Why I Founded Activate Missouri: Because Education Is Personal—and It’s Collective

By Tiara Jordan-Sutton

I didn’t found Activate Missouri because education policy was trendy or because advocacy sounded interesting. I founded Activate Missouri because education quite literally shaped the trajectory of my life and because I’ve seen, up close, what happens when families are equipped with knowledge and when they are shut out of power.

This work is deeply personal to me.

I grew up in Flint, Michigan, in a community where the odds were not stacked in our favor. Long before national headlines told the story of disinvestment and neglect, families in Flint already knew what it meant to live in a system that expected less from you. My parents understood that reality and they refused to accept it for my brother and me.

They did their research. They asked questions. They advocated relentlessly. And when necessary, they made hard choices to ensure we had access to a quality education. There were no charter schools at the time. Choice, as we know it today, didn’t exist. So my parents did the only thing they could—they moved us to a different district so we could attend better schools.

As a child, I didn’t yet have the language for “systems,” “power,” or “inequity.” But I felt it. I saw firsthand that education wasn’t just about classrooms and textbooks, it was about who had information, who had access, and who was willing to demand more for their children.

My parents always told us something that has never left me:

In a world where the system is often set up for you to fail, a quality education is one thing they can never take from you once you have it. That belief shaped everything I became.

It’s why I went into education. It’s why I became a teacher, then a school leader. And it’s why I eventually realized that working inside the system wasn’t enough if families remained locked out of decision-making. I saw too many moments where parents’ voices—especially Black parents’ voices—were dismissed, ignored, or treated as obstacles rather than partners.

I’ve lived through the consequences of that silence.

I’ve advocated for students of color in spaces where their humanity was debated instead of honored. I’ve watched policies get passed without the input of the very families they impacted most. And I’ve seen how quickly the conversation shifts from “what’s best for kids” to politics, power, and preservation of the status quo. That is why Activate Missouri exists.

At its core, Activate Missouri is about equipping parents, caregivers, students, and educators with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate complex education systems and to use their collective power to demand better. We don’t believe families should need a graduate degree, insider connections, or political access just to understand how schools are funded, how decisions are made, or what options exist for their children.

We believe information is power. And power belongs with the people closest to the students.

Especially in our current political climate, this work matters more than ever. Education has become a battleground that’s used as a talking point, a wedge issue, or a tool for fear-based narratives. But for families, education is not theoretical. It’s not abstract. It’s deeply real. It shows up every morning when parents send their children into buildings that may or may not be equipped to meet their needs. And when students are failed by those systems, they don’t disappear.

This is something we don’t talk about enough.

The students we fail to educate don’t evaporate from our communities. They grow up. They live next door. They enter the workforce—or struggle to. They are impacted by decisions we made or avoided when they were children. Education outcomes are not individual problems; they are community outcomes.

Yet we continue to operate in a “haves versus have-nots” mindset, as if inequity only harms those on the losing end. The data tells us otherwise. Persistently low literacy rates, widening achievement gaps, and uneven access to quality schools weaken our workforce, strain our economy, and fracture our communities.

None of us benefit from systems that leave so many behind.

I deeply believe education must be viewed through a community lens, not an individualistic one. When every child receives the education they deserve, all of us are stronger. Our neighborhoods are safer. Our economy is healthier. Our democracy is more resilient.

Activate Missouri is my way of giving back to the parents who raised me, to the community that shaped me, and to the families who deserve the same access to knowledge and opportunity that changed my life. It is a declaration that parents are not passive recipients of policy, they are powerful leaders in shaping the future of education.

This work is personal because my life could have turned out very differently if my parents hadn’t known how to navigate the system. And it is collective because no child’s education exists in isolation.

When we activate parents, we activate communities. And when communities are informed, organized, and heard, we change what’s possible.

That is my why.

Tiara Jordan-Sutton, M.Ed., is the founder and executive director of ActivateMO. She’s an educational advocate and visionary with over 15 years of experience in education as a teacher, administrator and principal. Tiara has dedicated her career to relentlessly fighting for families to receive the quality educational experiences and opportunities they rightfully deserve. Her proudest role is being a mother to her amazing daughter. Tiara is an active member of NPU’s Parent Power Collective.