Mr. Thomas Brady Interview, Superintendent of Providence, RI Public Schools.

Leading a School Community to Success through Change

Click here to play the podcast

Topic: Leading a School Community to Success through Change

Join us to listen as we interview Mr. Thomas Brady, the superintendent for Providence Public Schools, Providence, RI. What makes us the leaders we are? How do our life experiences surface when we serve as public school superintendents?

These and many other questions are answered in a stirring discussion and retrospect of Mr. Thomas Brady’s current career in public education. Our host Arthur Griffin and Mr. Brady discuss the challenges Mr. Brady has faced in the more than ten years he’s been working in public education, and the intersection and differences among his experiences in Philadelphia and Fairfax, VA.

In a unusual twist, listeners will also discover how Brady’s extensive military career has helped shape and prepare him for the unique challenges he has faced as a public education leader in the current educational climate. From making the tough decisions, to monitoring performance and finding the right management style, this episode provides compelling inspiration, thoughtfulness and support for educational leaders.

Key topics covered include:

• Leadership styles building upon prior life experience (military)
• Building a core curriculum – A school district takes ownership and action
• Change process perspective and strategies
• Parents as partners in the learning process
• Special education needs
• Student achievement
• Tough decisions: Resource allocation
• Race to the Top: RI experience and comments

District Leaders Podcast is always

Leading Today for Success Tomorrow!

Biographical Background:

Mr. Thomas Brady was appointed Superintendent for Providence Public Schools in March 2008. He officially assumed the role of Superintendent on July 14, 2008.

Before that, Brady served as Interim Chief Executive Officer for the School District of Philadelphia, the eighth largest school system in the country. He also served the Philadelphia district as Chief Operating Officer.Brady actually began his affiliation with Fairfax County as a parent leader, serving as President of the Hayfield Secondary School Parent-Teacher-Student Association for four years.

Prior to his nearly 10 years of service in public education administration, Brady had a distinguished 25-year career in the United States Army where he attained the rank of Colonel. He was the commanding officer at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and oversaw a $770 million budget, $660 million payroll, $94 million in contracts, and over 20,000 residents and military personnel.

Brady is a 2004 Fellow of the prestigious Broad Urban Superintendents Academy. The Academy is a rigorous 10-month executive management training program designed to prepare CEOs and senior executives from business, non-profit, military, government and education backgrounds to lead urban public school systems.

Brady holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Social Sciences from Niagara University.

Related Web Links:

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our hosts.

Interview with Dr. Earlean Smiley, Assistant Superintendent of Broward County Public Schools, FL, Women in Leadership Roles

• Episode 43 (Part 1) Dr. Earlean Smiley (25 min) ~ Click the link to listen
  
• Episode 44 (Part 2) Dr. Earlean Smiley (25 min) ~Click the link to listen
  

*For your convenience, you can click on Part 1 & 2 separately, above.

In this podcast episode, Dr. Smiley shares how Broward County Public Schools has been able to achieve an “A” rating in the state of Florida and become a two time Broad finalist. Dr. Smiley describes the way she and her staff made strategic decisions to put teaching and learning center in the planning and resources process. She also reveeals how she cultivated teacher, parent and community support and provides many examples of instructional and adminsitrative technology adoptions to scale and improve instruction and essential services. Finally Dr. Smiley tackles what it is to be a woman in a leadership role in public education. This interview with Dr. Smiley was stimulating as well as inspiring. She clearly knows what has brought success to the district and captured that success in our 2 part series which comprise a one hour interview. Dr. Smiley is extremely proud of the progress the system has gained throughout the years she has been there.

Biographical Background

Dr. Earlean Smiley is employed as the Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction/Student Support for Broward Public Schools, the sixth largest fully accredited school district in the nation. She supervises all aspects of administration including local, state, and federal programs, with an instructional and non-instructional staff of approximately 800 employees in 29 departments. She manages a budget of $185 million within a district operating budget of approximately $5 billion.

