Interim Executive Director Announcement

A Message from Read Ahead Board Chair Sean Fitzgerald

September 24, 2024

Dear Read Ahead Community:

We are writing to introduce you to Lisa Tazartes, who just joined us as Read Ahead’s Interim Executive Director to provide leadership and management through the Spring of 2025 while we conduct a search for the organization’s new Executive Director. We are deeply grateful to Kristen Baldwin for her decade of leadership and all that the organization has accomplished in that time. While Kristen will be missed, we are excited about the opportunities new leadership and the existing dedicated staff will bring to Read Ahead in the future. 

Lisa is a seasoned nonprofit education leader whose experience is aligned with Read Ahead’s mission and values, and as a program strategy consultant, she brings valuable experience scaling and honing education and youth service models. Her work for the past 25 years has centered around founding and growing Ramapo Training, the professional development arm of Ramapo for Children, into a vibrant capacity building organization with 80+ staff.  Lisa has led major capacity building efforts for New York City, including for the Department of Education. Lisa was a recipient of the prestigious Zella Bronfman Butler Award recognizing her crucial work to develop a citywide workforce to allow for the successful inclusion of all children in community based after-school programs. In addition, Lisa is an active parent of two New York City public school students and sits on a PTA executive board and a School Leadership Team.

Lisa will work closely with the board and staff to help navigate the transition to our next Executive Director. Ariel Grace will continue to lead development and communications, and Evelyn Canela-Garcia will continue to lead our program. Both have been instrumental to Read Ahead’s growth and evolution over the last several years. 

We look forward to the 2024-25 school year and what we will accomplish in our support of our students. Lisa is looking forward to connecting with all of the Read Ahead community of partners and stakeholders so please feel free to reach out at ltazartes@readahead.org.

With gratitude,

Sean Fitzgerald

Chair of the Board of Directors

Lisa Tazartes

Interim Executive Director