Azad has worked in various capacities in school advocacy groups,
parent associations and school leadership for the past eight years
BROOKLYN, NY (March 24, 2022) Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso today announced the appointment of Tazin Azad as the Brooklyn representative to the NYC Panel for Educational Policy (PEP). In this appointment, Azad will work with the Department of Education Chancellor and the other fourteen members of PEP, serving as an advocate for students, parents, and teachers. She will also continue to be a leader in promoting language access and a culturally responsive social and emotional environment to our school children. Azad has worked in various capacities in school advocacy groups, parent associations, and school leadership for the past eight years.
“Tazin Azad’s diverse experience within our city school system clearly demonstrates the capabilities, fresh thinking, and strong advocacy she will bring to our city’s school children and their educators through this appointment,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “She has a demonstrated and wide-ranging record of working with all elements of our education system and elected officials to provide access to information, establish budget priorities, and bridge language barriers for families in School District 22. I am proud to have her serve as the Brooklyn representative on the Panel for Educational Policy, where I know she will serve as a strong voice for the students at Brooklyn public schools and the City as a whole.”
“I look forward to representing the students and parents of Brooklyn public schools, and to work closely with my fellow PEP members to ensure education policies emanating from the Department of Education are designed with an awareness and sensitivity to the cultural and linguistic diversity of the students and families our public schools serve,” said Azad.
As a member of PEP, Azad will collaborate with the other members of PEP to advocate for policies and approaches within DOE that will further the education system’s agenda of closing equity gaps and improving academic achievement.
A certified translator and interpreter, fluent in Bangla and proficient in Urdu, Tazin Azad has served as Chair on the District 22 Parent Advisory Council, Chair of Community Education Council 22’s Equity Council, as well as the District’s Leadership team, working closely with school supervisors and administrators, as well as representatives of the United Federation of Teachers leadership and District Council 37. She is past co-president of the multiple District 22 schools parent associations.
Azad was an elected parent leader, who held leadership positions in school, district, borough, and city-level parent engagement platforms. She centers her work around equity and inclusion, in the educational context and beyond, with particular focus on racial justice and language justice for NYC’s Black, indigenous, students of color, students in temporary housing, students with disabilities and neurodivergence, multilingual students, and those who are socio-economically disenfranchised. She has been intentional in addressing systemic racism and marginalization in order to dismantle them.
Azad is a mother of three public school children, dedicated parent advocate and a hyper-local community organizer. She is a Bangladeshi Muslim, and a Brooklynite since she emigrated to the United States in 1998.
PEP consists of 15 appointed members and the Chancellor. Each borough president appoints one member, the Current Education Councils Presidents elect one member, and the mayor appoints the remaining nine members.
The Brooklyn Borough President has the power and authority to appoint nearly 1,000 members to various boards of community organizations, city agencies, and non-profit organizations that impact that future of Brooklyn and the city at-large. Borough President Reynoso is keen on ensuring appointees to these various boards are reflective of Brooklyn’s diversity, valuing and elevating underrepresented voices that are typically not at the table.
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“I am so proud to be congratulating Tazin Azad’s appointment to the Panel for Education Policy. Tazin is not only a good friend of mine but will be the first Bangladeshi Muslim woman appointed to the citywide Panel for Education Policy,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “Tazin has been a longtime education equity advocate who I have had the privilege to work with for years. She is a true parent of Brooklyn and a real advocate for immigrant parents, always ensuring they have a seat at the table. Her work on Bangla interpretation and translation in the education movement has embodied the values of language justice I fight for every day in the City Council. I applaud Borough President Antonio Reynoso for this historic appointment and look forward to working with both of them in the future.”
“Tazin is a deeply committed and dedicated advocate for BIPOC students and their families, particularly those who are immigrants. She consistently reminds us to ensure language accessibility for families with limited English proficiency, to be inclusive of religious diversity, and to elevate the voice of the voiceless. We have all be better advocates because of Tazin and we are incredibly fortunate to have her serve on the Panel for Educational Policy so that her advocacy work can reach even more people,” said the Co-Chair of the Education Council Consortium Shino Tanikawa.
“The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), the nation’s only pan-Asian children and families’ advocacy organization, is proud to support Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso’s appointment of Tazin Azad to PEP. A powerful member of CACF’s Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Education Equity Campaign Steering Committee, Tazin is a dedicated parent leader and advocate for language access, data disaggregation, culturally responsive-sustaining education, and other policies and investments that support those most marginalized in New York City public schools, including AAPI students, who are too often rendered invisible. She will be a thoughtful, engaged, and committed member of the PEP, fighting for policies that center and benefit those who struggle the most,” said Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, Co-Executive Directors of CACF.
“Congratulations to Tazin Azad. Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso made the best choice possible in appointing her as the Brooklyn representative for PEP. Tazin has worked with, for, and in service of Brooklyn children and families to improve the public schools in their community. She has also been an active and dedicated advocate for public schools funding across NYS. The children and families of Brooklyn should feel assured that they will be represented fairly and justly,” said Advocacy Director at the Alliance for Quality Education Zakiyah Ansari.
“Tazin embodies a devotion to community development and growth that only very few possess. She knows what it is to give of herself for the advancement of those marginalized by lack of access, language barriers, and an oppressive system towards racial minorities. The Brooklyn Borough President could not have chosen a more selfless and uncompromising Brooklynite who will fight until the very end for our communities,” said Community Education President at Council District 16 NeQuan McLean.
“Tazin Azad is the ideal choice for Brooklyn Borough Representative to the Panel for Educational Policy. I am grateful to have known Tazin for a decade as a fellow District 22 mother, education advocate, and friend. Tazin is a sharp policy analyst, a principled leader, an insatiable learner, and a relentless community builder. Tazin’s journey embodies what is possible with authentic, culturally responsive family engagement. Eight years after first volunteering as a Bangla parent liaison and interpreter in her children’s school, she will now be leading citywide as the first Bangladeshi parent to serve on the PEP. She will be a tremendous asset to the Panel for Educational Policy, and to families citywide, in courageously advancing equity and justice for all NYC public school students,” said Megan Hester, National Project Director, NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools.