In 2006, when I first began to work on the lower east side of Manhattan as the Director of an after school program on Avenue D, I was introduced to the Partnership For After School Education or PASE as it is known and referred to by those of us who have been lucky enough to meet the wonderful people who are a part of that organization. At the time I had a heart to do the work, but no formal training and very little experience, and because of the excellence of the services available at PASE I was not only able to bring so many wonderful enrichment programs to the youth and families I was serving, but I was given the opportunity to be a part of several high level and highly regarded trainings and educational workshops and career development college and graduate level courses that changed the trajectory of my own career. It's been something that I've thought of often during this past year of challenges due to the current health and economic crisis that has brought about so many changes to all of our lives and the ways that we have been used to work. Since the time that I took my first training at PASE my own work has moved from the lower east side to all over the five boroughs, changing from being the Director of an after school program to teaching community nutrition and health and then onto starting my own community based organization. But through it all, as my own work and life changed and grew, PASE was a constant that was always a valuable resource, adding to and strengthening the experience I was gaining in the field, and appearing often with new ideas, supportive services and information about best practices that have continued to this day to make it possible for me to do the work that I do with to the best of my ability.
Two years ago I wrote about Landit, a women's executive leadership development program that was offered to me through PASE because of other leadership development programs I had graduated from in the past. I knew at the time when I applied for it that it would be a wonderful opportunity because every program I have been a part of through PASE is always so memorable and useful and full of the types of information and resources that help support career growth and knowledge, and it was life changing. During this past year I have been so grateful that I had that opportunity when I did because I have used the information and skills learned in ways that I never imagined that I would have to before the world as we know it changed. Even if we were still living in the time before this current crisis, the insights and skills and tools that were made available through Landit were powerful and empowering. In this current landscape of uncertainty, they have been integral to so much of the work that I do that I am reminded every day of how important the gift of that opportunity was.
Organizations like PASE are so valuable, because they support those who are doing the work in the communities on so many levels. When we measure impact, we can also look at the exponential quality of what the work has the capacity to do, and with an organization like PASE, the numbers of people whose lives are affected for the better because of their stellar and committed daily work to support the after school providers, services and educators in the community can only be measured in stars.
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