Blog
Learning never stops.
The UPD team is constantly looking for ways to learn more about our industry and, by extension, improve the results we achieve for our clients. Our blog is where we share our latest thinking.
Leading with Impact: How companies are implementing ADEI initiatives to open doors to success.
My grandfather was a civil rights leader in San Antonio, TX. He was instrumental in desegregating lunch counters and movie theaters in 1965. He was motivated by a simple but noble goal for Black girls…
read more
Community Voice: Forethought not Afterthought
UPD’s panel “Turning Stakeholders into Champions” spotlights cutting edge family and community engagement strategies that go beyond online surveys. We are at a new point in history where “stakeholders” in school districts can no longer…
read more
Recharging Requires Engagement Rather than Disengagement: What We’re Reading, Part 3
For Your Health, Schedule Reading Time Like You Would Workout Time Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve asked you to join us as we’ve highlighted some of the most influential books off…
read more
Recharging Requires Engagement Rather than Disengagement: What We’re Reading, Part 2
Reading, as Self-Care, Includes the “Deep Stuff” Too Last week, we introduced you to the concept of reading as self care. Sure, typical “beach reads” allow us the opportunities to participate in escapism…plummeting us through…
read more
Recharging Requires Engagement Rather than Disengagement: What We’re Reading, Part 1
Why Reading is the Self-Care We All Need Right Now: A Recommendation to Get You Started When we think of using the summer months for self care, we often think of relaxing by the water,…
read more
Quantitative Data Reflections: Innovating for Equity
Over the course of the last decade, public sector organizations’ collection, analysis and communication of data through an equity lens has significantly expanded. We’ve had the opportunity to leverage some of these best practices…
read more
Queen Me: Using Federal Funding To Transform into a Learning Organization
How Do You Understand the Long Game of Federal Funding? Currently, almost two trillion dollars in federal funding is available through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), with a large portion of the pot being made…
read more
Outside the (check)box
In the year since George Floyd’s murder, there has been a heightened sense of urgency among many organizations to better understand the extent to which their people, processes, and systems are perpetuating supremecist culture and…
read more
Use HUD Rescue Dollars to Support School-Centered Housing
The nearly $2 trillion in federal rescue dollars presents exciting prospects for states and districts to advance education innovations. One of the opportunities that state and local education agencies are likely overlooking is the opportunity…
read more
Listening, Belonging, and Equity Assessments
How do we create pathways and experiences where all identities are not just represented, but deeply integrated into the core of who we are as a community? How can we create a culture of belonging? …
read more