November 16, 2020
Dear TEAK family,
When offered the opportunity to serve as the Executive Director of The TEAK Fellowship I was thrilled and accepted the position with confidence. After all, I had known TEAK from its humble beginnings in 1998. For 15 years, I had monitored TEAK’s progress from afar and interacted with many of its staff, parents, and students. What I did not know then, however, was that TEAK would become the privilege of my professional life. For that privilege, I will always be grateful.
That said, my wife Alison and I recently made the decision to move back to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and I will retire from TEAK at the end of the academic year. We are both seeking more flexible schedules for ourselves going forward, yes, but also time to care for our parents and to see, more often at least, our five grandchildren.
It is a good time, I believe, for me to take my leave. I am very proud of what the Fellowship was able to accomplish together over the past six years.
We established a College Success program and extended our impact on our students from six years to ten years. We established academic sites in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens to meet the students where they are. We are on our way to expanding the number of motivated students we serve by 50% and changing the trajectory of their lives and their family for generations. We even renovated our offices/classrooms on West 22nd Street to accommodate that growth.
We have both strengthened and diversified our staff and tried to provide them with the modeling and training necessary to become leaders within our organization and beyond. We also began the process of diversifying our Board, too, welcoming a number of new and talented colleagues who have raised our sights and broadened our perspective.
On a personal note, I will miss my colleagues on our board who give so much of themselves in pursuit of our mission and my colleagues on our staff who dedicate themselves to our families and all of whom generously support my leadership. I will miss TEAK parents whose sacrifice on behalf of their children I have to admire, and especially TEAK students in whose presence I enjoyed every minute … in the classroom, at Shakespeare in the Park, at Sacred Heart’s Swimming Pool, and on overnight trips at Princeton-Blairstown Center and The Masters School.
Most importantly, I assure you that the leadership transition will be conducted thoughtfully and effectively. Our board of directors has formed a selection committee and retained an executive search firm to identify the next executive director. We will soon find a worthy successor. In the meantime, I promise you all that I will maintain the same joyful intensity that has characterized my work style on-site until my very last day.
Sincerely,
John F. Green
Executive Director
Read the statement from Marc Becker, Chair of the TEAK Board of Directors