The Coalition for Community Schools, housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership, is an alliance of national, state and local organizations in education K-16, youth development, community planning and development, family support, health and human services, government and philanthropy as well as national, state and local community school networks. Community schools are both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. There are a number of national models and local community school initiatives that share a common set of principles: fostering strong partnerships, sharing accountability for results, setting high expectations, building on the community’s strengths, and embracing diversity and innovative solutions. For more information on community schools,
contact us.
Work of the Coalition for Community Schools is made possible through the generous supported of The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, JP Morgan Chase Foundation, The Charles Steward Mott Foundation, the Stuart Foundation, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Staff:
Maame Ameyaw
Coordinator, Communications & Operations
Martin J. Blank
President, Institute for Educational Leadership
Director, Coalition for Community Schools
Ryan Justin Fox
Communications Assistant
Reuben Jacobson
Senior Associate for Research & Strategy
Shital C. Shah
Manager of Policy & Partnerships
Maame Ameyaw
Coordinator, Communications & Operations
ameyawm@iel.org
Maame joined the IEL staff in January of 2007. Her primary responsibilities include providing administrative, logistical, financial and programmatic support for the research, publications, meetings and conferences, Web site, and other work of the Coalition.
Maame’s experience includes interning for Michigan State Representative Barbara Farrah in the spring of 2005, where she worked on the district’s bi-weekly newsletter, managed the database, and acted as the first contact for constituent relations. She has also been an after-school community service leader at an elementary school, and has volunteered for the Ronald McDonald House Charities, various women's organizations, and mentoring and education groups; as well as working as a senior homecare assistant.
Maame received her B.A. in Political Science from Michigan State University. She spent her last semester interning at the Women’s Campaign Forum in Washington D.C., and is an 2010 alumni of IEL’s Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP).
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Martin J. Blank is the President of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) in Washington, DC. He leads IEL in its efforts to build the capacity of people, organizations and systems -- in education and related fields -- to cross boundaries and work together to attain better results for children and youth. Marty has been associated with IEL since 1985, focusing his work on building bridges between schools and other institutions with assets that can support student success.
Marty also serves as the Director of the Coalition for Community Schools, which is staffed by the Institute for Educational Leadership. The Coalition is an alliance that brings together leaders and organizations in education, family support, youth development early childhood, community development, government and philanthropy. Partners advocate for schools as centers of their communities where school and community resources are organized to support student success, strengthen families and build healthier communities.
Marty is the co-author of
Making the Difference: Research and Practice in Community Schools and Together We Can: A Guide for Crafting a Pro-family System of Education and Human Services. He was Project Director for the preparation of Learning Together, a comprehensive map of the revitalized community schools movement across the country.
Marty stays involved with local activities in the District of Columbia. He is the former Chair of D.C. VOICE an education reform collaborative and of the Management Team of the Early Childhood Collaborative.
He has a B.A. from Columbia University, 1965, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and served as a VISTA Volunteer in the Missouri Bootheel.
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Ryan Justin Fox
Communications Assistant
foxr@iel.org
Ryan serves as the Communications Assistant for the Coalition for Community Schools. His primary duties include writing and generating editorial content for the Coalition’s website and newsletter and other platforms as well as carrying out other media and communication efforts.
Prior to joining the Coalition, Ryan was a reporter for The (Annapolis) Capital, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, and The Current in Washington D.C. where he covered local school districts and government as well as crime and social justice issues. Most recently, he served as an outreach and communications associate at the Center for Community Progress.
Ryan is a graduate of Howard University in Washington D.C. and has interned for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Baltimore Sun, Washington City Paper, Stateline.org, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Ryan also volunteered for a transitional housing organization in Annapolis and is active with his church in Silver Spring, Md.
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Reuben Jacobson
Senior Associate for Research & Strategy
jacobsonr@iel.org
Reuben Jacobson serves as the Senior Associate for Research and Strategy for the Coalition for Community Schools. In that capacity he develops and implements the Coalition’s research agenda, conducts and analyzes research on community schools, communicates research findings to the field, and works with the Coalition staff on overall strategy including policy and building local capacity.
Prior to joining IEL Reuben worked at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in Washington, D.C. as a research analyst in education. In addition, he spent two tremendously challenging and wonderful years teaching fifth and sixth grade students in D.C. Public Schools as a D.C. Teaching Fellow. Most recently, Reuben worked on a study of teacher incentives at the University of Maryland – College Park.
Reuben is co-author of the American Educator article A Coordinated effort: Well-conducted partnerships meet students’ academic, health, and social service needs and has presented research at national meetings. He is an alumnus of IEL’s Education Policy Fellowship Program and the Education Pioneers Fellowship.
Reuben has a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, a Master’s degree in Education Policy from the George Washington University, a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from American University, and is currently pursuing his PhD in Education Policy at the University of Maryland – College Park.
Shital C. Shah
Manager of Policy & Partnerships
shahs@iel.org
Shital C. Shah serves as the Manager for Policy and Partnerships for the Coalition for Community Schools. In this capacity she is responsible for partnership development and partnership management; federal and state policy coordination; and helping with the development of federal policy recommendations and briefs. Shital will also work to expand the field’s and policymakers’ knowledge on community school topics (i.e., early chronic absenteeism, reading by the end of 3rd grade, family engagement, and early childhood, family engagement), through fact sheets, webinars, Hill briefings, newsletter features, and website communications.
Prior to joining IEL, Shital worked at Innovation Network, Inc, where she was on the Consulting and Evaluation Team. She worked with the team to provide foundations and nonprofit organizations with evaluation support and training. Before she joined Innovation Network, she was the director of an East Harlem Out of School-time program with the New York Road Runners Foundation.
Shital holds a Master's degree in Nonprofit Management and Social Policy from Milano the New School for Management and Urban Policy, in New York City. She obtained her BS in Environmental Studies and BA in Religion at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
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