making educator preparation a natural extension of that legacy. “Most HBCUs exist to provide access and to give people an opportunity to change their lives through education,”
Mitchell said. “That is absolutely what EPI is positioned to do.”
Mitchell credits Dr. Ronnie Hopkins, now president of Voorhees, with giving her the room to develop what would eventually become the EPI Center. “What I appreciate about Dr. Hopkins is that once he had a general idea of what it was that he wanted to achieve, he gave me the latitude to actually create and innovate,” Mitchell said.
Looking ahead, Mitchell sees opportunities to expand EPI’s
partnerships with school districts, colleges and universities. She said EPI also approaches its work with sustainability in mind, helping schools
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