Oakland, Calif. – Aspire Public Schools announced that Christina Laster  will join the Aspire Board of Directors immediately and serve a 4-year term.

“We are thrilled to welcome two bold female education advocates to the Aspire Board of Directors,” said Aspire’s Chief Executive Officer Mala Batra. “Christina and Dr. Martínez demonstrate deep commitments to equity and anti-racism – qualities they reflect personally and professionally – and that are core to our mission. Their talents, experiences and perspectives will help guide Aspire as we deepen our diversity, equity, and inclusion work that prepares every student to earn a college degree.”

This year, Aspire underwent a reimagining of our Board recruitment and nomination process. In doing so, we are now better able to diversify our pool of Board candidates across multiple metrics (geography, race, gender, experience and expertise) working in partnership with our Aspire teammates and current Board members. The process resulted in Aspire’s ability to bring on two exceptional new Board members.

A current charter parent and grandparent and the Director of Policy and Legislation with the National Parents Union (NPU), Christina is dedicated to equipping parents, families, and communities of color to meaningfully advocate for lasting change in our schools…