Dr. Smiley grew up in the “free state of Jones County,” in that part of south Mississippi’s “Piney Woods” that lies between the opulent country club elite and the impoverished cotton fields of sharecroppers. Smiley was an active participant in student activities and held a number of leadership positions in school and community organizations throughout high school and then in college. Earlean received financial aid based on her academic record and attended Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she majored in Drama, Speech and English. Graduating with honors early, she married and moved to Fort Lauderdale where she began her career as a special education teacher at Northeast High School in Broward.

In the mid-eighties, Earlean pursued graduate studies in Administration and Supervision at Nova Southeastern University, where she received a Master of Science degree. In 1991 she earned her Doctorate Degree in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota. Dr. Smiley’s tenure in education includes serving as an assistant principal; curriculum specialist (North Carolina); a TRIO Talent Search Director (Sioux City, Iowa); principal; and as an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University.

Smiley has been highly recognized by the community for her accomplishments. This year she was honored as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Black Women in South Florida; the NAACP presented her with its Advocacy Award; Carrie P. Meek presented her with the Carrie P. Meek Outstanding Leadership Award; she was honored by the Sistrunk Historical Festival Outstanding Achievement Award 2007, and was recognized by the American Association of University Women at its International Women’s Day 2006.

With the experience of an accomplished administrator and the admiration of the community for her leadership, Dr. Earlean Smiley continues to guide Broward County Public Schools in their pursuit of student achievement.

Related Web Links: 

• Broward County Public Schools
  • http://www.browardschools.com/

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Mr. Douglas Rodriguez, Principal of Miami Central Senior High School in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami, FL

Principals Making Immediate Changes

In this podcast episode, Mr. Douglas Rodriguez shares how he has been able to make significant gains at Miami Central Senior High, which has been assessed as an “F” school for the past five years in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Carolyn Pearson is our District Leader’s Podcast host and engages  Mr. Rodriguez in speaking about the importance of gaining support in the community, supporting his teachers and bonding with the student body.

Clearly, Mr. Rodriguez is on his way up. Our interview was brief but captured the essence of that special something that he has as a school administrator. We should all continue to track the progress of Mr. Rodriguez and the schools’ progress because it won’t be long till Miami Central is an “A” school.

Biographical Background

Douglas Rodriguez is a life long educator and product of the Miami-Dade County Public School System. He began his teaching career as a Social Studies instructor at Miami Central Sr. High School twenty years ago. He served the district at various schools prior to his first administrative appointment at Howard Doolin Middle School as an Assistant Principal. While an administrator at G. Holmes Braddock Sr. High School Mr. Rodriguez received his first appointment as Principal of Miami Springs Sr. During his tenure at Springs Sr. Mr. Rodriguez led the school from a “D” grade to “B” grade in three short years. In 2005 he was given the honor of opening the first public high school in the City of Doral, Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Sr. The school opened with an “A” grade and has maintained that status each year. Five months ago he volunteered to take over as Principal of Miami Central Senior High School which had received five straight “F” grades from the Florida Department of Education. When test scores were released in June, Miami Central had made substantial gains in all areas of the FCAT.

A native of New York City, Mr. Rodriguez holds a B.A from Barry University, M.A. from Nova Southeastern University and a Specialist from Barry University. He has served as the chair of the Senior High School Principals committee and was selected as Miami-Dade County School’s Police Principal of the Year in 2003, Dade County Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principal of the Year in 2007, Miami-Dade County Principal of the Year in 2008, State of Florida Principal of the Year in 2008 and was the recipient of The Leonard Miller Principal Leadership Award in 2008.

Related Web Sites: 

Miami-Dade County Public Schools  
http://www.dadeschools.net/

Miami Central Senior High School
http://miamicentral.dadeschools.net/

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Author, Don Tapscott

Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World

In this episode, noted author on technology trends and issues, Don Tapscott, is interviewed by Arthur Griffin. Tapscott discusses the world of ‘digital natives’ and how the explosion of the Internet into mainstream society has necessarily and completely changed the process of k-12 education. Don Tapscott shows keen insight as he discusses how even people’s brains have changed and the research he’s conducted. He also describes some of his experiences in the field of education to draw connections with these phenomena and findings. Don’t miss this episode with one of the innovative leaders of our time.

