Office Doors: A Day with Kim Graham
CEO of Arizona Educational Foundation
4 A.M. >> IN THE STILL OF THE MORNING
When I wake up, I get a jolt of caffeine with a cup of coffee to wake my brain. I do a lot of grant writing at this time of the day because it’s quiet. My email isn’t exploding, the phone isn’t ringing, and most of my team is asleep. I also take time while my brain can focus on looking at my calendar and thinking about the day and week ahead to make sure I’m prepared.
My dog, Lola, runs our household and thinks the laptop is a competitor for my lap. She doesn’t like it when the laptop is in the way, so she lays across the keyboard while I try to type around her.
7 A.M. >> ARIZONA ROOTS
AEF was founded by Carolyn Warner, who was state superintendent of public instruction at the time. The Arizona Teacher of the Year and the A+ School of Excellence programs were run by the Department of Education, and she felt there was a huge disservice to the dedication of public-school employees, and the only time a public school was in the news was when something bad happened.
Carolyn created a nonprofit that celebrates excellence within public education because she felt this was missing from the narrative. She secured funding to launch AEF from Bill Shover with The Arizona Republic and Eddie Basha. The fact that AEF is grounded in these Arizona champions, along with its 41-year longevity, is rare.
10:30 A.M. >> VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
My workweek is multifaceted. We never know what each day will bring, but we do know that we’re infusing good into the world by making public schools, educators and administrators feel valued.
AEF has a reach of over half a million students, teachers and administrators as well as programs in more than 2,000 schools statewide each year. Every day is different. There are days centered around our A+ School of Excellence program, and we have 150 to 200 principals statewide on a Zoom call in 75 breakout rooms adjudicating applications, or it may be Arizona Teacher of the Year selection, where we have 16 members of the education, business and higher education community in a room interviewing the teacher candidates. It may be a quiet day when I have a parent who just moved to Arizona call to ask if we can recommend a neighborhood with an outstanding public school.
12:15 P.M. >> A GOLD STAR FOR GROWTH
AEF existed for 35 years with one full-time employee. My goal since joining the organization six years ago has been to write grants and increase AEF’s capacity to serve more schools. To do that, we needed to add staff. During this time, we’ve gone from me being the only employee to now having a staff of 10. A few months ago, we moved from a one-person, 341-square-foot office to a 2,700-square-foot office on the BHHS Legacy Foundation campus.
We’ve experienced substantial growth. Now that we have a staff of talented individuals, I can come out of the weeds and focus on our vision and strategy, making sure everything we’re doing is aligned. Rather than being reactive, I’m now able to step back and watch everything we are doing come together. It’s making us better and our work higher quality.
1:30 P.M. >> PRACTICAL FOCUS
We hear about the teacher retention issue, but we don’t hear a lot about the principal retention issue. We’re losing principals as fast as we are teachers. Both groups will say that one of the reasons they leave the profession is due to a lack of support and recognition. This is where AEF does its best work. We have programs that provide teacher training and a Principals Leadership Academy for new principals or people on a principal track about to take over school leadership. Most leadership programs are for seasoned principals and focus on case studies or theory. AEF is instead focused on the nuts and bolts of what you need to be prepared on your first day of school.
3 P.M. >> RESPONSIVENESS AT HEART
AEF is the heartbeat of public schools and tries to be responsive. We want schools to feel loved and appreciated, but it’s more than just celebrating their accomplishments. We know not every school has the same resources or serves the same community. Some schools need support to have the same opportunities as others.
An example of our responsiveness to the needs of public schools occurred when we conducted a survey to learn what AI training schools and districts were providing. We were surprised to find out that less than 30 percent of districts were addressing it this year. So we came out of the gate this school year with AI training for teachers and principals and also launched an AI in special education training program for special education teachers on how to use AI to meet each student’s unique, individual learning needs.
6 P.M. >> ENDING THE DAY WITH JOY
Part of my job is to be an evangelist that public education impacts everyone. We all need to be concerned about what’s happening in public schools and make sure they have the support they need, because they are our future. They are our society.
After I wrap up my workday, my husband and I watch the local and nightly news together and have a nightcap. We also typically watch a cooking show, something that is joyful and requires no thinking.
To learn more, go to azedfoundation.org.
