Celebrating Women’s History Month: My Afterschool Heroes
“What is a Hero? Are heroes born or are they made? In afterschool programs, your kids will uncover hidden strengths, discover they have the power to change their future, and find the heroes inside themselves … Afterschool programs, helping kids find the hero within.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_s0tBS91kk
This is still one of my favorite Ad Council campaigns.
When I started at the C.S. Mott Foundation in 2000 as an education program officer, the Foundation had entered a private-public partnership with the U.S. Department of Education to grow public support and funding for high quality afterschool programs. For the Mott Foundation, the focus on afterschool embraced the core principles and practices of its community education legacy, and was an opportunity to take these to scale. This partnership began during President Clinton’s administration and under the leadership of Richard Riley, Secretary of Education, and Bill White, CEO and President of the Mott Foundation. In a few short years, this partnership grew a little known funding stream, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21stCCLC) from $1M to $1B, a dedicated federal funding stream for afterschool programs that remains robust today. In 2001, the partnership was a semi-finalist for the Kennedy School of Government “Innovations in American Government” award and in 2003 won the Public Excellence Award.
When I think about Women’s History Month and reflect on why this partnership was so successful, I think of the women who were instrumental in the early years and how we collaborated towards something we all believed in.
Adriana de Kanter was my trusted liaison in the U.S. Department of Education and one of the true architects of the partnership beginning with the 1997 White House Child Care Conference. She collaborated with Marianne Kugler, Pat Edwards, and Starla Jewell Kelly, community education evangelists as the partnership came to fruition. She defines the epitome of a fearless public servant. She and I spent many hours together motivated to solve problems ranging from who to invite to White House events to how to devolve the 21stCCLC initiative to state administration to what constitutes an effective afterschool program to where to grow and sustain more public and private dollars for afterschool.
Judy Samelson was at the Mott Foundation spearheading the communications campaign including the above ad campaign which aired during Super Bowl 2002. She was instrumental in spinning off communication and advocacy efforts into a new non-profit, the Afterschool Alliance.
Ursula Helminski first worked on the above ad campaign as a member of the Fowler/Hoffman communications strategy team, became one of founding staff members of the newly formed Afterschool Alliance, and is senior VP of external affairs today.
Jen Rinehart was a project officer in the U.S. Department of Education for the 21stCCLC initiative, was also one of the first staff members of the Afterschool Alliance, is the senior VP of Strategy and Programs, and has been a steady, quiet, and strong leader for afterschool.
Janelle Cousino was a member of the Fowler/Hoffman team supporting the statewide afterschool networks with coalition building, grit, and honesty, and is senior advisor at the Afterschool Alliance.
Sharon Deich was with the Finance Project and one the founding members of the Afterschool Technical Assistance Collaborative (ATAC) created to support the statewide afterschool networks. She was at the October 2000 meeting where a handful of us brainstormed the purpose of the statewide afterschool networks, and how to support the building and sustainability of the networks.
Audrey Hutchinson was in the U.S. Department of Education before her time with the National League of Cities. She was part of the original ATAC and created a network of municipal officials committed to afterschool across the country.
Victoria Wegener was on the Finance Project team that became part of ATAC, is a terrific facilitator, and when I left the Mott Foundation in 2010 I asked her to be the caretaker of the afterschool networks, a role she continues today.
Ayeola Fortune was with the Council of Chief State Officers and a key member of the ATAC. She was instrumental in engaging state administrators of the 21stCCLC when the funding devolved from federal to state administration.
Zelda Waymer is President and CEO of the South Carolina Afterschool Alliance, an organization she started from scratch in 2001. South Carolina was in the first cohort of nine statewide afterschool networks that the Mott Foundation supported. She is a risk-taker, innovator and leader in afterschool, and always willing to try new ideas.
Deborah Vandell was researching the impact of afterschool programs before the 21stCCLC initiative existed. A few of her accomplishments include serving as a lead scientist in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, creating the Afterschool Outcomes Online Toolbox, and providing testimony before the U.S. Congress on afterschool programming policies.
Lucy Friedman was the founding president of The After-School Corporation, a non-profit dedicated to enhancing the quality, availability, and sustainability of afterschool programs in New York City and inspired an entire network of citywide afterschool systems.
Bonnie Reiss, may she rest in peace, was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s right-hand person for afterschool programs. Bonnie and I spent countless late nights creating and hammering out the details for the 2003 Afterschool Summit, hosted by Arnold, and Rod Paige, Secretary of Education under President George W. Bush with funding from the Mott Foundation.
These are just some of my unsung heroes of afterschool. I celebrate their passion, courage, tenacity, intellect, and dedication to ensuring that all young people have the chance to find their hero within. My admiration to the many women and men who have joined the Mott-U.S.Department of Education inspired afterschool movement since the early years, and have continued the commitment to afterschool for all. Let’s prepare our next generation of emerging leaders to take this work to the next level.
I invite you to share and celebrate your women heroes of afterschool, and the everyday afterschool heroes, who work on the frontlines day in and day out supporting young people. None of this would be possible without them and their dedication.
