Landon is the Vice President for Community Partnerships at The Colorado Education Initiative.  In his role, he is responsible for district implementation work in the Denver Metro Area, Northeastern Colorado and Southwestern Colorado. His projects include the Homegrown Talent Initiative (focused on rural economic development), Youth Connections (Social Emotional Development) and launching local efforts for community-driven change. He also leads the organizations efforts rethinking accountability in Colorado and how we might reframe the questions toward what families and communities need from the system. He leads the organizational partnership initiatives and integrating how we might work with communities to open systems across the state. He co-founded The Open System Institute in 2020 with his good friend and colleague Dr. Doannie Tran, to cultivate and connect a shared discipline with emerging leaders across the country.

Alejandra Venzor is a school counselor at Excel Academy, an intensive pathway school located in Southwest Denver. Ale was born in Chihuahua and raised in southwest Denver. As a first-generation student, she graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School, received her bachelor's from MSU Denver, and later on received her master's in Counseling from CU Denver. Prior to Excel, Ale worked at the Colorado Department of Education where she started as a Youth Advisor and eventually became the Youth Mental Health First Aid Coordinator. Her work ranged from gathering feedback from youth about what was working or missing around accessing mental health services to training school staff from different school districts about the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders. After working behind the scenes for over five years, she decided to go to grad school to be on the front lines of education. Now her work is focused on developing relationships with her students, helping them meet graduation requirements, and having meaningful conversations around exploring different careers.

Carlos Villagrana-Juárez is part of the Culture Team, specifically one of three Restorative Practices coordinators at the newly unified West High School. Prior to this role Carlos served as a math intervention fellow for DPS and a social-emotional learning program instructor through the YESS Institute at West Leadership Academy. Currently Carlos is pursuing his masters degree at the Morgridge College of Education studying Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.

Born and raised in Colorado, Michelle Quattlebaum specializes in addressing communication barriers, building relationships, and forging unique ally partnerships. Michelle has an extensive background in Banking ranging from customer service to management. Ms. Quattlebaum holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication, focused on Intercultural Communications, and a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership, specializing in Human Resource Performance. Through intentional and creative coaching, Michelle has successfully motivated individuals to achieve their professional goals. Using story sharing and creative inclusive workshops, Michelle inspires change and continued self-growth. Michelle’s focus is on changing the world one conversation at a time. Michelle also currently serves on the Denver Public Schools Board of Directors and represents District 4.

Show Notes:

2:00    balance

16:30   the destination

20:30   are we successful for graduating?

38:45   creating a learning environment

43:00  learning vs. checking off a box

Bailey Loving grew up in Denver, Colorado and graduated from Montbello High School. His undergraduate major was in Molecular Biology at The University of Denver, where he had early exposure to Radiation Biology. He then completed his medical doctorate at the University of Colorado, where he further pursued his interest in oncology. He is grateful for the opportunity to train at Beaumont and is excited to further develop his experience using diverse radiation modalities to treat complex cases. He is interested in combining his basic science research with translational research. 

Timestamps:

4:30  what pushed you through your career path

15:10  the process

23:20  what makes a great doctor

31:40  our childhood

37:12  on psychosis

40:30  on sub-evolution

43:50  our reward systems

49:40  expectations

Link to Financial Literacy Specialist position at Denver Public Schools.

https://dpsjobboard.dpsk12.org/ltmprod/CandidateSelfService/controller.servlet?dataarea=ltmprod&context.session.key.HROrganization=1&context.session.key.JobBoard=EXTERNAL&context.session.key.noheader=true#

This week we sit down with Dr. Anne Keke. She is a community leader, a teacher, and newly elected school board member of Aurora Public Schools. Dr. Anne has worked in the fields of education, social work and criminal justice. She has served as a restorative justice coordinator, K-12 tutor, and peer counselor, as well as being a key member of the African Leadership Group.

2:32  differences in running and governing

6:05  the journey

13:30  defining your community

17:53  the big picture

27:30  collecting information differently

39:02  on equity

42:20  on policy governance

47:49  on schools in the U.S.

This week we sit down with Dr. Antwan Jefferson, a Associate Clinical Professor in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver. In his work, Antwan teaches in the Human Development and Family Relations program and the Urban and Diverse Communities concentration of the Leadership for Educational Equity doctorate (EdD) program. His teaching emphasizes interrogating race, class, and gender arrangements; achieving social justice; increasing an asset-based emphasis on diverse families; and supporting stronger and deeper community engagement in the schooling education of students through the pre-service training of helping professionals and teachers. His research agenda considers the ways that family and community members experience schools and organizations in their communities, including the implications of space, voice, and power in decision-making and not-for-profit organizations and schools. 

This week we sit down with the new Denver Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero. We discuss his story, his process, and how he seeks to lead the district as a whole.