A MESSAGE FROM OUR FOUNDER
Dear friends of TransformEd,
I’m writing to share that this is my 10th and final year at TransformEd. When I began this journey, our work was just an idea, a side project incubated by another organization. Over the last decade, TransformEd has grown and evolved into an organization that has partnered with schools and systems serving over 1,000,000 students across more than 26 states. I’m proud of the work we have done in partnership with school and system leaders to make systems-level changes that foster the development of the whole child. We do this work because we believe it is crucial to take action in dismantling systemic barriers to realize a future in which all young people become thriving adults.
I’m deeply grateful to all the fellow travelers who have shaped the course of TransformEd’s work over the past decade. I have learned so much from our colleagues and collaborators, an incredible group of people for whom I hold deep respect and admiration. These folks have informed my thinking about whole child and whole adult development over the years, and TransformEd’s work has evolved in tandem. During this time of transition, I’ve thought a lot about the journey we’ve taken as an organization, and I’ve tried to capture some of our key inflection points in this post: TransformEd’s First 10 Years: A Retrospective.
I’ll be stepping back from the Executive Director role as of May 1, taking a bit of time off, and then serving in a Senior Advisor role through the fall to support our Team and Board as they chart a course for the next ten years. It gives me hope for the future to know that so many incredible people are working on behalf of our young people, and I look forward to the next phase of TransformEd’s journey bringing us closer to our vision for supporting antiracist, whole child systems. I also look forward to reflecting on what will come next in my own personal and professional journey.
Please keep in touch (my personal email is sara.krachman@gmail.com), and I hope that our paths continue to cross in the future.
With warmth and gratitude,
Sara Krachman
A MESSAGE FROM OUR BOARD CHAIR
As a parent to four school-age kids, a former teacher and education nonprofit leader, and now a school board member, I’ve been fortunate to have a front-row seat to the intricacies of education practice, research, and policy over the last ten years. Together, we’ve seen an explosion of research and evidence demonstrating what many have instinctively known: that safe, supportive learning environments and trusting relationships are the key to fostering healthy development and learning in school. Similarly, over the last decade, students of color became the majority of our K-12 population. These shifts demand an integrated focus on the whole child, the whole adult, and on race and racism in our schools.
As a Board of Directors, we believe that the need for this work is greater than ever and that TransformEd plays a unique role in the field. We are grateful to Sara for her decade of service, and we look forward to charting a course for the next decade at TransformEd. Effective May 1, 2022, day-to-day operations of the organization will be led by a team of TransformEd staff. The Board of Directors is committed to working closely with the TransformEd team and to hearing from others to clarify how TransformEd can best serve educators and young people in a rapidly changing world. We are thankful to have you alongside us on this journey.
Danielle Gonzales
About the Author: Transforming Education
