Dear Impact Community:
We, the members of Impact’s Board of Directors, are filled with immense gratitude and pride as we enter our final week of this school year. Throughout this year, Impact’s classrooms have been joyful, creative, and inspiring spaces for learning. We are so grateful to our passionate leaders, teachers, and staff for their dedication to our scholars as they flourish as learners, problem solvers, and innovators. Our families have been critical partners on this journey, and we appreciate your continued commitment and support.
As we look toward the 2022-23 school year and welcoming 300 new students and 35 new faculty, we wanted to share some exciting news with you. Effective July 1, we will be adding leadership capacity to support our growing schools. We are thrilled to announce that Impact’s current Chief of Staff Amy Kiyota will be joining Jen Wickens as Co-CEO. Jen and Amy will work in tandem to lead our network to have the strongest launch to the school year we’ve ever had this coming August.
As our schools grow, we strongly believe that the combination of skills Jen and Amy bring to the Co-CEO roles will advance our critical mission of inspiring the next generation of equity-driven, innovative leaders. Watch the video below to hear Amy and Jen share their personal reflections on their partnership.
Amy is a passionate and talented leader with a long history at Impact. As a founding team member, she has been dedicated to our schools and scholars since our earliest days. Amy was integral to the launch of Impact, set the bar high for operations across our schools, and continues to coach and build our teams. Becoming Co-CEO is a natural and next step for Amy, and one she is well prepared to take. Amy lives in South Seattle – a few streets over from Impact | Salish Sea Elementary at Othello Square and is deeply committed to continuing to serve her community. Having a Co-CEO who resides near one of our schools demonstrates our commitment to representation in leadership from the communities we serve and will enhance our partnership with families.
Amy and Jen will build on five years of successful partnership and have determined clear roles and responsibilities. Amy will be focused internally with leaders, faculty, and families. She will lead our collective efforts in achieving our organizational goals, including guiding Impact’s leadership team, overseeing excellent school operations, and serving as liaison with the Board. Jen will be focused on external-facing work, including fundraising, communications, advocacy, and the Renton facility project. Along with having specific areas of focus, Jen and Amy will rely on one another for advice and counsel and collaborate closely on major organizational decisions. As we begin this next phase of leadership at Impact, we are all committed to connecting more deeply with families and the broader IPS community for feedback and engagement on organizational priorities.
As a Board, we remain committed to learning through listening, and we look forward to continuing to engage with all of you in the coming months. Jen and Amy will be holding a series of open conversations with faculty and families this summer. Jen and Amy will be taking learnings from these conversations to inform priorities and decisions for Impact moving forward. The world and context in which we operate schools has changed significantly since our founding. Our evolution in leadership with both Jen and Amy reflects that changed reality. We are excited for what the future has in store for Impact, and we look forward to taking this next step together with Jen and Amy.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. We wish you the best of luck with the final days of school, and are excited to kick off the new school year when we come back together in August!
In partnership,
| Daniel Narváez Zavala Board Chair, Impact Public Schools | Faduma Ahmed Board Vice Chair, Impact Public Schools |