Who We  Are

Some of the most important things begin quietly — not in boardrooms or strategic planning sessions, but in the in-between spaces. In a text thread. A late-night voice note. A conversation that keeps coming back.

 

A small group of educators of color in the Mid-Atlantic had been dreaming out loud about what a regional conference could look like. Not a diversity track within a larger event. Not a space you had to travel across the country to reach. Something closer. Something that felt like home — rooted in this region, built on the kind of community that actually sustains people in this work.

 

When the NAIS People of Color Conference paused, something shifted. That annual gathering had been a lifeline for so many educators of color — a yearly reminder that they were not alone, not invisible, not carrying this work without witness. When it went quiet, the need it had been filling became impossible to ignore. The conversation got louder. Others were invited in. What had been a dream became a plan.

 

Could a small group of individual educators — not an institution, not a foundation, not a corporation — build something worthy of this community? Could they do it with care, with intention, on a budget that kept access at the center? They decided to find out.

 

In the spring of 2026, MAECC held its inaugural gathering under the theme “Harboring Excellence.” More than 150 educators from 41 independent schools — across Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC — came together in Baltimore. They filled rooms with honest conversation. They led sessions for one another. They laughed, exhaled, and remembered why they chose this work. The conference closed with a surplus, a Leadership Circle, and a network that was not going anywhere.

 

What began in the group chat became a community. And that community is growing.