Biographical Background

Don Tapscott one of the world’s leading authorities on business strategy, how information technology changes business, government and society and innovation in education. He is Chairman of nGenera Insight. He served as founder and chairman of the international think tank New Paradigm before its acquisition by nGenera. He is an internationally sought writer, consultant and speaker and his clients include top executives of many of the world’s largest corporations and government leaders from many countries. The Washington Technology Report called him one of the most influential media authorities since Marshall McLuhan. He is also Adjunct Professor of Management, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Tapscott has authored thirteen widely read books about information technology in business and society, most recently GROWN UP DIGITAL: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, (McGraw-Hill, NY, October 2008). The book is the sequel to his 1997 book GROWING UP DIGITAL, where he defined the Net Generation. His penultimate book, written with Anthony Williams, is WIKINOMICS: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, (New York, Portfolio, January 2007). Management guru Tom Peters calls it “ … a breathtaking piece of work” and the book was the best selling management book on amazon.com in 2007.

His earlier books include, THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1996), one of the best selling books about technology in business ever, appearing on a number of bestsellers lists including the New York Times business book list. It had a run of seven months on the Business Week bestsellers list. It has been translated into 20 languages. GROWING UP DIGITAL: The Rise of the Net Generation (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1998) won the first Amazon.com Bestseller Award in the summer of 1998. It has been “recommended for all libraries” by the Library Journal. Time Magazine Senior Editor Joshua Cooper Ramo, described Growing Up Digital as a “compellingly written look at the generation that will make it happen.” It has been translated into 14 languages and was released in paperback in May,1999.

Tapscott is also widely know as the co-author of the international bestseller PARADIGM SHIFT: The New Promise of Information Technology (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1992) which was the first book to describe the fundamental change in computing from host-based systems for controlling costs to networks for transforming business models and strategy.

Don Tapscott holds a B.Sc. in Psychology and Statistics, an M.Ed. specializing in Research Methodology, and two Doctor of Laws (Hon) granted from the University of Alberta in 2001 and from Trent University in 2006.

Related Web Links:

• Book Information: Grown Up Digital

• Link in with the net generation: grownupdigital.com

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Dr. Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia Putting Children First in Every School Decision

Categories: Parents and Community · Change Process · Stimulus Funding · Economic Recovery Act · Leadership · Making the Tough Decisions · Improving Student Performance · Trends in Education · Urban Education · ARCHIVE

Join us for an intriguing interview with Dr. Arlene C. Ackerman as she discusses her experiences as a lifelong urban educator in schools in and around Philadelphia. Dr. Ackerman discusses the importance of putting the children first in every decision that comes up in a school system with host Arthur Griffin of District Leaders Podcast. The engaging interview discusses diverse topics, from the opportunity gap to the high birth rates of 2007, from universal health care to the impact of President Obama’s Stimulus package. Join us and listen in as this distinguished district leader shares some of her hard-earned wisdom and insight.

Biographical Background
School District of Philadelphia Superintendent, Dr. Arlene C. Ackerman, has more than 30 years of experience in leading large, diverse urban public school systems.

Dr. Ackerman, who assumed her duties in Philadelphia in June 2008, came to the School District from the Teachers College of Columbia University, where she served as Director of the Urban Education Leaders Program and Chairperson of the Superintendents and Scholars Symposium. The Urban Leaders Education Program is the College’s largest doctoral program for public-school leaders. She joined Teachers College’s Education Leadership faculty as the Christian A. Johnson Professor of Outstanding Educational Practice in 2006.

Dr. Ackerman also is Superintendent in Residence of Los Angeles-based Broad Center, where she facilitates and directs the Broad Superintendents Academy. The Academy is a ten-month executive management program designed to prepare CEOs and senior executives from business, government, and education backgrounds to lead urban public school systems.

