COAR is committed to racial equity and social justice by promoting inclusiveness, valuing diversity, facilitating healing, and addressing disparities in our community with an emphasis on our schools. We do this with respect, self-awareness, authentic engagement, and a willingness to learn from one another.

Our Mission

2021-2022 Goals

Leadership Team
  • Support self-learning and unlearning to be antiracist
  • Actively engage in antiracism efforts as individuals and as a community
  1. Host monthly community discussions to promote self-learning.
  2. Connect with schools and community groups to share, listen, build understanding, and serve as collective antiracist voices.
  3. Identify needs in our community and schools regarding antiracist learning and policies, and develop action plans to address them.
  • Erin Fife, Chair
  • Joyce DeGreeff, Outreach
  • Eliza Spang, Education
  • Tami DeAngelis, Communications
  • Megan Denis, Resources
  • Kande McDonald, Resources
  • Julie Lynch, Resources

COAR History

April 7, 2019
Four Thoreau parents met to participate in a Raising Race Conscious Children webinar. We enjoyed the conversation and learning so much that we decided to meet again.

April 24, 2019
The Concord-Carlisle Parent Association hosted Debby Irving as part of their Speaker Series, talking about her book, Waking Up White. Thoreau parents attended the event as the next step in their learning journey.

May 2019
Our small group of Thoreau parents exchanged resources via email and invited a few more friends to join the conversation.

June 11, 2019
Now a group of seven, we met again to continue our conversation about race and racism. We used episodes of Red Table Talk as the catalyst for our discussion.

July 2019 -
​January 2020
 Expanding our group to eleven, we met periodically in person and also exchanged resources via email. Some members read White Fragility​ by Robin DiAngelo. Others attended a "Song and Story Workshop" by InterPlay focused on exploring racism through storytelling, dance and movement. Another subgroup attended a book discussion for Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey.

February 2020
From January to February, our email list increased by 200%. Fifteen members attended an in-person discussion, many of whom were new to the group. We also began laying the groundwork to start our Thoreau Elementary parent-teacher discussion group to connect teachers in the same learning we were doing at home.

March 2020
The pandemic hit, and we decided to take a moment to formalize our group. We drafted discussion guidelines and a mission statement. We officially became COAR (Communities Organizing Against Racism, Concord-Carlisle-Boston).