Director of Community and Family Engagement (Covington Schools)/Executive Director (Covington Partners)
Covington Independent Public Schools/Covington Partners
Covington, KY
Highlight any employment, volunteer, or other experience relevant to NAA's mission, vision, values, core competencies, and strategic focus areas.
My entire career, 22 years, has been in public education providing wrap-around support services to students and families in a high-poverty urban school district. The Out of School Time programming through our organization, Covington Partners, has been steadily growing the past 15 years, providing high-quality programming to over 2,500 students. Our programming is highlighted across Kentucky for operational best-practices, data collection and analysis and effective summer learning program. I have presented at several conferences to share our work and created Extending Excellence in 2018, a two-day workshop to share our strategies to colleagues around Kentucky and neighboring states. Due to my expertise and extensive knowledge of all areas of programming, I have been invited to serve on Kentucky’s 21st Century Community Learning Center Advisory Council and Kentucky’s Out of School Time Alliance Strategic Leadership Team. I also serve as the chair for KYOSA’s policy and advocacy committee. As highlighted in question four, I have experience and expertise in all four strategic focus areas.
Based on your skills, dispositions, and expertise, explain how you see yourself contributing to NAA's strategic focus areas: Field Leadership, Professional Development, Advocacy, Community Building.
I have committed myself to providing high level programming by being very active as a Field Leader. I currently serve on the state 21st Century Community Learning Center advisory council and on the executive leadership committee for the KY Out of School Time Alliance. I am consider a field expert at the local and state level and have presented nationally on our work. I serve as the chair of the advocacy and policy committee for the KY Out of School Time Alliance to be a voice across our commonwealth to further promote our work and increase partners and support. I created and implemented Extending Excellence, a two-day Professional Development workshop in Kentucky and neighboring states to share our effective practices and support the development of after-school professionals and increase high-quality programs. Additionally, our organization promotes community partnerships from our name (Covington Partners) to the everyday work through our mission. We coordinate services with over 30 youth serving organizations on a daily basis and do it in such a way that promotes and elevates our partners while also providing effective services for our most vulnerable populations.
In our efforts to promote equitable outcomes for all students, we partnered with Cincinnati Children Hospital Medical Center, the leading experts in continuous improvement and collecting and analyzing data rapidly. Our organization was the first non-profit to participate and graduate in the Rapid Continuous Improvement Collaborative with Cincinnati Children’s and I was honored to earn the award of Best Personal Project, particularly as I learned this process alongside national experts in the pediatric medical field. I transferred this knowledge to our work with schools and it has proven to be effective. For example, Family engagement in Covington has increased from 59.5% to 76%. After school programs have been established at all seven public school in Covington and participation has grown from approximately 400 students at one elementary school in 2004 to over 2,500 students currently. I transformed a summer recreation program into a summer learning opportunity for Covington students that has become a model at the regional, state, and national level. The summer slide in Covington has been reversed in both reading and math for students who attended the program 10 or more days. I created WIN (What I Need) time and data trackers for after school programming to improve quality of programming and individual success for each student served. I also coordinated the implementation of research-based prevention programs for a systematic drug prevention approach in Covington Schools that led to the percentage of 12th grade students using a substance in the past 30 days to decrease from 28% - 3% (cigarettes), 35% - 16% (alcohol) and 29% -24% (marijuana).
My professional accomplishments through collaborative impact work will provide a valuable perspective to the work of the National Afterschool Association.
Review the NAA Board Job Description. Using the job description as a guide, describe your experience, skills, and dispositions that prepare you to be an effective board member of a national professional association.
I have served as the Executive Director of Covington Partner since 2008. My experience at this level, as well as serving on other boards as a volunteer, has allowed me to learn all aspects of a successful non-profit including fiscal responsibilities and requirements, engaging board members in the mission and vision of the organization, and sustainability. My role as an ED for a non-profit that provides out of school time support has prepared me well to be an effective board member of a national professional association. I am committed to this work and will be a committed board member, attending all meetings and contributing to all aspects of the agenda. I have a collaborative approach to my professional life and can make connections naturally to enhance our collective impact to move the needle towards positive outcomes.
Why are you interested in being a member of the NAA Board of Directors?
For the past several years, I have served on regional and state level advisory and executive committees providing leadership and research-based knowledge in many capacities. I have a strong commitment to the Out of School Time space and believe my experience and proven program effectiveness can be beneficial at a national level. It is my belief that high quality programing paired with strong advocacy will lead to long-term sustainability. Through long-term sustainability we can truly begin to build equity for multiple generations and provide the support our youth need for positive outcomes. The work I am leading in my local community aligns well with the strategic focus of NAA. As a board member, I can provide expertise in all four areas: field leadership, advocacy, professional development and community. This would also provide an invaluable experience of connecting with other thought-leaders across the country to share best-practices and proven implementation strategies that provide positive outcomes for our youth.
