Meet Ebony Payne Brown | School Founder, PEACE Academy Charter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ebony Payne Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ebony, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The ultimate mission of PEACE Academy Charter is to provide a liberatory education that is grounded in critical thinking, cultural empowerment, and community love. The most important factor behind our success is that all of our systems, structures, and beliefs align with this mission. Every staff member or partner must deeply believe in this work and the impact it will have on our children, communities, and society as a whole. As the school founder, one of the most important factors behind my success is ensuring I have the right people in my village to help me produce this mission but more importantly that those in my village help raise my awareness when I deviate from the path and to hold me accountable to do what I said I would do. While I am frequently the storyteller of PEACE, everyone from students, families, community members, therapists, mentors, donors, my partner and family members, our school partners, and most importantly our staff are the critical factors behind our success.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Absolutely. This is the part where I can talk for hours… Let’s talk about PEACE Academy Charter! PEACE is a K-8 Charter School located in Southeast Atlanta. We Promote Educational and Cultural Empowerment to ensure all of our students are breaking records by leaving on or above grade level, are gaining exposure to a complete curriculum that has an Afrocentric focus that will push their academic development and strengthen their cultural awareness, and are working in partnership with our community through events and experiences that highlight the assets and beauty in our communities.

We are dedicated to a liberatory education and that is what sets us apart from many other school systems. From our inception, we have built a program with the success of Black and Brown students at the center of every decision. PEACE is grounded in a problem-based learning curriculum that allows our students to build critical thinking skills. Our students engage in a daily cultural studies class where our Afrocentric Curriculum is the foundation and we intentionally incorporate other cultures to help our students gain the tools to love and honor their heritage and appreciate the similarities and differences of other cultures. Through our focus on community, our students will engage in field experiences monthly where they will explore community organizations to enhance their exposure and perspective of the community. The last critical component is our commitment to restorative justice practices. We do not believe in zero-tolerance as it has been so wildly used in many education systems. Instead, we educate our students on how to understand boundaries and rebound from mistakes they make so they are a part of the process of restoring the harm done to the community. We are dedicated to ensuring that our staff mirrors our student demographics because representation matters. We place a strong emphasis on quality PD that helps our educators continue to build their awareness of anti-basis and anti-racist teacher practices.

We are now accepting applications for students in grades K-3 for the 2022-2023 school year. I am so excited that our community members, parents, and Board Members have truly built a school where we want to send our own babies. Yes, Kingston will be a student at PEACE Academy Charter! This journey has not been easy but it has been worth it. I am not the same woman I was at the start of this journey. I founded a school board, we engaged with hundreds of community members, wrote a charter application, interviewed with the state commission, fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and went before the GA State Board of Education to ultimately receive our state charter to open a State-wide Charter School. This means that children from all over the Metro Atlanta area can apply to attend PEACE.

One lesson that I learned on this journey is that you have to set a strong vision and be relentless and authentically you through the process. People may not understand or even be on board with your vision and that is okay. Create a plan, work the plan. Be open but don’t let humility interfere with your confidence! My start on this journey was unorthodox but everyday I see my passion and purpose fueling every step.

I want the world to know that PEACE is here. There are so many great schools across our country who are doing this work well for Black and Brown children. We are learning from several of those schools and leaders because while we know this is hard we also know it is possible. We are so humbled and grateful that our families and communities have entrusted us with their most prized possession. PEACE will make history in GA and be one of the next models of strong liberatory education for Black and Brown students.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh my, this is so hard because I am such a homebody these days. Let’s lower the stakes. This is not the best time ever but maybe just a little taste of Atlanta. Depending on the season, Piedmont Park has many attractions. Fin and Feathers weekend brunch will get you right. Ponce City Market has a cool vibe. Of course they would have to try the famous Slutty Vegan, I would connect with my friend CJ with Blue Diamond Entertainment to figure out something for the nightlife. Kat’s Cafe or Apache Cafe might also have something on the nightlife calendar.

This question is making me realize that I need to dust off my heels and get out of this house lol.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want my first shoutout to go to my brilliant and charismatic son, Kingston Brown. Being his mother is what pushed me off the edge to leap into this journey and what has impacted my being the most. Next, I must shoutout my partner, Aisha Keys. The amount of love, support, dedication, advice, generosity, and joy I receive daily is often the thing, second to God, that keeps me together. I would not have gotten so far so fast without the help of the Georgia Charter School Association and their Incubator; particularly, Aarti Sharma who ran the program. I told Aarti I wanted to start a school that put Black and Brown students at the center of the educational experience and she said, “ok, here is how we get there”.

Next, there are so many Black Women-led organizations that have supported me immensely through this journey that I want to acknowledge. Candace Ramsey with The Profit Center, Danielle Mack with The Refocus Group, Alaina Chipman-Leeks with Atlanta Unbound Academy, Hiewet Senghor with The Black Teacher Collaborative, Ariana Thomas with Flylight Creative, Crystal Perry with Melanated Pearl Co., LaTasha Jackson with Beautiful Wings Academy, Andrea P. Miller with Andrea P. Miller, LLC, Tamara Rice with Blissfully Incomplete, Shavon Roman with The Financial Chick, Cortney Bailey with Cortney Bailey Realty, and ​​Dr. Sherri Boardwater with Healing for All.

Last but certainly not least, I want to thank my family, friends, donors, the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, and all of the individuals in my life who have helped me get to this point in my journey.

Website: PeaceAcademyCharter.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaceacademycharter/

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/peace-academy-charter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeaceAcademyATL

Facebook: facebook.com/PEACEAcademyCharter