Dear partners, allies and friends,

It’s with joy and sadness that I announce that our friend, colleague and partner Dr. Cassie Schwerner has been selected to be the next Executive Director of the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility in New York City.

The joyful part is congratulating Cassie on taking the helm of an organization working to transform schools and build equity in the largest school district in the country. She has always been a fierce advocate for social justice, and all of us at Schott are excited for her as she takes on this next challenge.

As we’re congratulating Cassie, we’re also celebrating her invaluable contributions in helping to forge Schott and our partnerships with grantees, philanthropic supporters and allies to help build movements to guarantee all children an opportunity to learn. We have all benefited from her leadership—and her commitment to build the leadership of others, passion, intelligence, and extraordinary ability to bring people together in ways that reinforce their commitment and makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Cassie’s contributions date from Schott’s earliest days, working with our founders—Greg and Maria Jobin-Leeds and Lilo and Gerry Leeds—over 20 years ago, impacting New York and Massachusetts and shaping what is now nationally known as the Schott Foundation for Public Education.

We are fortunate that Cassie will be at the Schott Foundation for the next two months. As much as this is a loss of Cassie’s presence in Schott’s world, it’s the elevation of a Schott social justice ambassador in our collective social justice world.

Please join us in congratulating Cassie in taking on this next challenge!

Yours in the struggle,

John H. Jackson