Thank you Nancy for contributing to New Leaders’ Giving Tuesday Campaign! Your contribution supports Augustine, who works as a principal in the Chicago area. He attended Chicago Public Schools so he feels a great social and moral connection to the students there and aims to “pay it forward” in any way he can.

Before joining New Leaders, Augustine was a teaching and learning specialist with the Office of School Improvement in Chicago. Prior to this position, he served as a teacher leader at an alternative school located within the confines of one of Chicago’s toughest super-maximum security prisons. While serving this alternative population was an immense challenge to Augustine, he utilized the skills he acquired as a special needs teacher to increase graduation rates by 20 percent.

Augustine believes that his mission as a school leader is to create an environment that supports teachers so that they can ensure achievement for kids. He has witnessed first-hand the impact of New Leaders who “have proven they can defy the odds” and is joining the Aspiring Principals Program to expand his own learning and help children fulfill their dreams.

Thank you Nancy for helping Augustine continue his work with New Leaders.

Thank you all for contributing to New Leaders’ Giving Tuesday Campaign! Your donation will support Kemi, a principal in Washington D.C. She draws inspiration from the Gandhi quote, “we must be the change we wish to see.” It fuels her commitment to education, her students, their parents and the community in which she works. She believes “having the right to have a quality education should not be based on my zip code or the luck of a lottery.”

Prior to New Leaders, Kemi taught 2nd and 3rd grade students for 12 years. Last year, she completed the Emerging Leaders Program through New Leaders. As a teacher, her creative classroom themes sparked the culture of classroom design for her entire school and the entire district. Her second grade students have averaged some of the highest interim test scores in D.C. public schools.

Kemi decided to become a school leader while serving as her school’s interventionist; she felt that many students were being forgotten when they should be the focus. She is excited to work with her cohort and mentor principal to become a “360-degree leader” who can make a difference for urban students.

Thank you all for contributing to New Leaders’ Giving Tuesday Campaign! Your donation will support Noha, a principal in the Memphis, Tennessee area. Motivated by her own experience as a student in an underserved community, Noha has spent her career as an educator at Kingsbury High School in Memphis.

Noha started out as a math teacher at Kingsbury, where she taught all course levels from Algebra I to Advanced Placement Calculus. She then became a math coach that supported other teachers and student proficiency more than doubled — this made Kingsbury one of the few schools in the district to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks in mathematics.

Noha made the decision to become a New Leader in order to “be a part of the solution and the betterment of our education system, our students and our future.” She is excited about learning how to be an effective leader who sets high goals and creates a collaborative team environment to ensure that every single student at the school is being pushed to reach their maximum potential.

Thank you all for contributing to New Leaders’ Giving Tuesday Campaign! Your donation will support Susannah, who has had the unique opportunity to work in the educational, legal and social work fields. She is now returning to a K-12 school for her Residency Year, bringing her varied leadership experiences and strong student advocacy to a high-need school in Charlotte.

Prior to joining New Leaders, Susannah was a bar exam preparation counselor and instructor at the Charlotte School of Law, where she also served as an adjunct professor of professional responsibility. From 2002 to 2005, she taught bilingual 4th and 5th grade in Denver Public Schools. With the support of her principal and literacy coach, she helped to create a bilingual school library at Marie L. Greenwood Elementary, which included print and online resources for all grade levels in both English and Spanish.

Susannah decided to become a school leader because her experiences in primary and higher education made her personally aware of the achievement gaps and need for change in urban schools. She wants to be an agent of change and inspire teachers to want to do the same. She looks forward to the wealth of information she will acquire during her residency from her mentor principal, her national and local cohorts and the web of support within New Leaders.

Thank you for supporting Susannah as she learns how to have a greater impact on her school and community through New Leaders!

Corey believes that the most important job is that of an educator, and he is ready to make a monumental change for students and communities in Baltimore. After teaching for seven years, he is excited to join New Leaders because it allows him the opportunity to work with other highly-motivated and talented leaders who are also driving for gains in student achievement.

Corey began his career as a social studies teacher and team leader at Francis Scott Key Elementary/Middle School. He then taught English, entrepreneurship and social studies in grades 6-12 at Friendship Academy of Engineering and Technology. While he was working as site-director of a summer and after-school program at Friendship, he led 8th graders in the program to improve their scores by 16 percent in English and 24 percent in math in state exams.

