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Become an Ella Baker Trainer

Each year, exceptional leaders who have worked at least two years in the CDF Freedom Schools Program are selected as Ella Baker Trainers (EBTs) to lead the Ella Baker Child Policy Training Institute, provide technical support for new sites, and teach site staff to deliver key program components. EBTs can train in the CDF Freedom Schools® program officially for four years, but many commit a lifetime of service to their communities.

Ella Baker Trainers

2025-2026 Ella Baker Trainer Application Process Is Now Open

Click here for an overview of the application process. Click here for an overview of the position.

Apply Now

Application Support – Office Hours

We are here to support you throughout the application process for the Ella Baker Trainer position. To answer any questions, you may have about the role or application components, we will be hosting virtual office hours on the following Wednesdays:

June 18
July 2
July 16
July 30

Time: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM EST
Location: Virtual
Zoom Meeting

Click Here to Join

Meeting ID: 944 1742 7929
Passcode: 070443

These office hours are informal so feel free to join at any point during the hour to ask questions, get clarification, or receive guidance. Whether you are just starting your application or finalizing your materials, we encourage you to attend. We look forward to supporting you.

Highlights from the 2024 National Training

Our History

For Ella’s Sake

Ella Josephine Baker was an integral leader in the Civil Rights Movement, organizing and mentoring hundreds of young people. Often a powerful behind-the-scenes advisor to close colleagues like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker believed in shared leadership and encouraged young people to find and lift their own voices. She understood the need for hard, daily, persistent work, and was an institution builder.

Serve as an Ella Baker Trainer

Today, Children’s Defense Fund honors Ella’s legacy and her lessons through our Ella Baker Child Policy Institute, through which more than 15,000 college students and recent graduates have been trained by the Ella Baker Trainers to deliver the Integrated Reading Curriculum (IRC) and to make learning fun for children.

EBTs can train in the CDF Freedom Schools program officially for four years, but many commit a lifetime of service to their communities. EBTs serve as pillars of the CDF Freedom Schools movement.

Take your service with the CDF Freedom Schools program and movement to the next level by becoming an Ella Baker Trainer.

Please direct all inquiries to Bridget G. Hall.

Questions? Contact the National CDF Freedom Schools® Team

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