We’re excited to welcome Erika Giampietro to Strategies for Children’s board of directors!
“Erika brings a vital perspective,” board chair Sally Fuller explains. “She has devoted her career to improving educational systems. She is a deep thinker who loves innovation, and we’re eager to have her share these skills with Strategies.”
After graduating from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in business, Giampietro began her career as a consultant helping businesses solve problems, work she enjoyed.
“One of our clients was Teach for America,” she recalls, “and as soon as I started working with them, I thought, ‘Wow, this is different. This place is passionate. The people here are full of life. And it is exciting to be working on something that really affects human outcomes.’ ”
Once the consulting project was done, Teach for America offered Giampietro a job, and, as she says, she “took it and never looked back.”
Her path forward led to the Boston Public Schools where she was offered a job managing the district’s federal and state grants. It was not a job she sought; a colleague encouraged her to come and meet John McDonough, BPS’ longtime CFO.
“As I look back at my career, I can see that there’s a real thread of who you work with is more important than what exactly you are doing. So I took the interview. I met John. He had worked his way up through the school system and earned the trust of the Boston community. And I thought, well, how many times will I be able to work with someone from whom I can learn so much?”
Giampietro took the job and went on to become BPS’ Deputy Chief Financial Officer; Interim Chief Financial Officer, when McDonough became the interim superintendent; and eventually Special Assistant to the Superintendent.
She has also worked as a Senior Advisor at Empower Schools and as the founding Executive Director at the Massachusetts Alliance for Early College, where she now serves as board chair.
We asked Giampietro about the challenges she sees in education, and she pointed to the uneven distribution of obstacles and opportunities.
“Everyone brings great talents and has much to offer the world, but so many are born into situations where it’s difficult to realize a lot of that, where they are swimming against the current. To me those are the most heartbreaking challenges.
“What are the compelling and exciting opportunities? There are a lot of them,” Giampietro adds. “We see that in early college programs, and we see that in early education.
“When you take someone who faces challenges to college success, and you very intentionally expose them to college while they’re in high school in deep and supportive ways, they get a sense for what it means to be successful in college. They believe in themselves. They develop skills, habits, and mindsets. And the data shows us it works.”
“Early childhood is also full of opportunity. There’s so much we can get done. And having an impact on someone’s life at such an early age is huge. Everybody deserves an even playing field to realize their potential.”
In addition to her work in education, Giampietro is also an experienced trustee who has served on the boards of a number of organizations, including Access Better Learning and Education (ABLE) and The Teacher Collaborative. She is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development.
We asked Giampietro why she joined Strategies’ board, and she said, “What has really become a theme in my career is working with, and seeking to work with, people who are passionate and excelling and getting stuff done, and that’s what I see with this team.”
Amy O’Leary, Strategies for Children’s executive director, praises Giampietro’s experience and energy, noting “Erika’s insight and expertise are invaluable. She has seen so many sides of education, and she is committed to building systems that support students of all ages.”