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The PAHARA MOSAIC

Key Findings from the 2021

Pahara Network Survey

Earlier this year, the Pahara community completed our first all-Network Survey. 
 

Informed by our leaders' responses, we are better positioned to support and sustain our community. Read on for key findings!

Thank you to our Fellows for engaging.

Survey Goals

Better understand the nuanced identities of Pahara Fellows

Learn what Fellows need, and what

they'd like to offer

Uncover how members of our community

are connected

Hear how Fellows want to be represented on the Pahara website

83% of Pahara Fellows completed the survey!

WHAT

FELLOWS NEED

So that we are best positioned to sustain our leaders, we wanted to understand what Fellows view as the biggest challenges in the education sector and where their greatest leadership needs exist.

Biggest Challenges in Education Today

Pahara Fellows named the following as the top challenges they face in their work:

Systemic Racism

COVID

Innovation

Equity

Leadership

So that Pahara is prepared to support Fellows with these challenges, we asked what our network's greatest needs are. Top leadership needs named by Fellows include:

Succession Planning

Growth

& Scaling

1st Time

CEO Support

Amplifying

Impact

What is one of the biggest challenges you face in education today?

“How to enact equity leadership as a whole human (knowing for some that may mean stepping down to create space for others to lead). How to take advantage of this truly extraordinary moment in time to fundamentally reimagine, re-architect, and re-envision the future of learning in this country.” - Pahara Fellow

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WHO 

FELLOWS ARE

Together, Pahara Fellows form a beautiful tapestry threaded by diverse lived experiences and identities. This is a small snapshot of our Fellows' unique perspectives that also highlights where we can increase representation.
TOP FELLOW ROLES
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FELLOW CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES

To better understand the connections that exist to the students and communities served, we gathered information about Fellows’ childhood contexts.

Childhood Socioeconomic Status

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Special Needs Designation

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Key Findings: Overall, 5% of Fellows who answered the question grew up with a special needs designation. Special needs designation was evenly distributed across racial / ethnicity lines.

English Learner Status

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Key Findings: 32% of Hispanic or Latinx Fellows who answered the question had English Learner status.16% of Asian Fellows who answered the question had English Learner status.

ADDITIONAL CHILDHOOD experience data (use dropdown arrows)

  • APPLICATION
    Leaders who meet our program criteria are welcome to apply to the Fellowship, with or without a nomination. The application is an essential and required part of the process, and allows candidates to share information about their work and leadership, alignment with our selection criteria, and how they most hope to benefit from participation in this powerful development experience. For applicants advancing beyond this stage, this information serves as rich background information on which to base deep, reflective dialogue during interviews taking place during candidate consideration.
  • NOMINATION
    Nominations are accepted on a rolling basis and, while they are not required for entry into the Fellowship, they are critical to our ability to identify exceptional leaders from across the education ecosystem, including but not limited to experience in nonprofit schools, out of/after school learning, human capital, technology, juvenile justice, political and policy strategy, future of work/workforce development, community wellness and mental health, college access and success, faith-based organizations, community based organizations and philanthropy. Ideally, you know enough about the leader’s work to share your thoughts on why they would be an excellent choice for the Fellowship. We are sensitive to the ways sponsorship practices can disadvantage women and Black, Indigenous, and leaders of color who are less likely to have sponsors. When thinking of incredible changemakers to bring to our attention, we encourage nominators to consider leaders from within and outside of their close circles.
  • CANDIDATE CONSIDERATION
    During this stage, we seek to understand candidates’ motivations and challenges, learn more about their background and leadership journey, and determine candidates’ willingness and ability to negotiate the multiple domains of difference that contribute to the tapestry of Pahara cohorts. We conduct a 90-minute Zoom interview with candidates. This interview is followed by referencing carried out by our team. Given the degree of openness and vulnerability expected in this phase of our process, information shared with us by candidates or in reference interviews is held with the highest degree of confidentiality.
  • COHORT CURATION
    We aim for cohorts that are inclusive of the breadth of our humanity across multiple domains of difference, including socioeconomic background, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, religious affiliation, and political ideology. Cohorts are also distinctive in their inclusion of leaders from various organization models, multiple sectors in education, different geographic regions, and various leadership roles. This careful cohort curation is critical, as the cohort is the container within which the personal and professional transformation Pahara is most known for occurs. Cohort dialogue is confidential and both professional and personal in nature. We seek to foster an environment that celebrates the diversity and lived experiences of all of our Fellows.
  • SELECTION
    We typically receive many more nominations and applications than we have available seats in each cohort. We strongly believe that creating the ideal blend of perspectives in each group is a vital component of the program’s value and impact on participants. Candidates who are not selected may choose to opt-in to be considered for a future cohort.

"A few months ago, I completed a Pahara survey that I thought was really powerful. It was the first time I was asked to answer questions that I thought painted a strong picture of who I am… Often, as a Person of Color, I don’t get to share my fullness and this really allowed me to do just that..." - Pahara Fellow

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HOW

FELLOWS CONNECT

The Pahara community is close to 850 Fellows strong across 37 cohorts. Through the Fellowship experience, many leaders have developed lifelong relationships. We learned there is already strong connections across cohorts and much more possibility for how we can generate Network Effect.

4,298

Fellow-to-Fellow connections highlighted in survey responses

5.8

Average number

of connections

per Fellow

88%

Percent of Fellows actively connected to at least one other survey-taking Fellow

Fellows named the following as the top reasons for connecting within and across cohorts:

Wellness & sustainability check-ins

General catch-up

Feedback/thought partnership on a topic

Feedback/thought partnership on a leadership decision

Thought

Partnership

Share

Resources

Growing My Network

Equity

Work

Fellows are already leveraging the network. However, there are more areas in which they'd like support. The top ways Fellows want to leverage the Pahara Network include:

How do you want to leverage the Pahara Network?

“For support. The pandemic has magnified my feelings of loneliness as a leader. Now and again I’ve leaned into the Pahara network for support. Each time I feel uplifted. I need to do that more.” -Pahara Fellow

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WHERE

WE'RE HEADED

SelectioN

Following the survey, we have a stronger understanding of our network's collective profile, and where we can increase representation.
 
We have incorporated findings into recruiting efforts for the new Pahara Fellowship cohorts (launching in 2022) and will continue to do so.
Thoughts or
Questions?

We're grateful for your engagement and would love to hear from you! Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions or reactions.

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