SAY San Diego collaborates with the San Diego Unified School District’s Departments of Family Engagement and Multilingual Education to support the success of Newcomer students and their families in the Crawford Cluster. This partnership operates through a lens of cultural humility, which has been essential in building trust and engagement with this historically underserved population, many of whom face significant barriers due to language, displacement, and unfamiliarity with the school system.

This proposed session addresses the urgent need for culturally responsive outreach by showcasing a collaborative, shared-space approach grounded in cultural humility. We will highlight how flexibly engaging all stakeholders—including school staff, community partners, and families—increases access to resources and community connections to address education equity. Participants will leave with a step-by-step guide for building intentional and authentic cross-sector partnerships to serve any diverse population, as well as key lessons learned from our experience.

Learning Objectives

1. Examine how Cultural Humility can serve as a foundational approach for building collaborative relationships across diverse sectors.

2. Identify practical strategies to engage all stakeholders—schools, families, and community partners—within a culturally humble framework.

3. Apply intentional cross-sector collaboration techniques to foster equitable and sustainable partnerships.