“Programs like Surge are essential to sustaining the movement for justice and equity through community, allyship, mentorship, shared struggle, shared successes, and a commitment to continually learn and evolve together.”

Sonya Mehta lives, works, and engages in progressive education reform work in Oakland, CA. For five years, she taught kindergarten at a Title I school in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, and in her time as a teacher, she served on the instructional leadership team and was also a 2014-16 teacher policy fellow with the Great Oakland (GO) Public Schools coalition.