(January 27, 2022) - The Pahara Institute announced today a new cohort of the highly selective Pahara Fellowship. These 23 individuals join the Pahara community of leaders, which is designed to support and challenge values-driven and innovative leaders who are reimagining public education, so that every child in America has the opportunity to lead a free and meaningful life.
The Pahara Fellowship is a one-year, cohort-based program that identifies exceptional leaders in the educational excellence and equity movement, facilitates their dynamic growth, and strengthens their collective efforts to dramatically improve public education, especially those serving low-income children and communities. The Fellowship provides these leaders with the unusual opportunity to step back from their demanding daily work to reflect with peers on their collective and individual impact as leaders and change agents. Fellows challenge each other to think beyond traditional silos and sector boundaries to develop strategies that enhance their effectiveness as leaders, address leadership challenges in public education, and accelerate the improvements needed to provide high-quality learning opportunities for all of our nation’s children.
The newest Cohort of Pahara Fellows are:
Desmond Blackburn, Deputy Chancellor, School Leadership, New York City Department of Education
Malia Burns, Chief Program Officer, Summit Public Schools
Jamie Candee, Chief Executive Officer, Edmentum
Andrea Castañeda, Chief Innovation Officer, Tulsa Public Schools
Mark Comesañas, Executive Director, My Brother’s Keeper - Newark
Karen Dresden, Head of School, Capital City Public Charter School
Lahari Goud, President, Civitas Education Partners
Leslie-Bernard Joseph, Chief Executive Officer, Coney Island Prep
Miho Kubagawa, Chief of Staff, Stepmojo
Saskia Levy Thompson, Program Director, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Angella Martinez, Chief Executive Officer, KIPP SoCal Public Schools
Claudio Martinez, Executive Director, Zero Debt Massachusetts
Gislaine Ngounou, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Marilyn Rhames, Founder, Teachers Who Pray
Munro Richardson, Executive Director, Read Charlotte
Shawn Rubin, Executive Director, Highlander Institute
Ana Martinez Shropshire, Partner, The Opportunity Trust
Elena Silva, Director, PreK-12 Education, New America
Rachel Skerritt, Head of School, Boston Latin School
Kevin Sved, Chief Executive Officer, Navigator Schools
Tresha Ward, Chief Executive Officer, Brooklyn Prospect Charter Schools
Bobby White, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Frayser Community Schools
Melissa Wu, Chief Executive Officer, Education Pioneers
To access bios and photos of the Pahara Fellows, click here.
For more information please contact info@pahara.org.
About the Pahara Institute
The Pahara Institute seeks to strengthen the movement for educational excellence and equity by developing and sustaining high-integrity, values-driven leaders. The guiding principle of the Pahara Institute is that bold improvements are needed in our public schools so that every child in America has access to the tools and skills they need to be successful in life. Pahara’s programs are designed to identify leaders in education innovation, and through a time-tested dialogue approach, strengthen and sustain their efforts to bring about critical improvements to our public schools. For more information, please visit pahara.org.