Leader to Leader Discussion: Working with PTAs/PTOs

Sit down ‘virtually’ for a casual conversation with leaders from districts across the country to discuss issues facing your foundations. Each program will focus on a single topic & be led by NAEF or other education foundation leaders who take on -- & meet -- these challenges every day. Hear how they & their communities have tackled the big issues you face, share your foundation’s strategies, obstacles & your own big wins!

Public education foundations and PTAs/PTOs often share many of the same objectives such as engaging the community in schools or raising funds for unmet needs or enrichment. Join us as Andrea and Jennifer share some of the ways the education foundations in their communities work with PTAs/PTOs. They will then facilitate a conversation about the sometimes tenuous, sometimes very fruitful, relationships between education foundations and school-based parent groups.

About the Leaders

Jennifer Henderson is the Executive Director of the Boise Public Schools Foundation. With a focus on the strategic alignment between Foundation and District student goals, Jennifer raises and directs more than $3 million annually and manages $7 million in endowment funds that support students, teachers, classrooms and schools across the Boise School District. Over her 12 years at the BPSEF, Jennifer has raised more than $25 million for Boise Schools.

Under Jennifer’s leadership, the Boise Public Schools Foundation has provided support for initiatives such as Community Schools, Pre-K, Arts, Athletics and Activities, Advanced Placement, Achievement Via Individual Determination (AVID), and Career and Technical instruction.

Andrea Weisman Summers is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Portland Public Schools in Portland, Maine. She started her career as a teacher, teaching elementary school for 10 years in Maine, Costa Rica, and Peru. She also worked as a bilingual accredited representative at an immigration legal aid clinic in Portland for many years. Prior to her job at FPPS, Andrea worked at the Great Schools Partnership as the Co-director of Coaching and as a community engagement and public school improvement coach in school districts around the U.S. Andrea has a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology from Brown University and a master's degree in education from the University of Southern Maine.

Registration

NAEF Members // FREE
Non-Members // $35