Prior to 2006, Dr. Ackerman was Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District and the District of Columbia Public Schools. During her tenure in San Francisco, the city’s public schools–with, 62,000 students and 117 schools–attained five consecutive years of improved achievement for all groups of students while also holding the distinction as the highest-performing large urban school district in the state of California during the last two years of her superintendency.

Related Web Links:

• Messages from Dr. Alene C. Ackerman 

• The School District of Philadelphia

• School District of Philadelphia’s Leadership Team Web Page
  

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Description

The District Leaders Podcast is proud to present a two part series on – The Stimulus Funding and Economic Recovery Act, RTI and the New Administration. This valuable podcast is brought to you by a distinguished panel of educational leaders:

• Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools,
• Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators and
• Arthur Griffin, District Leader’s Podcast host and Senior Vice President of The Urban Advisory Resource for McGraw-Hill Education.

These experts bring district level application to recent announcements from the White House and Department of Education. Listen as these key leaders who have participated in press conferences with the US President and Secretary of Education share insights about what is happening from teacher incentives to IDEA funding, Title I opportunities and restrictions, NCLB shifts, new assessment indications and governmental not only in word, but backed by resources and funding…..

Topics for Part 1 (District Leaders Podcast Episode 38)

• Introduction of expert panelists
• Why is the Economic Recovery Act important for our schools?
• How significant could this be for our nation?
• What are possible challenges for implementing the Stimulus Package?
• Why is creativity suggested as being needed at this time of potential additional funding?
• How do the different sources connect: IDEA, Title I and Stimulus Funding?
• Evidence of new administration challenging assumptions of NCLB!
• and more…

The panel presentation was recorded at the 2009 Response to Intervention (RTI) Solutions Virtual Conference . You may still visit the conference and hear other sessions online, at your convenience at the RTI Solutions Virtual Conference website.

Biographical Backgrounds of Panelists

Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools. Dr. Casserly has served as Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools (Chicago, IL) since January 1992. Casserly also served as the organization’s Director of Legislation and Research for 15 years before assuming his current position. As head of the urban school group, Casserly unified big city schools nationwide around a vision of reform and improvement; launched an aggressive research program on trends in urban education; convened the first Education Summit of Big City Mayors and Superintendents; led the nation’s largest urban school districts to volunteer for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); led the first national study of common practices among the nation’s fastest improving urban school districts, and launched national task forces on achievement gaps, leadership and governance, finance, professional development, and bilingual education. He is currently spearheading efforts to boost academic performance in the nation’s big city schools; strengthening management and operations; challenging inequitable state financing systems; and improving the public’s image of urban education. He is a U.S. Army veteran, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and B.A. from Villanova University.

Dan Domenech, Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators. Dr. Domenech has served as executive director of the American Association of School Administrators since July 2008. A native of Cuba who moved to the United States at the age of nine, Domenech has more than 36 years of experience in public education. Prior to joining AASA, Domenech served as senior vice president of the Urban Advisory Resource for McGraw-Hill Education. In this role, he was responsible for building strong relationships with large school districts nationwide and increasing awareness of McGraw-Hill’s educational programs and services. Prior to his position at McGraw-Hill, Domenech served for six years as superintendent of the Fairfax County, Va., Public Schools, the 12th largest school system in the nation with 168,000 students. Domenech began his teaching career in New York City, where he taught sixth grade in a predominantly black and Hispanic community in South Jamaica, Queens. He then became program director for the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which is the largest intermediate school district in the State of New York. Following this, he was first named superintendent of schools for Long Island’s Deer Park Schools and then became superintendent of schools for the ethnically diverse South Huntington School District, also on Long Island — a position he held for 13 years. From 1994 to 1997, he was district superintendent of the Second Supervisory District of Suffolk County and chief executive officer of the Western Suffolk BOCES. Domenech, an AASA member since 1979, served as president of AASA from July 1998 to June 1999. He is also a past president of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, the Suffolk County Superintendents Association, and the Suffolk County Organization for Promotion of Education. He was the first president and co-founder of the New York State Association for Bilingual Education. In addition, Domenech has served on the U.S. Department of Education National Assessment Governing Board, on the advisory board for the Department of Defense schools, and on the board of directors of the Association for the Advancement of International Education. He currently serves on the boards of the Institute for Educational Leadership and the Education Policy Institute. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Hunter College in New York City and a Ph.D. from Hofstra University in Uniondale, N.Y.

