My greatest accomplishment at Transcend has been training leaders to design and facilitate their very own spark workshops so that they can better understand the needs of their community. I am excited to do even more work like this in the coming year, democratizing design support by growing the capacity of others to lead this work independently.

Okie Nwakanma

Partner, Sparks Facilitator

The core value I live out the most in my work is love! Growing up, I thought love was just this feeling only experienced in romantic relationships. I’ve since come to understand many kinds of love and how integral love is to EVERYTHING we do. There are many ways that this happens in the day-to-day, but one of the most important for me has been to fully show up as my queer, Colombian immigrant, sports-loving self, knowing that it permits others to fully show up as themselves. Education at its core is love. And love at its core is education. We must love fully and deeply!

Pedro Carreno

Partner, School Design Services

As Partner, External Affairs, my work (like everyone’s at Transcend) is about elevating voices, insights, and perspectives from the young people and adults imagining and creating the future of education in communities all over the country—what a gift!

Divya Mani

Partner, External Affairs

One of the most fulfilling parts of my work at Transcend has been in making connections with innovative school communities nationally to create possibilities for other school leaders, teachers, and families to go on ‘inspiration visits.’ These visits are arranged not only to showcase innovative models but also to inspire us all to consider what we can take back to our own communities to ask the question of how we can reimagine school for our students in the 21st century.

Jenn Perniciaro

Operations Manager