Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At the National Math Foundation, we strive to hold and promote a diverse, inclusive, and equitable nonprofit institution where all employees, volunteers, partners, and program participants – whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability – feel valued, respected, and heard.

We have embraced a multi-modal and multi-sensory approach to educating educators and students for the research-based reason that the more diverse and culturally competent our instruction is, the more students we can successfully reach and engage in the learning process. A kinesthetic approach benefits all students, especially younger students, through its prioritization of play, exploration, movement, and hands-on activity.

For this reason, our DEI goal is a lofty one – to get every student where they need to be in their fundamental understanding of key math and literacy concepts by embracing a kinesthetic approach to instruction and practice. Our success in achieving this goal will be palpable – an end to early math and reading phobias!

• We are committed to a non-discriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our programs and board activities. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages, and we are working to ensure that all voices are valued and heard.
• We’re committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for the entire industry of educational nonprofits.
• We’re committed to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all. 

Our Methodology

At a methodological level, the movement-based, trauma-informed focus of our programs opens up opportunities for children and families of marginalized populations to showcase their voice and diverse learning styles. Movement enhances learning for all students, especially for youth whose primary or secondary learning style is kinesthetic and who have experienced trauma. Kinesthetic learning is prevalent among economically disadvantaged, minority, and other diverse populations.

It is imperative that we prioritize supporting teachers who have students with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) who are struggling to learn math with outdated/ineffective strategies.

Increased physical activity greatly supports immune cell function and overall self-confidence in learning! It is therefore imperative that we incorporate more physical activity in our instruction not only to increase classroom engagement levels of underserved students, but also to provide them buffers against threats to their physical and mental health.

Our Programs

At a programmatic level, our projects and trainings support children and families through the diverse partnerships we make with local organizations and communities who know their student populations better than anyone. In order to achieve total equity, we need to meet children where they are, so we require the input and expertise from local partners to gain community support and ground-level knowledge about what students are struggling with the most.

Through the “trauma-informed” lens, we realize that students need to be in a safe, welcoming environment in order to learn effectively and have fun doing so. This is why we work closely with local orgs to understand their children’s situations and needs the best we can prior to instruction.

We are assessing our projects’ inclusion and equity goals through student/parent participation demographic surveys that accompany our training and testing. We are currently leading a DEI overhaul of our program surveys to better understand our customer base and needs as a result of COVID-19. We plan to implement these renovated surveys in our 2022 programs as we continue to receive feedback and perspective from participating administrators, teachers, parents, and students. 

Our Leadership

The NMF seeks to maintain a Board of dedicated directors with a diverse mix of expertise, experience, and backgrounds. The skills and backgrounds represented on the Board should reflect the diverse nature of the environment in which we operate. Diversity includes, but is not limited to, business experience, geography, age, gender, and ethnicity for purposes of Board composition. In particular, the Board should include an appropriate number of women directors. 

Board composition for the National Math Foundation is based on a merit-based system. The Board solicits multiple perspectives and views and aims to make decision without conscious or unconscious bias and discrimination. 

The National Math Foundation values the benefits that diversity can bring to its board of directors; diversity promotes the inclusion of different perspectives and ideas, mitigates against groupthink, and ensures that the NMF has the opportunity to benefit from all available talent. The promotion of a diverse Board makes prudent business sense and makes for better corporate governance. 

 We collect voluntary DEI data during the board application process to better understand and assess our board’s diversity, while ongoing dialogue among directors during virtual meetings allows the lived experiences, facts, and opinions of board members to inform our programming’s equity; through honest, respectful conversation we aim to highlight equity gaps and inconsistencies in our programs.