Navigating the path forward, together: The Broad network gathers in Houston for Forum 2025
Over two days in mid-January, alumni of The Broad Center’s education leadership programs connected at the Forum, an annual reunion of the network that fosters community, strengthens ties, and encourages sharing of new ideas and perspectives.
The event brought together nearly 200 alumni of the Fellowship for Public Education Leadership, the Master’s in Public Education Management, The Broad Residency, and The Broad Academy. This year’s Forum theme was Navigating the Path Forward, and alumni engaged with one another on what the future holds for K-12 public school systems over the next months and years — and their own role in creating positive change.
Finding Common Ground at a Time of Rapid Change
Speakers and sessions over the two days touched on finding commonality and identifying ways to make progress, even in the face of challenges.
“The collective voices of everyday people – parents and teachers – are more powerful than one single speaker,” said Heather Harding, executive in residence at Education Leaders of Color (EdLoc) and executive director of the Campaign for Our Shared Future. Harding began the Forum as the first keynote speaker, sharing her belief that collaboration between educators and parents is a critical tool in the success of students. Harding’s Campaign equipped communities confronting polarizing narratives about what to teach in schools with tools and strategies to find common ground. She brought advice for the education leaders in the room: continue to root decision-making in what will lead to the best academic outcomes for students.
“There’s a lot of conflict in the world right now. And people see that schools should be a place of calm and learning, not polarization,” said Harding. Over the years of the Campaign, national research conducted by Harding’s group found that across the board, families felt that they could trust their local schools and educators to teach the right content to students – despite national narratives about heightened conflict over curriculum decisions.
On day 1, Forum attendees were also grounded in the recent history and present-day circumstance of public education in Houston, this year’s host city. After Harding’s opening talk, a panel of four Houston education leaders spoke about their shared goals as a city, and the relationships and partnerships between them. The panel included Mark DiBella (TBA 2017-18), chief executive officer of YES Prep Public Schools, a Houston-based public charter school network; Sandi Massey, chief of schools, Houston Independent School District; Dr. Anthony Mays, superintendent, Alief Independent School District, located southwest of Houston; and Cary Wright, chief executive officer of Good Reason Houston. The panel was moderated by Bill Horwath (TBR 2007-09), managing partner at Education First and also a Houston ISD parent.
The panel began by laying out the stakes in stark terms: today, less than 20 percent of public school graduates in the Houston region make a living wage ($42,000 or more) six years after their high school graduation. All four leaders are rigorously trained on understanding the opportunities in a city like Houston, which is one of the most diverse in the country, and leading large educational systems toward change. The discussion grappled with the challenges of governance structures in educational systems, including more and less autonomy for individual schools, as well as the critical need for leaders to immerse themselves in cultural spaces that are not their own.
Leaders also talked about recent, more promising, outcomes: Houston ISD, for example, reduced the number of lowest-performing schools from 171 to 41, while also increasing the schools earning the state’s highest rating. Despite leading systems that may be seen as competitors for the same students, the educators on the panel are focused on the big picture of excellent education and results for all students in Houston.
Drawing on Inspiration from the Past to Chart the Future
The second day of Forum opened with a history lesson with powerful resonance for the current moment. In the morning, alumni listened in on a live taping of the miseducAsian podcast, featuring hosts Tommy Chang (TBA 2013-15), Brian Lin (TBR 2012-14), and Albert Kim (former TBR staff member); and guest Akemi Kochiyama-Ladson, a scholar-activist and granddaughter of the human rights activist Yuri Kochiyama, who dedicated her life to organizing and forming community across racial, ethnic, and class lines. During the discussion, Kochiyama-Ladson related stories from her grandmother’s life, including her friendship with Malcolm X, and how her example can inspire us to cross the boundaries we perceive.
“The more you learn how connected you are, the more you tap into your humanity,” said Kochiyama-Ladson, pointing to narratives about conflict between Black and Asian communities, when many examples show solidarity between these two groups. Beyond learning multiple facets of our own history, the group discussed the power of inhabiting space with people who have differences in background or perspective than you, to find elements of what you share in common. Schools can play a role in both arenas, bringing together individuals from diverse communities, and engaging students in learning about the past and applying it to their own lives.
In the afternoon, Broad network members were able to choose from a variety of breakout sessions on topics that ranged from a case study of the dramatic, recent improvements in the Houston Independent School District led by Superintendent Mike Miles (TBA 2011), to how several school leaders are approaching artificial intelligence (AI) in classrooms, to lessons learned and future implications in implementing the science of reading in practice.
Two sessions, both led by Yale SOM faculty affiliated with The Broad Center, drew a small group of alumni into learning about cutting-edge education and leadership research, and engaged those practitioners in a deep conversation about how to apply research effectively within school systems. The later afternoon session, facilitated by Professor Jayanti Owens, shared research around the complex impacts of a diversified teacher workforce on students of color. The group discussed how research findings might shape professional development for incoming educators around classroom behavior management and how to address bias, should reactions differ based on students’ race.
The closing session of the daytime Forum program was keynote speaker Brittany Packnett Cunningham, a globally-known orator, activist, and thought leader on issues of justice, culture, and policy. She also served as executive director of Teach for America, St. Louis during protests against the violent death of Michael Brown in 2014.
In a moving narrative that wove together personal, moral, and policial reflections, she spoke about what we can hope for and envision for the future – one where we are preparing children for jobs that don’t currently exist. While it’s impossible to predict what’s coming, Packnett Cunningham shared tenets for her own forward movement: affirming first and always; listening and accepting the truth, even when it’s difficult; giving blueprints without apology; and sharing power with belief, not anxiety.
Throughout her talk, Packnett Cunningham drew on historical examples from her own ancestors, as well as her hometown of St. Louis, to illustrate how people found ways to help themselves and their communities make progress, even when society disempowered them. These blueprints, as she called them, provide guidance about how to move forward in situations that seem extremely challenging. “Hope is a discipline,” she shared. Her remarks took a step away from the day-to-day questions to consider movements and patterns across history.
Finding Renewal in Community
“One thing I love about Forum, and about this community, is even if I don’t know someone personally, I can lean across the table and find commonality with them,” said Linda Sun (TBR 2018-20). Throughout the weekend, Broad alumni commented on the importance of investing in relationships that sustain their commitment to education and youth-focused work.
On Thursday and Friday evenings, Broadies found affinity with friends old and new, swapping professional goals and achievements, life updates, and plans to get together again in the coming year. As is Broad tradition, the Forum included sharing of personal narrative through three leadership stories, given by Ryan Romaneski (TBR 2017-19), Anthony Jarrett (TBF 2023-24), and Theresa Jones (TBR 2010-12).
The Broad network also recognized the leadership of Hanseul Kang (TBR 2012-14), executive director of The Broad Center at Yale SOM, who will be stepping down in spring 2025. In opening remarks on the first day of Forum, Dean of Yale SOM Charles Kerwin reflected on the progress made under Hanseul, including the integration of The Broad Center into the day-to-day fabric of SOM – while still keeping the important connection to the longstanding Broad culture and community. The assembled alumni gave Kang a standing ovation.
“There is an opportunity, when you offer common ground, that others are not offering,” said Heather Harding, opening the Forum. After deepening their connections and engaging with fresh ideas, Broad alumni traveled back to their home cities and districts carrying reflections on their own steps to navigate the path forward.
