Blog

(You can access the video recording HERE) For the past few years I have started my speech with “What a year this has been,” thanks to Covid. This year, I say those words with a more personal viewpoint. This event, the heart of our DEF year, has always been special as it is a moment when we stand at the precipice that exists between what was and what will be.  For me, this has never been clearer than it is…

Considering Radical Change Pinwheel Coffee in Denver is a groovy,  independent coffee shop you might find in any hip neighborhood --delicious espresso drinks, good vibes and free wifi. While sipping your coffee you might wonder about their motto, painted on the wall “Radically Changing the Way Business, Education, and Community Intersect.”   Pinwheel Coffee is not only a coffee shop in Denver but part of an educational ecosystem called Embark Education which includes the cafe, a bike shop, a micro middle…

Is It Time for a Change? If you have  lived with a teenager or interacted with one regularly, chances are you have heard them complain about school. About 10 years ago, one mom in Massachusetts, likely tired of hearing her son complain, answered with: “So why don’t you start your own (school)?” So begins the true story at the center of the book “A School of Our Own”, written by Samuel Levin and his mom, psychologist Susan Engel. Called ‘the…

While I knew a lot of what to expect when I took the job as DEF’s first executive director in 2009, I did not know how enriched my life would be from some of the people I would get to know. A bright light in these past 13 years has been getting to know Jimmy Moore of the DHS Class of 1960. I met Jimmy early on in my tenure as I was being introduced to our scholarship donors.  The…

Sometimes you read a book that really sticks with you and shifts the way you see the world.  I am somewhat of a seeker, I look for podcasts, books and other resources that help me grow as a leader and as a person.  Last year, with DEF’s 20th anniversary looming, I began to think about what the future held for this organization.  I was completing my 12th year as executive director and felt proud of our community and all we…

Throughout my life, I have had the privilege of having many mentors and guides. These people have come into my life at various times and showed me what I needed to learn, sometimes directly through recurring deep conversations, and sometimes through the modeling of a life well lived.  Last week, after a long road and several tough years, my friend and mentor Bill Funk left this world. His wife Gayle, another true gift in my life, had been sending me…

People across the world are acknowledging that after almost three years of disruption, things have changed, and organizations and systems need to change, too.  As an organization that supports youth, we feel compelled to better understand the lived experience of our kids and the learned experience provided by research showing what youth need to thrive today. The original founders of the Decatur Education Foundation set a culture of aspiration and flexibility that has endured across over 100 board members, staff…

Today, as Decatur families gather to celebrate their seniors from the Decatur High school Class of 2022, I wanted to share these words that I shared on May 17th at DEF's Celebration of Excellence where we honor our scholarship recipients. Given the state of the world, and the most recent tragic events in our country, the honoring of joy alongside pain seems very relevant. -------------- Good evening – I am Gail Rothman, the executive director of the Decatur Education Foundation…

One of our greatest writers and thinkers, Maya Angelou, shared this wisdom: Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. Over the years, Decatur Education Foundation has relied on feedback from caring community members to teach us how to do better. When DEF first started looking into food insecurity and learned that some of our neighbors needed food support, we crafted a response that involved asking community members to “adopt-a-box” and fill it…