On February 2, 2016, I received a call that a former student had died. To lose any student is tragic, but this one was especially gut-wrenching. This 8th grader committed suicide.
As a young Black boy with ADHD, he had heard one too many times that his inability to “be still” or “think things through” made him undesirable to his teachers, family, and friends. He was quick-witted and brilliant, but he was also impulsive. I don’t believe he fully understood or processed the finality of his actions, and after an argument, he hung himself in the family’s home.
The collective “WE,” tasked with activating this young man’s promise in the world, had monumentally failed.
After the initial shock and grief began to wane, guilt settled in. I spent long hours questioning what I, what “WE,” could and should have done differently.
The pain and heartbreak I felt from this became my “Why” for learning everything I could about the impact of disability on mental health, especially for Black and Brown children who already have imposing amounts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). I learned about the high linkage between ADHD and suicide in children. I learned how we present and express a student’s abilities and challenges in coaching conversations and IEP meetings, matters. I internalized that I was a part of a system that cared more about legal compliance than the impact of the programs we delivered. I realized that despite my attempts to foster inclusion, I did not necessarily succeed at creating a genuine sense of belonging.
These awakenings, coupled with the disturbing and senseless loss of so many of my other students to violence and prison, made me reconsider my life’s work and became the catalyst for starting MindWorks Collaborative.
MindWorks Collaborative helps educators and families build internal capacity for producing accessible and welcoming learning environments by developing a diverse, knowledgeable, and skilled special education workforce. We are fully committed to building, supporting, and amplifying schools and classrooms that help every child thrive.
We provide strengths-based coaching, content, and communities grounded in empathy, justice, and belonging. These empower individuals and organizations to work together to identify and dismantle classroom barriers that oppress and exclude diverse learners. We are working to shift our field from trying to “fix children” to redesigning the systems that have repeatedly failed them.
We envision a day when all learning environments will be belonging-centered and inspire and empower youth to engage in the world as their best selves.
Accessibility is our skill, diversity is our strength, and collaboration is how we will all get there.
In Gratitude,
Martrice Gandy – Founder & Executive Director
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