

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.
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)
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APPLICATIONLeaders 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.
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NOMINATIONNominations 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.
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CANDIDATE CONSIDERATIONDuring 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.
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COHORT CURATIONWe 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.
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SELECTIONWe 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

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