Shermaine Fort
Alhambra Elementary School District
Alana Ragland and Shermaine Fort combined have over thirty years of collective work in Equity and Inclusion. From the classroom to administrative leadership, Alana and Shermaine are comprehensive connoisseurs of authentic Equity and are emerging leaders of Equity and Inclusion in Arizona. Ms. Fort served as a classroom teacher in grades 2-8 and administrative support in Behavior Intervention in Jr. High at Imagine Charter Schools. In addition to education, Ms. Fort has served the Arizona penal system as both an officer and a chaplain. Shermaine was a keynote speaker for the 2019 Women’s March of Tucson. Ms. Fort currently works in the Tucson Unified School District as the Program Director of African American Student Services. Alana Ragland has served in education as a teacher, academic coach, and administrator. Alana is a RODEL Exemplary Principal and former Verizon Learning Principal of a turnaround school in the Alhambra Elementary School District in Phoenix. The KNOW Book+Tribe featured Alana as their first recognized educator in its 2019 KNOW publication. Ms. Ragland briefly served as Strategic Initiatives Marketing Administrator, supporting the early stages of innovative learning approaches in Alhambra. Currently, Alana serves as the Director of Equity and Inclusion in the Alhambra School District. Ms. Fort and Ms. Ragland have launched an initiative called Fortland. Fortland’s goals are to Inspire, facilitate, and support radically relevant inclusion in every environment. Recently, Fortland has entered a venture with the Tucson Police Department to support equitable policing practices.
