The Fight for Our Lives: Why BIPOC Community Mentorship of BIPOC Early Career Teachers Matters Our early career BIPOC teachers are invaluable in the struggle to dismantle racism and uplift equity in our schools. Mentorship communities are a necessity in retaining and supporting new BIPOC teachers by giving them access to strategies for navigating systems of Whiteness and encounters with racism. The community mentorship model builds the counter space needed to resist systems of oppression that can and do drive BIPOC teachers out of the profession. This session will feature a conversation with Dr. Sergio Madrid Aranda, Associate Professor of Special Education and the Director of the Thrive Program at Augsburg University, as well as a panel discussion with Augsburg University students about the value of mentorship.