(February 13, 2025) - The Pahara Institute announced today a new cohort of the highly selective Pahara Fellowship. These 24 individuals join the Pahara community of leaders, which is designed to strengthen and sustain values-driven leaders who are transforming public education so that every child is prepared to lead a free and fulfilling life.
The Pahara Fellowship is a one-year, cohort-based program that identifies exceptional leaders in the educational excellence and equity movement, facilitates their dynamic growth, and strengthens their collective efforts to dramatically improve public education, especially those serving low-income children and communities. The Fellowship provides these leaders with the unusual opportunity to step back from their demanding daily work to reflect with peers on their collective and individual impact as leaders and change agents. Fellows challenge each other to think beyond traditional silos and sector boundaries to develop strategies that enhance their effectiveness as leaders, address leadership challenges in public education, and accelerate the improvements needed to provide high-quality learning opportunities for all of our nation’s children.
The newest cohort of Pahara Fellows includes:
Michael Carbone, Chief Schools Officer, Seton Education Partners
Dowayne Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Philip's Academy Charter School of Paterson
Daniel Effland, Executive Director, Summit Public Schools
Stephanie Frenel, Chief Executive Officer, Fair Schools
Nick Garcia, Executive Director, San Antonio & Interim Executive Director, Austin, Teach for America
Janine Gomez, Executive Director & Co-Founder, I Dream Public Charter School
Monica Green, Executive Director, Capital Village Schools
Titilola Harley, Senior Program Officer, K-12 Education R&D, Gates Foundation
Claire Jecklin, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, New Orleans Career Center
Chris Kang, Chief Operating Officer, Alpha Public Schools
Gary Linnen, Chief Executive Officer, PeerForward
Reyna Montoya, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Aliento Education Fund
Jessica Morffi, Deputy Chief of Organizational Effectiveness, Houston Independent School District
Eugene Pinkard, Director, K-12 Leadership, Aspen Education & Society Program
Ursulina Ramirez, Chief Executive Officer, Summer Search
Jorge Robles, Chief Financial Officer, Metro Nashville Public Schools
Eddie Ruiz, Florida State Superintendent, Charter Schools USA
Allison Serafin, Chief, Strategy & Development, Building Hope
Irma Martinez Snopek, Policy & Communications Officer, Illinois State Board of Education
Angelica Solis, Chief Policy Officer, Education Leaders of Color
Matthew Taylor, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Noble Story Group
Josh Thomases, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, IPSquared Inc.
Derrick White, Director, School Design Fellowship, NACA Inspired Schools Network
Natasha Telesford Williams, Chief Financial Officer, City Fund
To access bios and photos of the Pahara Fellows, click here.
For more information please contact info@pahara.org.
About the Pahara Institute
The Pahara Institute seeks to strengthen the movement for educational excellence and equity by developing and sustaining values-driven leaders. The guiding principle of the Pahara Institute is that bold improvements are needed in our public schools so that every child in America is prepared to lead a free and fulfilling life. Pahara’s programs are designed to identify leaders in education innovation, and through a time-tested dialogue approach, strengthen and sustain their efforts to bring about critical improvements to our public schools. For more information, please visit pahara.org.