Isabel Govea, Champion of Equity

From the March/April 2021 issue of Equity & Access Pre K-12

Dr. Isabel Govea is the Principal of Harkness Elementary School in Sacramento, California. She uses the Leader in Me program in her school to address social-emotional needs in both kids and adults that are so essential. When it comes to students, Leader in Me provides a process forworking with each learner regardless of individual needs

“In order to get academic gains, you have to develop the whole person of everyone in the building―staff, faculty, kids. Everyone has aspirations and when you infuse support in everything you do, you have that intrinsic motivation for people to flourish.” — Isabel Govea

To ensure her school is continuously improving its ability to meet all students’ needs, Isabel focuses on developing the leaders in her school. She’s passionate about coaching potential by finding and fostering talent in the adults around her. Dr. Govea deeply believes that developing the whole person is more important than a narrow focus only on academics. She believes that to achieve academic gains, you have to develop the whole person of everyone in the building — staff, faculty and students.

Learn more at Harkness.scusd.edu

See More Champions of Equity

American Consortium for Equity in Education

The American Consortium for Equity in Education, publisher of the "Equity & Access" journal, celebrates and connects the educators, associations, community partners and industry leaders who are working to solve problems and create a more equitable environment for historically underserved pre K-12 students throughout the United States.