Arthur Griffin, Jr., Senior Vice President for Urban Advisory Resource, McGraw-Hill Education Mr. Griffin is senior vice president of Urban Advisory Resource for McGraw-Hill Education, the premier provider of teaching and learning materials for the pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, higher education and professional markets. In his role, Arthur works closely with sales teams, school administrators and school board members in identifying solutions and strategies to achieve their number one priority – student achievement. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors of the National DropOut Prevention Center, the Board of Trustees of the National School Board Foundation and the Executive Council of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education- New York University. Arthur has over 21 years experience in public education. Prior to joining McGraw-Hill Education, he served 17 years on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Board of Education. Arthur distinguished himself as chair of the school board from 1997 to 2002. He received the Richard R. Green Award, as National Educator of the Year, sponsored by the Council of the Great City Schools. Mr. Griffin has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, the Broad Superintendents Academy, University of Virginia’s Partnership for Leaders in Education, member of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Advisory Committee and a resident faculty member of the Broad and Texas Institute for School Board Members. Mr. Griffin is registered with the Texas Education Agency as a school board trainer. He is a nationally recognized resource in the area of public school governance. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Council of the Great City Schools and Steering Committee of the Council of Urban Boards of Education. He earned a Bachelor of Science – Liberal Studies, from the University of the State of New York at Albany. Mr. Griffin served as an infantry platoon leader in Vietnam and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army.

Related Web Links:

• 2009 Response to Intervention (RTI) Solutions Virtual Conference
  • Presentations and conference experience available on- demand until May 2010
    
• Council of the Great City Schools (Chicago, IL)
• American Association of School Administrators
• Urban Advisory Resource

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Dr. William R. Hite, Jr., Supt of Prince George’s County Public Schools, MD First Interim Superintendent, then Superintendent!

Categories: Communication · Parents and Community · Financial Issues- Coping · Partnerships · Change Process · High Stakes Testing · Leadership · Making the Tough Decisions · Improving Student Performance · Trends in Education · Urban Education ·ARCHIVE ·

Biographical Background
Dr. William R. Hite, Jr. was named Interim Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) effective December 1, 2008 by the Prince George’s County Board of Education. Dr. Hite was hired as Deputy Superintendent of PGCPS in June 2006. Ensuring that all students graduate college- and career-ready, his work in Prince George’s County has been focused on school leadership development and improving the conditions for teaching and learning. This work continues at a rapid pace and without interruption, while the Board of Education implements a search for a new superintendent.

As Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Hite provided direct support to schools and was responsible for the departments of academics and accountability in addition to all six zone offices. He has led the work to reform high schools and restructure central support to enable need-based service to schools. Additionally, he developed systems used to measure central leadership effectiveness against student and school performance.

Previously, Dr. Hite was an Assistant Superintendent in the 106,000-student Cobb County School District in Georgia. While there, he supervised elementary, middle and high school principals and was responsible for the instructional programs for schools within his area.

Previously, he served as Director of Middle School Instruction in the Henrico County School System located outside of Richmond, VA. He also worked as a high school teacher and principal, and a middle school principal. Dr. Hite taught at the University of Richmond as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Continuous Learning.

Dr. Hite is a member of numerous local, state, and national boards including the Doctors Community Hospital Foundation. In 2005, he completed the Broad Superintendents Academy. Dr. Hite holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Virginia Tech.

Related Web Links:

• Prince George’s County Public Schools
• PGCPS Office of the Superintendent Web Page

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007-2009. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.

