About AAREA®
The African American Regional Education Alliances® (AAREA®) is an initiative of the Choose College Educational Foundation, Inc. a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose overall goal is to emerge, sustain, and grow a regional collaborative network that designs and implements innovative educational services targeting the needs of African American youth and their families in various East Bay Area regions, by engaging in meaningful conversations and reviewing best practices for improving the academic success of African American students.
AAREA® History
AAREA® is the culmination of almost ten years of work to support educational achievement among African American students. Beginning in 2003-2006, it evolved from two partnering organizations– the Southern Alameda County Alliance of African American Educators (SACAAAE), an affiliate of the California Alliance of African American Educators (CAAAE) and R.T. Fisher & Associates (RTF) —to the Southern Alameda County Regional Educational Alliance (SACREA) working closely with the San Leandro and San Lorenzo Unified School Districts.
Both SACAAAE and SACREA made enormous contributions to Southern Alameda County’s African American community. But the need for services like these extends not only throughout all of Alameda County, but into the greater San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
SACAAAE and SACREA joined forces to form a new organization: AAREA®, the African American Regional Educational Alliances®.
AAREA® Mission
AAREA®’s mission is to develop collaborative educational services and professional development opportunities that result in improved academic proficiency and college readiness of African American students.
AAREA® Program Values
- Collaboration across barriers helps address social inequalities.
- Equitable schools are the cornerstone of equitable communities.
- Culturally responsive approaches engage African American students.
- Bring a systems approach to racial justice efforts.
AAREA® Service Goals
- Access and utilize academic research to develop innovative service models.
- Develop and facilitate dialogues between regional service providers and researchers.
- Examine and highlight linkages between research findings and promising classroom and community practice as it pertains to African American academic performance.
- Build the capacity of education service providers to access, interface, and collaborate with public and private organizations that have a demonstrated history of success working with African American youth and their families.
- Increase levels of African American presence on school grounds and involvement in school activities.
- Build the capacity of African American families to support their child’s efforts to enroll in a college or university.
- Help African American families to attain the resources to finance their child’s higher education experience.
- Inform community efforts to advocate for the needs of African American youth.
AAREA® Governance Structure
AAREA® is governed by a Board of Directors, in accordance with its bylaws. Directly responsible to the board there are Board Committees, Program Committees, and the Educational Partnership Directive.
