WHEREAS, Sharif El-Mekki has dedicated more than two decades to education in Philadelphia, beginning his career as a classroom teacher in the School District of Philadelphia before serving as Vice Principal and Principal of Dr. Anna Howard Shaw Middle School, where student proficiency increased from below five percent to fifty percent during his tenure; and
WHEREAS, Mr. El-Mekki subsequently served eleven years as Principal of Mastery Charter School Shoemaker in West Philadelphia, leading a significant school turnaround that closed the achievement gap in mathematics, earned multiple national recognitions for student growth, and resulted in all four of his final graduating classes being accepted to college, with students receiving nearly fifteen million dollars in scholarships; and
WHEREAS, In 2014, Mr. El-Mekki founded The Fellowship: Black Male Educators for Social Justice to recruit, develop, and retain Black male educators, and in 2019 founded the Center for Black Educator Development, where he now serves as Chief Executive Officer and leads a national effort to strengthen the pipeline, preparation, and retention of Black educators; and
WHEREAS, Mr. El-Mekki has brought his expertise to national and international education policy, serving as a U.S. Department of Education Principal Ambassador Fellow, co-leading the Biden-Harris Education Policy Committee's educator diversity plank, serving on the Shapiro-Davis Transition Advisory Committee on Education and Workforce Development, and providing testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce; and
WHEREAS, Mr. El-Mekki has continued to serve the City of Philadelphia through civic and community leadership, including as a member of the City's Commission on African American Males and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's inaugural Commission on Muslim Engagement; and
WHEREAS, His commitment to Philadelphia's educational and civic life extends beyond his work in schools and government, including his founding of Philly's 7th Ward, a Philadelphia-rooted publication focused on Black education, educator development, policy, and community; and
WHEREAS, Mr. El-Mekki's leadership has been recognized through numerous honors, including the inaugural Luminary Award from The 1954 Project, City Year's Idealist of the Year Award, a Pahara Fellowship, recognition by Philadelphia Magazine as one of Philadelphia's Most Influential Philadelphians, and citations from both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly for his educational leadership; and
WHEREAS, Through his work as an educator, school leader, nonprofit founder, policy advocate, and community leader, Sharif El-Mekki has devoted his career to expanding opportunity for Philadelphia's children and strengthening the educators and institutions that serve them; and
WHEREAS, The intersection of 60th Street and Market Street stands in West Philadelphia, a community deeply connected to Mr. El-Mekki's decades of educational and community service, making it an appropriate location to honor his enduring contributions to the City of Philadelphia; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby honors and recognizes Sharif El-Mekki for his extraordinary and sustained contributions to Philadelphia's students, educators, schools, and communities and for his national leadership in advancing the development and retention of Black educators.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this Resolution be presented to Sharif El-Mekki as evidence of the sincere respect and admiration of this legislative body.
End