TAF Presents: This Is The Work Podcast

In the first episode of TAF Talks, two principals from TAF's partner schools in Tacoma, WA discuss their hopes for their students as the school year begins. Arron Wilkins, principal of Boze Elementary shares how TAF Teacher Institute helps prepare teachers to offer relevant, project-based and STEM curriculum to engage students and how the Institute has become a community to grow professionally with other educators committed to TAF's model. Jennifer Cooper, Roosevelt Elementary's new principal, shares her excitement for the opportunities TAF will bring to her school and how she envisions students will benefit - both academically and socially.

Jamila Conley is a VP in IT at F5 Networks providing strategic business solutions and a member of TAF's board. Social Media TAF: Techaccess.org www.facebook.com/stembytaf/ twitter.com/stembytaf www.instagram.com/stembytaf/ Jamila Conley https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamila-conley-5180456/ Zithri Saleem: zithri.com www.twitter.com/ZithriSaleem www.linkedin.com/in/zithrisaleem Mayowa Aina: MayowaAina.com twitter.com/mayowaaina_ www.linkedin.com/in/mayowaaina/ Domonique Meeks: DomoniqueMeeks.com twitter.com/domoniquemeeks www.facebook.com/domoniquelmeeks/ instagram.com/domoniquemeeks www.linkedin.com/in/domonique-meeks-01542320/

Trish Millines Dziko cofounded TAF in 1996 after spending 15 years as a developer, designer and manager in the high tech industry. A native of New Jersey who attended Monmouth College (now Monmouth University) on a basketball scholarship, she graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science in 1979 at a time when few people of color and few women were entering the field. Her successful career brought her to Microsoft in the late-1980s, just as the pioneering software company was set to become a worldwide brand. Over the next decade of tremendous growth, she saw very little change in the high tech industry: women and people of color remained grossly underrepresented. After careful research she traced the root of the problem to the lack of access to rigorous, relevant technology training in our public schools, particularly those in traditionally underserved communities of color. Trish left Microsoft in 1996, the same year she founded TAF. Trish has led the growth of TAF into a statewide leader in STEM education, operating TAF Academy, increasing the number of teachers of color through the Martinez Fellowship, and partnering with public schools to transform them into academic environments that will promote the highest level of student learning. Trish and her spouse Jill Hull Dziko live on Vashon Island and are the proud parents of 4 children. -- Dr. Edwards Lange has a wide range of experience in higher education administration and has been a leading advocate for diversity and inclusion throughout her career. She started her tenure at Seattle Central in August of 2015 as interim president, and was named to the permanent position in May of 2016. Prior to this, she served as vice president for Minority Affairs and vice provost for Diversity at the University of Washington (UW). In these roles, she was responsible for increasing diversity and working with senior leadership to improve the campus climate and retention of diverse students, faculty and staff. As a result of her work, the entire UW community is now engaged in making the campus more inclusive and welcoming for people of all backgrounds. -- Keisha Scarlett is the Executive Director of Organizational Development & Equity for Seattle Public schools and a former principal in the Seattle Public Schools. Prior to becoming a school administrator, she was a mentor for Seattle School’s novice secondary mathematics and science teachers and a middle school mathematics coach. She is currently weeks away from completing a doctoral program and previously received her master's degree in education from Heritage University and her administration credentials from University of Washington. Scarlett has had the opportunity to receive professional development training from National Urban Alliance consultants in an ongoing project with the Seattle Schools Literacy Initiative. Scarlett is a representative of the NSF-funded project, Lenses on Learning: Research-Based Mathematics Professional Development for K–12 Principals, Teacher Leaders, and District Leaders. Continued Reading: Seeds of a Black Woman written by Zithri Ahmed Saleem here: http://bit.ly/MedSKT Social Media: Techaccess.org www.facebook.com/stembytaf/ Twitter: @stembytaf www.instagram.com/stembytaf/ Trish Millines Dziko trishmi@techaccess.org Facebook/Twitteer: @TrishDziko http://www.trishdziko.com/ Dr. Sheila Edwards-Lange: Twitter: @EdwardsLange Email: Sheila.EdwardsLange@seattlecolleges.edu Keisha Scarlett Twitter: @scarlettfevah Email: kdscarlett@seattleschools.org Phone: (206) 412-6899 Zithri Saleem: http://zithri.com Twitter: @ZithriSaleem http://linkedin.com/in/zithrisaleem Mayowa Aina: http://MayowaAina.com twitter: @mayowaaina_ http:// linkedin.com/in/mayowaaina/ Domonique Meeks: DomoniqueMeeks.com Twitter: @domoniquemeeks http://facebook.com/domoniquelmeeks/ http://instagram.com/domoniquemeeks http://linkedin.com/in/domonique-meeks-01542320/ Music Credit: Ampfire

My Tam is an external affairs executive with a decade of experience in government relations, community engagement, new media strategy, and stakeholder development. She’s worked in government at the city and state levels, in political campaigning, and in modular housing technology to address the housing and homelessness crisis. She has a masters in urban planning from Harvard University and a journalism degree from the University of Washington. Her education and fellowships have taken her to work on applying smarter city strategies to immigrant business corridors in France and Italy, to working with small holder African-American farmers in the South to build new economic development models for sustainable growth. In her spare time she sits on a number of community boards, hosts food tours in Seattle’s ethnic food districts, and revels in the stunning hikes and beauty of the Pacific Northwest. She’s currently looking for opportunities to use her talents, skills and experience to bridge political and economic capital to address the urgent issues of our time on a global scale. She has a specific interest in bridging technology and innovation with policy and governance to build healthy communities and address major infrastructure and basic human needs (shelter, water, food, health, transportation, and education). Ian Freed, is a former Amazon.com Vice President of Devices and 30-year technology business veteran. He has recently become head of TAFs TSP-CS 2.0 and aims to take TSP-CS 1.0 a step further by incorporating dozens, hundreds, and eventually thousands of technology industry experts to help not only TAF’s newly expanded school TAF@Saghalie in King County, but ultimately any school that shares TAF’s vision. Social Media TAF: Techaccess.org www.facebook.com/stembytaf/ twitter.com/stembytaf www.instagram.com/stembytaf/ Zithri Saleem: zithri.com www.twitter.com/ZithriSaleem www.linkedin.com/in/zithrisaleem Mayowa Aina: MayowaAina.com twitter.com/mayowaaina_ www.linkedin.com/in/mayowaaina/ Domonique Meeks: DomoniqueMeeks.com twitter.com/domoniquemeeks www.facebook.com/domoniquelmeeks/ instagram.com/domoniquemeeks www.linkedin.com/in/domonique-meeks-01542320/ Music Credit: Ampfire