It s one of just ten Human and Civil Rights honors given by the National Education Association each year. For 2023, the NEA named Hope Restores the recipient of its prestigious
Matsumoto is being honored for her workshops which shed light on the impact of Asian hate since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Her work also touches on this history of Asian Americans in the United States, stereotypes of the AAPI community and how to combat them
Over the past two years, Evanston/Skokie School District 65 educator Linda Matsumoto has led at least 16 workshops deconstructing stereotypes and diving into history surrounding the Asian American Pacific Islander community. A special education paraprofessional at Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies, Matsumoto said she created the presentations in her spare time because she.
Linda Matsumoto, a District 65 educator since 2013, is the first Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) to win the Illinois Education Association (IEA) Reg Weaver Human and Civil Rights Award. The award is given annually to honor Reg Weaver, a former IEA and National Education Association president who dedicated his teaching career to advance social justice so countless students would receive an equitable education. The IEA has 135,000 active members across Illinois.