Lydia Freeman Kumar Email & Phone Number

Carrboro, North Carolina, United States

I lead an incredible team to provide high-quality professional learning for educators. My work ensures that we're aligned with other firm-wide initiatives, and I interface with various leaders to create systems and structures that help us work effectively internally as well as externally. I'm also collaborating with the innovation team, as well as.

I was driven to improve and build upon the professional learning services we offered to Opportunity Culture educators, and so I stepped into a role managing all our professional learning services. I developed a Theory of Action and strove to ensure PL services aligned with firm-wide vision. I developed systems of centralizing communication with 10+.

Notable for me this year was working on a federal study to measure the impacts of teacher leadership and supporting small rural districts and large urban districts with designing and implementing Opportunity Culture models. I worked closely with four different states. This year was also significant because of the work I did to support a positive, team.

I developed a series of PD sessions on Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies and coaching, supported schools through the design and change management process, and conducted interviews that led to data-based recommendations. I was also able to develop and sell a community of practice series to a two districts.

Gaston, NC

Moving into an instructional coach role allowed me to lead and coach adults, and it laid the groundwork for my next experience with Public Impact. I led a small team of English teachers, and I engaged in coaching cycles with each member of my team using frameworks from Get Better Faster and Leverage Leadership. My role also involved relationship-building.

Gaston, North Carolina

After two years teaching at Gaston Middle School, I moved to the nearby KIPP Charter school. School culture was completely different - my first taste of company culture shock! I taught sixth grade English, and my students excelled academically. Every year, I had my students participate in the YES! essay contest. I understood the importance of writing as a.

Richmond, Virginia Area

If you'd ask me what I wanted to be from the ages of 14-23, I would have said "writer." Working with David Bailey Associates started as an internship and continued for years as a freelance writer for the firm. What I love about writing is the same thing I love about many other jobs I've had. The opportunity to connect with others, communicate a message.

Gaston Middle School

My first school year was full of hope and defeat. My fifth grade students brought in baby pictures and school photos that I taped around my desk. We built a map of the United States using the floor tiles to ensure it was to scale. I took a mental health day that year and imagined the adult that each of my students might grow into, and I came back and.

Eastern North Carolina

When I became a TFA corps member, I joined a group of other bright, justice-oriented young people. We imagined a world where students had access to great education, and we experienced how complex that is to turn into a reality. My program began with a training in the Mississippi Delta followed by a two year commitment to teaching in eastern North Carolina..

As an RA, I had two office duty nights per week. Sometimes, I sat in the small room doing homework. Usually, someone was with me. I spent hours talking with different students, asking questions and sharing stories. Looking back, I strove to embody compassionate listening and worked to create an environment of belonging.

Bluefield, VA

My first job in college was as a work study in the admissions office. Some days I entered information from interest cards in the chicken-scratch handwriting of high-schoolers. (I was fast, but I was bored.) Other days, I answered the phone, sat at the front desk, and invited people in.

Executive Mba

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), English And Communications, 3.95

Activities and Societies: President of Student Union Board, Student Ambassadors, Honors Program, Alpha Chi Honors Society, Phi Beta.