Selection Process

The Rochester Education Fellowship Selection Committee was formed to build momentum around the idea that Rochester’s students and families deserve an urgent plan for transformative education systems change. To do this well, the Selection Committee knows it’s critical to leverage the knowledge, skills, and expertise of those most impacted by and proximate to educational inequity. As a result, the Rochester Education Fellowship Selection Committee is leading an open and inclusive selection process to identify an exceptional leader committed to co-creating a bold and innovative vision for education systems change in Rochester. Opportunities still exist to partner on this transformational opportunity, and we welcome and seek your perspective and input in this important process. Below are Selection Committee members leading this effort.

  • Hollie Budd

    Selection Committee Co-Chair, Executive Director Farash Foundation

  • Jerome Underwood

    Selection Committee Co-Chair, CEO, Action For A Better Community

  • Dr. Rita Carol Gaither

    Founder, Pearl Resources, Inc.

  • LaShunda Leslie-Smith

    LMSW Executive Director, Connected Communities, Inc.

  • Reenah Golden

    Founder & Artistic Director, Avenue Blackbox

  • Dr. Rick Dejesus-Rueff

    Community Member & Retired Higer Education Leader

  • Sekou Biddle

    Vice President, Advocacy, United Negro College Fund

  • David Harris

    Executive Vice President, Christel House International

  • Angelica Perez-Delgado

    President & CEO IBERO American Action League

  • Dr. Dirk Hightower

    Senior Associate, Children's Institute

The Rochester Education Fellowship Selection Committee

 

  • President & CEO of Action for Better Community (ABC), a Community Action Agency that promotes and provides opportunities for low-income individuals and families to become self-sufficient.

  • Executive Director of the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation, a Rochester-based Foundation that strives to make long-term and meaningful contributions in Monroe and Ontario Counties with half of its grants supporting Jewish Life, and the other half supporting secular activities with a large emphasis on urban education.

  • President & CEO of IBERO American Action League, a dual-language human services agency that ignites the potential of individuals and families in New York State’s Latino Community.

  • Executive Director of Connected Communities, a group dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty through antiracist community revitalization and equitable resource coordination in the EMMA and Beechwood neighborhoods.

  • Senior Associate at Children’s Institute, a non-profit that partners with community agencies and schools to equip and support those who work with children and to strengthen the social and emotional health of children.

  • Vice President of Advocacy for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), a nonprofit working to increase the total annual number of African American college graduates by focusing on activities that ensure more students are college ready, enroll in college, and persist to graduation.

  • Partner at The City Fund, a nonprofit that partners with local leaders to help build innovative public school systems.

  • Founder & Artistic Director for The Avenue Blackbox Theatre, a theatre located in Historic Joseph Avenue neighborhood created to offer affordable, meaningful, culturally-rich experiences created by artists of color, youth, queer folk and collaborators.

  • Community Member, retired from full-time work after a 44-year career in higher education serving at seven different colleges in a variety of administrative and teaching roles.

  • Parent, serves as the Treasurer on ABC’s Head Start Policy Council of Monroe County whose goals are to develop and maintain Head Start as a quality program, foster the philosophy of parent involvement, shared decision-making and improving the quality and effectiveness of the program’s child outcomes. Mellanye is the parent of two young children.

  • Founder of Pearl Resources Inc., a nonprofit committed to eradicating the stigma associated with mental health, providing services for individuals with developmental disabilities, leading people to financial freedom, providing youth opportunities to experience domestic and international travel and providing stability through residential opportunities and leadership programs for young school-age men experiencing homelessness.