Excel Bridgeport Leader To Step Down

Maria Zambrano, executive director of the education advocacy group Excel Bridgeport that supported initiatives advanced by former school chief Paul Vallas, has announced she will leave the organization March 28.

“I helped found Excel Bridgeport in 2011 during a breakthrough time in Bridgeport public education,” Zambrano wrote in a statement to organization supporters. “I was humbled by the invitation to make a deep impact in my community. From childhood to adulthood, Bridgeport has pushed me, nurtured me and given me a wealth of opportunities. I am grateful that I have been able to give back to a place I love so much.”

Excel Bridgeport had served as the antithesis to the Connecticut Working Families Party that now has coalition control of the Board of Education. Excel Bridgeport had embraced many of the education reforms proposed by Vallas. The organization also was on opposite sides with the WFP in Mayor Bill Finch’s failed attempt in 2012 to win voter approval to appoint school board members. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in independent expenditures influenced the outcome with Excel Bridgeport among organizations supporting the city charter initiative. The WFP was among several groups that led defeat of the question asserting a yes vote would disenfranchise voters.

In the past year, however, the organization has taken a lower profile trying to build bridges in reaching education goals, especially with the WFP now in charge of the school board. In a statement Zambrano adds:

I’ve been inspired to work alongside the tenacious Bridgeport parents, youth and community members who advocate for high-quality public education in this city. I continue to marvel at the growth I’ve seen in our parent leaders, parents who initially engaged around issues affecting their own children but who have moved on to help all children in Bridgeport.

Moving forward, Excel Bridgeport’s work continues. Too many Bridgeport children are stuck in failing schools and face a life of limited opportunities. Excel’s model of building collective will and community action for world-class public schools stands out as a critical lesson as we look to improve public education across the state and nation. This work cannot stop until all children in this great city have access to an excellent public education.

Excel Bridgeport has appointed Erica Schwarz as the interim executive director. Her background:

Erica Schwarz comes to Excel Bridgeport with expertise in community organizing and nonprofit organizational management. Erica has been a consultant to Excel Bridgeport since September, providing coaching and training for our organizers as they work more closely with parents and youth to develop strategies and implement campaigns for better education in Bridgeport.

Before moving to Connecticut last summer, Erica was the Executive Director of WATCH, a community development corporation in Waltham, Massachusetts that organizes tenants to improve housing conditions and affordability in their community. During her tenure as WATCH’s director, Erica expanded its community organizing work, engaging many more families with WATCH, and more than doubled fundraising from community members.

Prior to her management of WATCH, Erica spent five years as WATCH’s lead community organizer. Among other campaigns, Erica organized tenants at a large apartment complex who secured an agreement from the owners to cap rent increases for 104 families for 4 years. This agreement prevented displacement of families who could not afford large rent hikes, and was the most expansive agreement of its kind at the time in Massachusetts.

Erica has also worked in the Community Development Department for the City of Medford, Massachusetts and served on the board of a small business association in downtown Waltham. She is currently a volunteer with the Turtle Shell Fund, a nonprofit arts organization in Shelton, where she lives with her husband.