History and Mission
Every Child Education Equity Project is the brainchild of Join Hands ESL and the culmination of many years of journeying closely with the people of East St. Louis. Founded by Sheila Burton, a former legal aid lawyer at Land of Lincoln Legal Aid in East St. Louis, the founder of Land of Lincoln’s Education Advocacy Project, and the founder and former Executive Director of Join Hands ESL, Every Child Education Equity Project’s focus is that which truly is necessary to break the cycle of poverty — equitable quality education, individualized education for children experiencing the trauma and toxic stress of poverty.
Failure to educate children in the way the science of trauma now tells us is necessary has resulted in generations of children having no chance to reach their dreams. Every Child aims to change that because we believe Every Child deserves a chance. Every child should be educated in a way they can actually learn. Every Child Education Equity Project will use an integrated multi-faceted approach, including legal advocacy, litigation, community education and engagement work, and will use the principles and techniques of Kingian Nonviolence, to apply pressure for true systems change. Every Child Lobby will partner with the community to lobby and advocate to enshrine those needed changes into the law with the goal of the Every Child Education Equity Campaign being to create true equitable quality educational opportunities for young people living in poverty.
It is the mission of the Every Child Education Equity Project to address inequities in education for the children growing up in the trauma and toxic stress of poverty and to work for excellence in education so that every child, regardless of race, economic status or address, will receive the education they need to reach their full potential.
Partners
Individuals
Mamie Cosie
East St. Louis Community Activist
Shontay Ford
Manager, Youth Leadership Strategies | East Side Aligned, Member
WePower, Graduate of East St. Louis District 189
Marie Franklin
Organizer of WePower’s East St. Louis education justice effort: Rise 189
Former East St. Louis Mayoral Candidate
Gloria Hicks
East St. Louis Community Advocate
Evan Krass
Executive Director, East Side Aligned
Bronwyn Nichols Lodato, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Education
Department of African and African-American Studies
Washington University in St. Louis
Toni Muhammad
Executive Director, Catholic Urban Programs
Dedre Brock Moore
Community Lawyer
Clark Power
University of Notre Dame, Concurrent Professor in the Department of Psychology
and Professor of Psychology and Education in the Program of Liberal Studies (PLS)
Executive Director, Play Like a Champion
Ed.D. from Harvard University in the area of Human Development
Ja’Shira Savannah
Executive Director, Join Hands ESL
Stephanie Taylor
Community Organizer with United Congregation of Metro East
Tamara Vaughn-Walker
Illinois Depart of Corrections Administrator
Former St Clair County Juvenile Justice Council Coordinator
Justice Milton S. Wharton (Ret.)
Fifth District Appellate Court of Illinois
Past president of the St. Clair County Bar Association, a founder of the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of Southwestern Illinois
Recipient of the Legal Luminary Award from the Illinois Bar Foundation and Illinois Judges Association Foundation
Named a Legal Legend by the St. Louis Argus newspaper
Organizations
Catholic Urban Programs
East Side Aligned
Gholson Consulting Group, LLC
Join Hands ESL
Ready Readers
Sr. Thea Bowman Catholic School
East St. Louis
The Christian Activity Center
Education Justice Program
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
Amanda Schneider, Managing Attorney
Funding Collaborative/Donors
Adorers of the Blood of Christ
Franciscan Sisters of our Lady of Perpetual Help
Incarnate Word Foundation
Missionaries of the Precious Blood
Missouri State Region 10 LCWR
School Sisters of Notre Dame
Sisters of the Most Precious Blood (St. Mary’s Institute of O’Fallon)
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
Sister Julia Huiskamp, DC
Crescent Parts and Equipment Co.
Nancy Lydon
Beth and Art Matteotti
Jane Tucker
Every Child Education Equity Project
Board of Directors:
Vanessa Wright, President
Theressa Wright, Vice President
Diane Sonneman, Secretary
Sr. Julia Huiskamp, Treasurer
Norkisha Epps
Staff:
Sheila Burton, Executive Director
Every Child Lobby
Board of Directors:
Payton Bennett, President
Temiro Handy, Vice President
Diane Sonneman, Secretary
Ellen Dauber, Treasurer
Sheila Burton
Staff:
TBD
Organizational Structure
- Every Child comprises two separate corporate entities: Every Child Education Equity Project and Every Child Lobby. The separation exists because of federal regulations governing the kinds of activities that may be supported by tax-deductible gifts.
- The Every Child Education Equity Project is a registered 501(c)3 organization. It is the organization through which we carry out our legal advocacy, litigation and community education and engagement work. Gifts to this entity are tax-deductible. (EIN No. 99-1282467)
- Every Child Lobby is a registered 501(c)4 organization. It is this organization through which we carry out the majority of our lobbying and legislative work. Gifts you make to it are not tax deductible.
- Federal laws require that we operate these entities separately; however, gifts to both support the Every Child campaign. Whether you choose to make your gifts to Every Child Education Equity Project or Every Child Lobby, you can be confident that your financial contribution will support every child having a chance to reach their full potential!
Contact Us
Address: PO Box 133, East St. Louis, IL 62202
Email: sburton@everychildedequity.org
Phone: office 618-857-8009; cell 618-580-3271
