Watershed Advisors

We’re thrilled to welcome Zoe Butler to the Watershed Advisors team! 🎉 Zoe joins us as an Analyst, where she will support the evaluation of education product and service vendors. Before joining Watershed, Zoe worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce, supporting the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act and contributing to sociotechnical policy at the U.S. AI Safety Institute. She began her career in the Metro Nashville Public School system as a high school math teacher, school administrator, and track coach. Zoe earned her B.A. in Economics and Africana Studies from Brown University, her M.Ed. from Lipscomb University, and her Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Though based in Washington, D.C., she proudly calls Rhode Island home. Please join us in giving Zoe a warm welcome! #WeAreWatershed

Federal funding shifts don’t happen in isolation. When Medicaid, SNAP, or Preschool Development Grants change, the effects cascade. Kids can become harder to see, harder to serve, and easier to lose from the very systems meant to support them. This week’s Delta shares a new resource built to help state leaders prepare. It maps the shifts already in motion and lays out concrete questions leaders can use to align budgets and coordinate across agencies. Read more + download the resource below!

Closing out the week with good news – we have a new teammate! 🎉 We’re thrilled to welcome Alexandra Martinez, M.Ed to Watershed Advisors. Alexandra joins us as an Analyst, supporting the evaluation of product and service vendors. Alexandra brings a strong background in data analysis, policy, and student support. She has served as both a school counselor and an ESL teacher, most recently in Boston Public Schools, where she championed multilingual learners and their families. Alexandra earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Psychology from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Education in Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University. She lives in Boston with her Australian Shepherd Sadie. Welcome, Alexandra! We’re excited to have you (and Sadie 🐾) on the team. #WeAreWatershed

As Watershed grows, Jessica Baghian and I are looking for a Chief Operating Officer who will lead our operations function, contribute to the organization's overall strategy, and ensure that operations and our project teams (led by Kristi-Jo P., Nasha Patel, Jill Zimmerman Pinsky, and Jill Wohrle) together materially impact the lives of young people across this country.

Watershed Advisors is seeking a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to help scale and grow our organization's impact. Reporting to the CEO and President, the COO will play a pivotal role in shaping Watershed’s next phase and helping to build and execute our vision and strategy. Apply by October 3 for consideration at https://lnkd.in/g2-REj2B #Hiring #operations #EducationJobs #COO #K12 #educationreform #WatershedAdvisors

Chronic absenteeism has been one of the biggest stories in education since the pandemic. The latest data finally shows some good news: attendance is improving, especially in states that pledged to cut absenteeism in half. But the challenge is still massive: rates are far too high, and the gains are already slowing. So we asked some of the smartest people in education what they think is behind the shift. Read this week’s Delta below for their answers.

Happy Friday! 🎉 We’re excited to welcome Virginia Webb to the Watershed Advisors team! Virginia joins us as an Analyst, supporting initiatives focused on early childhood education. She is driven by a deep interest in how collaborative, research-based solutions can improve outcomes and create high-quality education opportunities for all children across the U.S. Prior to joining Watershed, Virginia taught English in a secondary school outside of Madrid, Spain. She previously worked as a research assistant with the Study of Early Education through Partnerships at the University of Virginia (UVA). Virginia earned her B.A. in Public Policy & Leadership from the Frank Batten School at UVA. A central Virginia native, she now calls Washington, D.C., home. Help us give Virginia a warm welcome in the comments. 👋 #WeAreWatershed

The U.S. Department of Education is dismantling a rule that required states to track racial disparities in special education. If we stop looking at inequities in our system, how can we ever fix them? More on what states can and must do now to lead in this week’s issue of the Delta.

Prior to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, 1 in 2 kids was graduating from high school in New Orleans. Of the kids that were graduating, just 1 in 3 was going on to college. That's criminal in America. Today, 4 out of 5 kids are graduating in New Orleans and 2 out of 3 students are going to college. 🎓 This week in The Delta, Kunjan Narechania and Jessica Baghian reflect on the educational recovery in the aftermath of Katrina, how making hard decisions opened the door for dramatic progress, and the complicated set of factors surrounding this work. Click the link in the comments below to watch or listen to the full conversation in this week's issue of our newsletter, The Delta.