Interview with Ms. Sandra Dungee Glenn, Chairwoman, School Reform Commission, School District of Philadelphia

Being Part of the Change Process in  Our Urban Schools

Categories: Parents and Community · Change Process · Coaching School Leaders · Communication · Partnerships · High Stakes Testing · Leadership · Making the Tough Decisions · Improving Student Performance · Trends in Education  · Urban Education · ARCHIVE

Description

In this insightful and engaging interview, Ms. Sandra Dungee Glenn discusses her experiences through her life as first a community organizer and then a member of the Philadelphia school board, highlighting the differences between seeking change from the administration and then becoming part of the administration itself. In her interview she discusses the importance of public accountability, the necessity to letting parents know what’s going on in their schools, and the general state of public education throughout both her own state and the nation as a whole.

Sandra Dungee Glenn has been actively involved in public education for nearly a decade. In September 2007, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell appointed Ms. Dungee Glenn to the position of Chairwoman of the School Reform Commission (SRC), the governing body of the School District of Philadelphia. As the nation’s eighth largest public school system, the District commands a $2 billion dollar operating budget, manages 20,000 employees, and currently has 167,600 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The SRC was formed in December 2001 through an unprecedented partnership involving the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which sought to address what was at that time a school system in financial and academic distress. Since then, under the SRC’s leadership, the District has experienced five straight years of test score gains and continues to be engaged in America’s most sweeping and innovative public school reform initiative.

Thanks to initiatives that flowed from the task force’s recommendations, the District has seen a significant decrease in the number of teacher vacancies; there were 38 vacant positions at the start of the 2007-2008 school year, compared to 51 at the start of 2006-2007 and 112 at the beginning of 2005-2006.

Biographical Background
Ms. Dungee Glenn graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Since then, she has had a career spanning more than 20 years in public policy, electoral politics and community organizing. She served as Associate Director with the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health and Regional Director of Pennsylvania Citizen Action, receiving an outstanding service award from both organizations. From 1991 to 1994 she served as Chief of Staff to State Senator Chaka Fattah.

Ms. Dungee Glenn’s electoral and political experience is extensive. In 1983, she developed and implemented a voter registration drive for farm workers in South Jersey. Ms. Dungee Glenn served as: Field Director for the Hughes for State Representative campaign in 1986; Voter Registration Director for Goode for Mayor campaign in 1987; Campaign Manager for Fattah for State Senate in 1988; Philadelphia Voter Registration/GOTV Coordinator for Dukakis for President in 1988; Campaign Manager for Fattah for Congress in 1994 and 1996; and was Campaign Manager for Blondell Reynolds Brown’s campaign for Philadelphia City Council in 1999.

In 1988, Ms. Dungee Glenn was elected Delegate to the Democratic Convention from the Second Congressional District in Pennsylvania, and served as Director of the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee from 1996 to 1997. She was appointed to the Platform Committee of the Democratic National Convention in 1996 and to the Credentials Committee in 2000. Ms. Dungee Glenn also served as Pennsylvania State Director with the NAACP National Voter Fund from August 2000 until June 2001 and led a successful non-partisan statewide voter mobilization campaign.

Ms. Dungee Glenn currently serves as President of the American Cities Foundation, an organization committed to the development and implementation of a national urban policy and to defining a new relationship between cities and the federal government. She is the recipient of various awards including: the 2003 Leon J. Obermayer Distinguished Graduate Award; the Arts & Entertainment Network 2002 Biography Community Heroes Award; Women Making a Difference Award, 2001; and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Pennsylvania Chapter Women of the Year Award. In 2002, Ms. Dungee Glenn was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Urban Health Initiative Fellow and by the Philadelphia Tribune as one of 2007 Most Influential African-Americans.

An alumna of the Philadelphia public schools, Ms. Dungee Glenn graduated from the School District’s Philadelphia High School for Girls. This native of West Philadelphia now plays an active role in the SRC’s initiatives to build schools and renovate others, including plans for a new West Philadelphia High School.

Related Web Links:

• School Reform Commission, School District of  Philadelphia

• The School District of Philadelphia

District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. All rights reserved.

For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.