Dear Colleagues, Donors, Partners, and Friends:
A few weeks ago, our board chairman, Ed Zimmermann, shared the news that I am leaving my position as President and CEO of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia after seven years of service to take on a new job leading the Philadelphia Program for The Pew Charitable Trusts. My last day at the Fund is September 30, but I want to make sure I don’t wait until then to connect and thank everyone who has been part of this incredible journey.
I am someone who loves to reminisce and spend time looking at family videos and photo albums, and that’s why in my final weeks at the Fund, I find myself looking at our Year in Review reports, website, and all the great news and stories on our social channels as if they are family albums. They capture and share the value of our work and impact over the last seven years, and what we have accomplished to support the students in our schools with the hope that each one has the same opportunity to succeed.
As I look at everything, it’s overwhelming to process what’s happened over the last seven years – not only for the Fund, but the many things in the city, the nation and world that has affected our work and each of our lives. Every year brought new challenges and opportunities, but the year with the most challenges was 2020 because of the pandemic and the racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd.
I am still in awe, and always will be, of our former Superintendent, Dr. Hite and the entire School District staff as they turned on a dime when schools closed and made sure 150,000 students from more than 200 schools had meals, homework packets, Chromebooks and internet connectivity so they could continue classes at home. And of course, they also had to train more than 9,000 educators how to teach remotely. We quickly created the Technology Fund, produced the Class of 2020 Virtual Graduation, supported the District in planning for the next school year, and created the District’s Equity Coalition and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office. And you stood up to support these efforts. Thank you for the immense support and generosity of our many partners and friends, including Comcast NBCUniversal, the Roberts family, the 76ers managing partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, Bank of America, Independence Public Media Foundation, the City of Philadelphia, the Duckworth Family and hundreds of other contributors. During the same year, GSK provided us funding that purchased an online science program making teaching science more hands-on during remote learning and allowed us to train science teachers, and schools relied on our fundraising tool, Philly FUNDamentals, to support their efforts.
I created a list of all the people I wish I could thank in this letter, but it would be too long (and already is) and take hours to read. While I cannot thank them all now, it is imperative for me to recognize and thank the amazing team I have had the honor and pleasure to lead over the last seven years: John Barber III, George Jack Fisher, Lauren Cawley, Kathy Rubino, Leonel Lopez, Lindsay Tillery, Amira Smith, Saquoia Freeman, Jeannine Cook, Phil Hammond, Nicole Bryant, and Julie Appolloni March. I thank them for taking a chance on me and the reboot of this school foundation. We are a small, but super mighty team, and I will miss them. I am also thankful to our board members, especially our former chair, Sheldon Bonovitz, for their support and guidance. I’d also like to call out some of our major partners and friends Tobias Harris, Comcast NBCUniversal, Wawa, Giant, GSK, The William Penn Foundation, Lindback, and Hess Foundations, Dunkin Joy Foundation, Sonny and Alice Ho, State Senator Vincent Hughes, State Representative Jordan Harris and the many other donors and supporters like the Goldenberg Group who helped us launch Dress Down Day, which is coming May 12, 2023 and Rob Wasserman for 9 years of support for schools from the Philly Burger Brawl. Thank you to all the partners who helped us amplify the Fund’s messaging and our good work: SAGE Communications, Skai Blue Media, Mighty Engine, and Cardenas Grant.
I also want to thank the Board of Education for allowing me to help them plan and execute the search for a new school superintendent. We were elated to have Dr. Tony Watlington join the District as its new Superintendent. He is off to a great start and plans to work closely with the Fund.
Our staff and board are already moving things forward and executing a plan for new leadership. Our longtime staff member, John Barber III, is stepping up from his position as the VP of Strategic Engagement and Partnerships, to serve as our interim CEO and I have full confidence in his skills and talents. John and our other team members will continue the fundraising efforts, during this transition, for early literacy and in particular, the expansion of the Read to Succeed program, Arts and STEM Education, and teacher retention and pipeline programs. The board of directors will conduct a search for a permanent CEO and that effort is co-chaired by board officers, Sylvie Gallier Howard and Otis Hackney.
Again, thank you so much for supporting me over the last seven years and I hope I can continue to work with many of you in my new position at The Pew Charitable Trusts.
With gratitude,
Donna Frisby-Greenwood