For Achieve Hartford’s newest staff member Daiana Lambrecht, the long road to Connecticut’s capital started in her native Argentina and continued with educational and professional experiences across five U.S. states and a year in China. Whether it was teaching 5th graders as a Teach For America Corps Member in San Antonio, Texas, coaching teachers to provide quality instruction and relationship building in rural Southwestern China, organizing parents and community members to fight for educational equity in San Jose, California, or deepening her understanding of organizing and education policy at Harvard, Daiana realized through all these experiences that school improvement occurs when community partners are engaged and dedicated to improving educational outcomes for children.

Serving as Achieve Hartford’s Lead Coalition Organizer, Daiana hopes her talents will bring the organization to a new level of stakeholder engagement.

 

“Stakeholder engagement and organizing is the glue that holds everything together. People are complex and have their own interests,” she said.  “To move people towards action for better results for children, we must work with decision-makers and community members in a way that puts them in the drivers seat to bring new initiatives and practices into education. Without people moving in a unified direction, it is hard to accomplish education reform for children.”

 

What made this Harvard-educated, teacher’s daughter come to Hartford? Inspired by efforts such as the Sheff Movement, Daiana came to make a difference in a state that infamously suffers from the largest achievement gap in the country, too often leaving children of color, lower socioeconomic status, special needs, and English language deficiency affected the most – especially in Hartford.

 

Joining an organization that she views as taking an innovative approach to shaping educational practices through direct partnership with community organizations will bring new meaning to her belief that it takes “a village to raise a child.”

As Daiana embarks on the work of making connections across the city, she welcomes the opportunity to hear from our community of education leaders.  Reach out to her at: [email protected].