Corey believes there is an urgent need for education reform, and that “leadership has a great effect on the school as a whole and can lead to monumental changes for students and the local communities.”

Thank you all for supporting Corey as he learns how to have a greater impact on his school and community through New Leaders!

Danielle is an experienced educator in the New Orleans area who believes that, to build an effective urban school, adults must maintain high expectations while students maintain high aspirations.

Prior to joining New Leaders, Danielle served as a middle school language arts teacher in Chicago Public Schools. She also served as a school writing specialist managing teachers through a year-long writing project that more than doubled student achievement on district writing assessments.

Danielle decided to become a school leader because of her sincere belief that all students can learn when they are challenged and their individual needs are supported. As a New Leader, she says she is looking forward to the opportunity “to mentor while simultaneously being mentored. I’m a life-long learner, so it excites me to spend a year working as a leader, reading relevant research and applying new and former learning to real time situations.”

Thank you Neal for supporting Danielle as she learns how to have a greater impact on her school and community through New Leaders!

Thank you for supporting Katherine, a principal in the California Bay Area. Katherine’s family moved to the United States to provide her with the opportunity afforded by a high quality education. Ten years later, she became the first person in her family to graduate from college. However, she knows that she is an exception to the rule, and she is becoming a school leader to help transform the life paths of under-served youth.

Prior to joining New Leaders, Katherine worked as an academic counselor for the University of Kansas Educational Talent Search before becoming a classroom teacher through Teach For America. She also supported students with mild to moderate learning disabilities, as well as struggling readers. During her time at Lincoln, Katherine’s students grew an average of 1.85 years in reading in a single school year.

Because she never had teachers she could easily relate to, Katherine hopes to serve as a positive role model for young immigrant Latinas. She says, “The next few years are going to be very challenging, but the fire in my belly comes from knowing their potential and fearing that they may not be realized because of a failing system.”

Thank you for supporting Katherine and New Leaders!

Kevin has dedicated himself to students for the last eight years, particularly focusing on providing mentorship and opportunities to African-American boys in New York City.

Most recently, Kevin served as an assistant principal for Community Prep GED Plus for two years, helping to prepare over 300 formerly disengaged students for diploma success. Kevin entered the New York City Department of Education in the summer of 2004 as a New York City Teaching Fellow and taught 6th-8th grade mathematics; 95 percent of Kevin’s students successfully passed the integrated algebra regents. He also completed the Emerging Leaders Program last year.

Kevin is motivated to help youth excel academically and serve as a mentor for his male students. He explains, “During my public school experience I did not have one male teacher of color…there is a need for successful males to be present in the lives of students in impoverished areas.”

Thank you, Richard and Betsy, for supporting Kevin and New Leaders!

Thank you for supporting Syed, a principal in the Chicago area. Raised in a low-income community, Syed has seen how students from poverty and students of color can be overlooked; people make excuses for them or lower the bar. He has also seen students overcome those barriers, and he has dedicated his career to helping all students learn no matter the situation.

Prior to joining New Leaders, Syed taught fifth grade and middle school in a dual language program before serving as an assistant principal for New Field Primary School, a PK-3 grade school in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. 90 percent of Syed’s students met or exceeded state standards in mathematics.

Syed took the initiative to become a school leader after continually hearing his colleagues lament their administrators’ lack of understanding or support for their work. Syed says, “I want to help teachers be the most important person in the building, for students and the community.”

Thank you, Terry, for supporting Syed as he learns how to have a greater impact on his school and community through New Leaders!

Thank you for supporting Anita, a principal in Prince George County, Maryland. As a graduate of Prince George’s Public Schools herself, it was important to Anita to return to her local school district after completing college and give back to the community as an educator.

Anita began her career teaching language arts, writing and social studies to third grade students at Samuel P. Massie Academy. After five years in the classroom, she moved on to serve as a reading specialist at Mattaponi Elementary, where her students consistently improved their reading proficiency at least 20 percent over the course of each school year. During her time at Mattaponi, Anita also served as the testing coordinator, the Talented and Gifted coordinator, and as a member of the administrative team.

Anita decided to become a New Leader because she recognized that strong leadership and effective teaching is most critical for students in poverty and students of color, who frequently lack the resources and opportunities available to other students. As an educator, Anita draws her inspiration from seeing these students succeed and “beat the odds.”

Thank you Alyce and Andrew for supporting Anita through New Leaders!