As we continue to advance our mission and prepare for the future, we are committed to ensuring our organization has the leadership, structure, and resources needed to thrive in a changing environment. Today, we are sharing an important leadership update that reflects our work to deepen our impact and strengthen our ability to serve families and advance educational equity for years to come.
Innovate’s Vice President of Organizing for Los Angeles, Walt Rodriguez, recently made the personal decision to return to his home state of New York to be closer to family.
Walt has been an extraordinary partner to parent leaders, community organizations, school leaders, and advocates across Los Angeles. He led with integrity, deep listening, and a steadfast commitment to ensuring that families remained at the center of our work. His ability to build authentic relationships, navigate complexity, and elevate community voice has left a lasting impact on our team and our partners. While we are certainly sad to see him leave California, we fully support his decision and are grateful for the leadership, heart, and commitment he brought to our work over the past year.
I am excited to share that Joanna French will be leading our Los Angeles organizing work moving forward. Over the past several years, Jo has served as our Vice President of Research and Policy Strategies, helping to build one of the strongest parent-centered research and data teams in the state. Through that work, she has partnered closely with families, community leaders, school systems, and advocates to translate data into action and ensure that community voices shape educational decision-making.
As Jo steps into this expanded role as Vice President of Policy & Los Angeles Organizing, she will oversee our regional strategy, alongside research and policy efforts. She brings a unique combination of strategic leadership, participatory research, deep commitment to educational equity, strong partnership-building skills, and an unwavering belief in the power of parents and communities to drive systems change. We are thrilled to have her stepping into this leadership role and are confident that the relationships and work we have built together in Los Angeles will continue to grow and thrive under her leadership.
Thank you, as always, for your partnership and commitment to students and families. We look forward to continuing our work together.
With gratitude,
Michelle