At Afton, we think of community engagement as the process of collaborating with impacted groups and ensuring they influence the decisions that will ultimately affect them. It’s part of living out our values to center the human experience, collaborate inclusively, and prioritize justice. In fact, it’s the core of everything we do.

We recently sat down with the Fair Chance Hiring (FCH) Initiative’s Program Director, Steph Dolan, and co-facilitator, Liana Bran, to talk about the origins of this work, why it’s so important, and what impact it’s had to date.

This is the second installment of Afton’s five-part blog series, “How Districts Can Afford High Quality Schools, Despite Enrollment Decline,” aimed at recognizing school district financial challenges associated with enrollment decline and offering some actionable recommendations for school districts facing enrollment loss, with or without charter schools.

School districts across the country have experienced massive systemic changes over the past few years. However, much of this disruption has been masked by one-time pandemic relief funds in the national conversation – and in budgets. As those funds end, states and districts will need to tackle the resulting challenges head on.