A key lesson from the Foundation's experience in the Boston Public Schools focuses on the importance of leadership both among teaching staff and building administration as well in the nonprofit community.

Creating education leaders at every level who are equipped to manage the new realities of public education poses an intriguing opportunity. Traditional models of professional development can benefit from the kinds of leadership development processes that are used in corporate settings and in cross-disciplinary programs. The Trefler Foundation has partnered with the Center for Collaborative Leadership at UMass Boston (http://www.leaders.umb.edu) to bring classroom teachers into the Emerging Leaders Program, a program aimed at creating strong, diverse leadership for the community. The Foundation is eager to understand how this program can support teachers in their classrooms and in their buildings.

The Foundation also is partnering with BostNet, (www.bostnet.org) an intermediary organization that supports the development of the out-of-school-time field to explore the leadership challenges and opportunities among program directors and executives directors who work in after school youth development and education programs. The foundation recently conducted an online survey of these programs and has facilitated two focus groups to deepen our knowledge.