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
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
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
Special Needs Designation
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
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)
"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
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
WHERE
WE'RE HEADED