Work with me
There a gazillion consultants out there. Why choose me?One in a gazillion
First, you should work with me if you want to work with a consultant who has knowledge about how schools and nonprofits function from actual experience! I call myself an inside/outsider. With 20 years in education working with urban schools as staff, as well as directing programs as a community based organization partner, I am adept at working with school staff and stakeholders because I have been both. I have taught as well as worked in the trenches with teacher, principals, and all of the stakeholders who are tasked with the awesome job of removing the barriers to success for youth, families and communities. Therefore, I hit the ground running, easily synthesizing both what can be generalized to schools or nonprofits, and unique to your particular site or district situation.
The Expertise
Secondly, you should definitely work with me if your school site or district is adopting the community schools approach. I am both a scholar and former practitioner on this topic. I am particularly adept at building and strengthening the relationships of the pillars that undergird student success, while giving stakeholders the tools to not only collaborate efficaciously, but also to accomplish mutually beneficial goals. Not only have I been on the ground and systems level doing the actual work, I have published several pieces on the subject of community schools, particularly on collaboration and sharing leadership with CBO partners. I have been fortunate enough to be a community schools/Beacon director for several years, implementing the approach from its infancy to highly developed. I decided that I wanted to dig deeper into theory and research around community schools strategies, which led me to graduate school (again). My dissertation focused on the equitable integration of CBO representation in schools implementing the community schools model. As a result, I am involved in the discourse on community schools both locally and nationally.
The Commitment to Relationships
Finally, work with me if you believe that strong and healthy relationships are foundational for solving any problem involving humans. I focus on the “what” AND the “how”. Of course I can help you with hard skills, but where I can help you shine is in the areas of building strong collaborative teams, that are focused on achieving shared goals as a group. These goals can be as ambitious as making sure that all African Amercan students graduate in four years college-ready, or less complicated, such as making sure your environment is welcoming to caregivers and parents. In my experience, better more replicable results can be attained if you build strong relationships.
