Meet Eboni-Rose

Eboni-Rose Thompson is a 4th generation Washingtonian. As your Ward 7 representative on the State Board of Education, she works to ensure every child gets a high-quality education that prepares them for high school graduation and beyond. She knows firsthand the importance of education and the challenges families face trying to ensure their children are set up for success.

By day, Eboni-Rose works in education philanthropy, investing in efforts to build educational equity and advance policies to ensure public education delivers excellence to all. Her areas of expertise include education policy, advocacy, community engagement and communications.

Eboni-Rose brings more than ten years of experience in supporting education, government, and social impact organizations in addressing their strategic, engagement and partnership needs. Her career spans local and national contexts, including roles at DC Public Schools, Save the Children and America’s Promise Alliance.

Eboni-Rose’s love of building community and  creating connection, along with her passion for equity fuel her education work. Prior to her election to the SBOE, Eboni-Rose served her community as Chair of the Ward 7 Education Council and an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. Eboni-Rose holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and a certificate in education finance from Georgetown University. She lives in the Fort Dupont community with her family and dog, Kimba.

    Vision

    All children must have an education that prepares them to accomplish their dreams. We cannot make their dreams a reality without making education equity a reality. Education should not depend on winning a lottery or require leaving your community.

    Our children deserve community schools with the same quality and quantity of programs that are in other DC communities, such as dual-language, STEAM, IP and AB courses. They also need the resources to be successful, like access to technology to bridge the digital-divide. Parents should not feel they have to escape their feeder pattern before entering middle school for their kid to have a shot at a quality education. We need strong feeder patterns and career pathways.

    I share the SBOE vision that we prepare all students with the skills, knowledge and abilities to lead productive lives as engaged citizens within any community, anywhere. With your vote and support, I hope to be your next Ward 7 Representative for the State Board of Education.

    As your SBOE representative, I will work with my colleagues to advocate for all of our children to get the education they deserve by:

    • focusing resources on students and communities with the greatest need,
    • providing transparency in budgeting and decision making,
    • expanding the quantity and quality of programs in our schools.
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    Experience

    I grew up in Ward 7 and attended both DC Public and DC Charter Schools. I went on to earn my degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating I returned home to work for DC Public Schools. As a DCPS employee, I was able to serve my neighborhood elementary school, Plummer Elementary, the school I attended from PreK through 5th grade.

     

    I have had the privilege of serving as the Chair of the Ward 7 Education Council since 2012. In that role, I worked with families, educators, students, and community members to advocate for Ward 7 to receive our fair share of public education funding and resources. During this 8-year period, we successfully:

    • Advocated for millions of dollars for “at-risk” funding resources.
    • Advocated for millions of dollars for modernization funding for Kimball, Ron Brown, CW Harris, Houston.
    • Advocated for and won increases to the overall public education budget every year for the last 5 years
    • Advocated for politics that created at-risk funding and charter school transparency
    • Fought school closures in 2012 and kept Smothers open.
    • Represented Ward 7 on Mayor Bowser’s committee to reopen schools during COVID-19
    • Worked with the Student Advocate to provide parent empowerment program training to PTAs.
    • Partnered with organizations to sponsor Back to School and Book Giveaways every year since 2014
    • Partnered with ANCs, Civic Associations, and community leaders to spearheaded a community vision for the Fletcher-Johnson campus and create an economic development opportunity for Ward 7

     

    I was elected to serve 3 terms as an ANC 7F commissioner. During that time, I worked with my fellow ANCs to:

    • Secure $6.7 million to modernize Benning Stoddert Recreation Center
    • Support the openings of the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation and Nationals Baseball Academy
    • Negotiated $100k in community benefits funding to support the residents of ANC 7F

     

    I am continuously working to find ways to give back to my community

    • Co-founded the Ward 7 COVID Response Team, which has delivered 150,000 meals to Ward 7 families since March
    • Volunteered as a literacy tutor with Higher Achievement for 3 years
    • Worked with the “Ward 7 Neighbors & Friends” to raise more than $20,000 for Ward 7 families in need during the holidays