What happens when people from all walks of life come together to learn about their community, from their community? To support and build a better public education system together? To advocate for organizations that have long supported the community?

That’s what the Atlanta Reimagining & Innovating for Schools Everywhere (A.R.I.S.E.) fellowship is all about.

This nine-month fellowship brings together business professionals, healthcare providers, educators, service workers, and many other community leaders from throughout Metro Atlanta. Together, they learn about the history of the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) district, current achievement trends, and best practices from other districts.

“The redefinED team did a really good job of fostering a sense of community, but they did more than that,” said Egypt Noboa, a college and career specialist at the Urban League of Greater Atlanta and a 2024-25 fellow. “I’ll always remember, he said, ‘Having a seat at the table is not enough, you have to have something to speak about and stay at the table.’”

“Being able to go out into the community and build networks and relationships across communities and sectors will help our community grow faster,” added Kayla Sledge, a special education teacher at The Kindezi Schools and a 2024-25 fellow.

The fellows also go out to nonprofits in the community and learn about their history and how they meet the community’s needs.

“We started by learning how to run ‘house meetings,’” said Noboa. “These meetings were about getting people together and talking about the problems they are facing in public schools.”

Many fellows started learning by talking to the people they knew or had easy access to, including friends and family. For Sledge, talking with parents and teachers just made sense. Through her house meetings, she learned about a lot of things that can impact a child’s ability to learn, including food insecurity and a lack of services for students.

“I started looking into who was already doing the work, if getting the money would help them, and if they got the money, how they would fix the issue,” said Sledge. “Over time, it morphed into real partnerships between the school and the organizations, including the Gangstas to Growers program at our school. It stemmed from the need of the community and created a mutually beneficial partnership.”

As the 2024-25 cohort wrapped up their fellowship, each participant completed a capstone project that involved advocating for a nonprofit of their choosing. The fellows chose the nonprofits based on the insights they gathered through multiple house meetings. The fellows then made a case to a panel of A.R.I.S.E. alumni judges about the impact that the nonprofit would have on public education and the community, should they receive funding. The judges are now using these presentations, along with applications from all the organizations nominated, to determine who will receive a portion of the $150,000 A.R.I.S.E. Fund. These grants will support programming from July 2025 to June 2026.

“My most joyous moment from the A.R.I.S.E. fellowship was realizing that I had a voice through my capstone project,” said Davida Huntley, a fourth-generation Atlantan, a dedicated APS mom, and a 2024-25 fellow. “It was one of the most defining moments of my life. I didn’t know that I could represent a business that I wasn’t part of. I was floored, I just kept thinking ‘I did that.’”

But even though all the 2024-25 fellows have finished their nine months in the fellowship and graduated, they aren’t finished learning, finished growing, or finished making a difference for Metro Atlanta.

“I think what makes the A.R.I.S.E. fellowship so beautiful is that it is compounding,” said Noboa. “Previous fellows help teach and shape the current cohort in a continuous cycle. Even though I’ve graduated now, I will always be an A.R.I.S.E. fellow.”

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Stay tuned to learn about the organizations selected as 2025 Parent Power A.R.I.S.E. grantees for 2025-26!

Interested in becoming an A.R.I.S.E. fellow? Stay tuned here for our next application to open!