FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2022
Contact for Education Pioneers:
Terrence Kneisel
VP, External Relations
[email protected]
Education Pioneers Scales Impact Fellowship Program to Seize Opportunity for K-12 Transformation
Nonprofit seeks 75 education data analysts and strategic project managers to enable effective pandemic recovery during 2022-2023 academic year
Boston, MA — Education Pioneers (EP), a national nonprofit that builds the leadership and management capacity of the K-12 public education sector, announced plans to continue growing its signature Impact Fellowship amidst the opportunity to advance educational equity and K-12 transformation during COVID-19 recovery. Applications for interested candidates are now open at www.educationpioneers.org.
The organization is seeking 75 new, diverse professionals to apply their data analysis and strategic project management skills to the education sector during the 2022-2023 academic year. This represents Impact Fellowship program growth of 50%, from a current cohort of approximately 50 Fellows.
“We are facing an unprecedented opportunity to rethink and rebuild K-12 education in the wake of COVID-19,” said Melissa Wu, CEO of Education Pioneers. “Systems change is complex and requires adaptive, inclusive leadership at all levels. Education Pioneers is proud to provide essential implementation and evaluation capacity to K-12 through our Impact Fellowship, to ensure that school systems’ decisions help close — and don’t exacerbate — the opportunity gap for our most marginalized students and families.”
Launched in 2018, Education Pioneers’ Impact Fellowship is a 10-month leadership development program that creates pathways for early career professionals into general management roles in education. The program simultaneously adds capacity to school districts, charter school organizations, and other education support organizations nationwide.
During the Impact Fellowship program, professionals complete a 10-month paid work placement at a leading education organization, where they apply targeted data and strategic project management experience to support organizational initiatives. Simultaneously, Fellows engage in cohort-based professional development where they gain skills, mindsets, and orientations that prepare them to address education’s evolving set of challenges.
Forty-eight rising leaders are currently participating in the Impact Fellowship’s fourth cohort, nearly half of whom self-identify as leaders of color. They bring an average of 5 years of work experience, with nearly 40% new to education and 50% bringing some private sector experience. “I joined Education Pioneers to broaden my leadership skills while serving students and families,” said Adrianna Parker, current Impact Fellow placed at Thrive Chicago, a nonprofit that creates collaborative networks of people and data to accelerate innovation for Chicago’s youth. “Over the last six months, I have learned so much about project management, strategic planning, and the way collective impact can be used for social change. I am very thankful for my EP experience.”
Fellows become part of Education Pioneers’ nationwide network of education leaders, which includes more than 4,500 Alumni at all stages of their careers – 70% of whom continue to work in education following their EP Fellowship and 50% of whom self-identify as leaders of color.
Professionals interested in the Impact Fellowship can learn more on Education Pioneers’ website at www.educationpioneers.org/ImpactFellowship. Candidates who have at least two years of work experience in strategy, data analysis, or project management, a track record of professional success, and a commitment to Education Pioneers’ core values and mission to make education a lever for equity can apply at www.educationpioneers.org/apply. The priority deadline is Tuesday, April 26.
Organizations who would like to host an Impact Fellow can learn more at www.educationpioneers.org/partner.
About Education Pioneers
Education Pioneers is a nonprofit focused on ensuring the K-12 education sector has the leadership and general management capacity it needs. The organization creates pathways into education leadership for promising leaders and general managers from diverse backgrounds, and builds their long-term capacity to solve education’s evolving set of challenges. Since 2003, Education Pioneers has recruited and developed over 4,500 leaders, with 50% self-identifying as leaders of color.
Of Education Pioneers’ Alumni in the workforce, more than 70% serve in education and lead or contribute to work that impacts public school students in major cities across the nation, most of whom are students of color and growing up in underserved areas. Learn more: www.educationpioneers.org/our-impact.
