Making the Road by Walking…LENS-NC Spring 2026

As the LENS team at MDC reflects on the growth of the network, we want to share some of what we have learned and how we continue to practice learning and growing in our work.  Over the next month we will share an overview of the network, some of our tools and frameworks, and finally, about our partners in this work and how to engage with LENS-NC network members.

Meet the Network

Learning for Equity: a Network for Solutions-North Carolina is a learning and action network of 19 organizations from across North Carolina working to improve educational outcomes for students of color and other marginalized students with learning differences.

Network members have been navigating a difficult social and political environment with uncertain funding and significant demands for their services. Despite challenges, members have continued to come together and appreciate dedicated and protected time to talk about equity, inclusion, and student wellbeing.

Since last summer, LENS-NC has continued to meet regularly to provide support for fellow members and begin to create online modules. The network has also continued to work with RTI, the network evaluator, to continue the evaluation process and help MDC determine what practices support a healthy, robust, and collaborative network.

Since summer 2025 members have shifted their collective work to focus on creating free and publicly available online modules on learning differences and cultivating welcoming school environments. Members have been refining the curriculum for the online modules and curating a list of relevant resources on student wellbeing and the fundamentals of learning differences.

Here are 5 things we can share from our experience:

1. There is immense value in truly understanding someone else’s perspective and experience. That includes physical, emotional, and mental experiences. We can’t support learning or engagement without understanding someone’s perspective.
2. Through intentional reflection we can become better learners and more deeply engage with new knowledge.
3. Learning, both as an individual and within a collective, is emotional work. The context of our day and our feelings impact how we learn and relate to new information. Learning environments can be structured for regulation and improved learning.
4. Effective Co-design requires intentionally sharing power. We can work with learners to create learning environments that meet a variety of needs and improve learning outcomes.
5. You can practice and apply these principles in small ways at work, school, and home.

Next week’s post will share more about the specific tools, research, and frameworks our team and network use and how we continue to practice and apply these principles across our work.