Advancement Project Celebrates Kim Pattillo Brownson’s Legacy and Promotion of New Education Leadership
For Immediate Release
June 3, 2016
Contact:
Amy Sausser, Communications Officer
(310) 770-0869;
asausser@advanceproj.org
Los Angeles, CA. The leadership of Advancement Project is pleased to announce that noted education advocate Kim Pattillo Brownson is taking her many talents to our trusted partner and ally, First 5 LA. Pattillo Brownson will move from her role of Managing Director of Policy & Advocacy at Advancement Project to Vice President of Policy & Strategy at First 5 LA, at the end of June 2016.
Pattillo Brownson began working at Advancement Project almost a decade ago with Founding Co-Directors Molly Munger and Steve English to focus on K-12 schools. Later, as Director of Educational Equity, she charted the strategic direction of the burgeoning early childhood work and, as Managing Director of Policy and Advocacy, built the state and local political and policy partnerships.
“Advancement Project allowed me to use my legal training and predilection for data and policy to think creatively about how to solve the funding and quality challenges of our early education system across California, “ said Pattillo Brownson. “I’m so proud to have been part of Advancement Project’s phenomenal growth; I am equally excited to bring the values of equity, fairness, and justice to new challenges to improve outcomes for young children across Los Angeles County.”
Pattillo Brownson has built Advancement Project’s Educational Equity team and work with skill, grace, and extreme commitment to California’s students. Executive Director John Kim said, “No one understands the intricacies of local and state politics and public funding for education like Kim. Couple that with her tenacity and willingness to always go the extra mile – it’s hard to find a more effective advocate.”
He continued, “In some ways, Kim and I have grown up together in this work, working side by side to make sure that families and students in low-income communities of color have a fighting chance to succeed. I will miss working alongside her on a daily basis but am so excited to see what she accomplishes in her new role at First 5 LA.”
Advancement Project’s education advocacy will now be led by Karla Pleitéz Howell, in her new role of Director of Educational Equity. “As Associate Director, Karla has solidified our team, strengthened our programmatic focus, and built connections across the organization,” said Pattillo Brownson. “I am certain that the Educational Equity team will rise to a new level of excellence under her leadership.”
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Advancement Project is a next generation, multiracial civil rights organization. In California we champion the struggle for greater equity and opportunity for all, fostering upward mobility in communities most impacted by economic and racial injustice. We build alliances and trust, use data-driven policy solutions, create innovative tools, and work alongside communities to ignite social transformation!