About Us
We are just like you...parents with busy jobs and busy lives who still find time to help out, pitch in and stand up for what we believe in (thank goodness for caffeine and cell phones). |  |
 | The Educate Our State Leadership TeamFrom left: Teri Levy, Linda Shaffer, Catherine Goddard, Crystal Brown, Annie Bauccio-Moore, Susie Peyton and Cece Kaufman (with 4-year-old daughter Tatum) |
Leadership Team
There are seven of us on the leadership team, all moms (ok, PTA moms) and all have kids currently in the K-12 Public Education system. We take turns writing press releases, running the email campaign, finding strategic partners, touching base with our legislators and looking for funding. (Click names for Linkedin bios.)
Annie Bauccio-Moore
Crystal Brown -- see Crystal's inclusion in Forward Thinkers: California's Everyday Leaders here
Cece Kaufman
Susie Peyton
Linda Shaffer
Teri Levy Teri joined Educate Our State after leading a very successful Public Education awareness effort in 2010 using the power of a viral video to spread the message "Say No To Cuts." Over 1,000,000 people watched the video in only a few short weeks bringing an enormous amount of awareness (and some new Megan Fox fans) to the issue. Just in case you missed it, click here.
Catherine Goddard joined forces with Educate Our State after starting and running the successful non-profit Support California Kids. We are thrilled to have her expertise and energy on the Educate Our State team.
Campaign Advisors
We feel fortunate to receive advice and support from the follow people as we proceed with our campaign to fight for high quality public education.
Rachel Norton, San Francisco School Board Commissioner
Shelly Masur, Redwood City School Board Trustee
Jim Sutton, The Sutton Law Firm
Alex Tourk, Ground Floor Public Affairs
Marian Chatfield Taylor, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library
Paul Hirsch, Division of Labor, Advertising
Kerrie Malone, Graphic Design
Matt Haney, Citizen Hope
Background
In November 2009, we faced a major budget crisis at our San Francisco elementary school, much as schools across the state have experienced. Frustrated, a teacher at our school inspired us to think beyond our own school fundraising and trying to solve the problem locally. She suggested a city-wide town hall meeting as a launch point for action.
Three months later, the “Sherman Six”, a group of six mothers of elementary-age children, brought the idea to life as a Town Hall, filling an auditorium with more than 1,000 concerned parents, political groups, and non-profit organizations, listening to and exchanging ideas with a distinguished panel that included State Senators and Assembly people, the heads of the local Board of Supervisors, the entire San Francisco Board of Education, the Mayor of San Francisco, and San Francisco’s Superintendent of Schools.
The Town Hall exposed the urgent need for a larger statewide effort to harness the power of parents and direct energy at the state-centered source of the problem. Parents are frustrated, angry and ready to take action.
What started as a simple Town Hall turned into a parent movement, connecting localized groups of frustrated parents into one, larger organization with the goal of driving public education funding reform at the state level.
Educate Our State is a nonprofit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, tax id# 27-1686467.
