CATDC is partnering with Karen Whitaker of Carney Sandoe on the search for our next Executive Director. A position description will be available mid-April.
For more information, please feel free to reach out to Karen at karen.whitaker@carneysandoe.com.
Communications
March 20, 2026
Dear CATDC Community Members,
I’m writing in my capacity as CATDC Board Chair to share an important update with our community. Executive Director Lisa Haney has informed the CATDC Board and staff of her decision to step down from her position effective June 30, 2027.
For the past nine years, Lisa has served as CATDC’s visionary leader. As CATDC celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, I had the privilege of hearing countless stories that captured the profound impact Lisa has had on our organization and the educators we serve. Anyone who has worked with Lisa will recognize the same qualities: she is mission-driven, intellectually curious, creative, collaborative, and unwavering in her commitment to equity. Lisa approaches challenges with courage and clarity, and she consistently elevates the voices and work of others.
Currently pursuing a PhD in Community Psychology, Lisa embodies a lifelong dedication to learning and to strengthening the communities around her. Under her leadership, CATDC has flourished. She has guided the organization through the development of a strategic plan, led a thoughtful business model assessment, and expanded CATDC’s reach. Most importantly, Lisa’s leadership has helped ensure that thousands of educators have experienced the transformative professional learning opportunities that define CATDC’s mission. Her legacy will be felt for many years to come.
While we will certainly feel Lisa’s departure, we are grateful that she has given CATDC a long runway to conduct a thoughtful and thorough search for her successor. CATDC trustees Mariama Richards (Head of School at Crossroads School in Santa Monica) and Joel Sohn (Assistant Head of School for Planning and Strategic Initiatives at Head-Royce School in Oakland) are chairing the search committee. We are pleased to be partnering with Karen Whitaker, Senior Consultant at Carney Sandoe, in this process.
Lisa will continue to lead CATDC with the same dedication and excellence that have defined her tenure. Over the next 15 months, she and the staff will continue to offer professional development opportunities that are truly second to none. We also look forward to celebrating Lisa and honoring her remarkable leadership and many accomplishments throughout the upcoming school year.
Sincerely,
Phil Gutierrez
CATDC Board Chair
March 20, 2026
Dear CATDC Community,
I believe in the transformative potential of education and the power of community. This organization engages deeply, daily, with both. So it is with gratitude and genuine excitement about what lies ahead for CATDC that I share the news that I will be stepping down from my role at the end of June 2027.
It has been a great joy and tremendous honor to serve as Executive Director of CATDC, providing me with an unparalleled opportunity to grow to the edges of my capacity as a leader, learn all I can about the field of education, and contribute in meaningful ways. What has made this the job of my dreams, however, is you: board members past and present, the CATDC team, facilitators, coaches, and the thousands of teachers and school leaders who devote time to their own learning and growth so that they can better support the young people in their care. Relationships have always been at the heart of what we do, and I have been very fortunate to work at the center of the myriad connections that form this dynamic and diverse community of practice.
I have attended hundreds of our programs over the years and am always moved by the energy in the room, and, since 2020, on the Zoom. Educators arrive often carrying the weight of their work and leave refreshed and enlivened, with new knowledge, skills, and awareness. I have cherished the privilege to learn with and from you, and hear your stories about the impact of CATDC programs—changing practice, creating new relationships, reconnecting you to your deeper purpose, and even catalyzing careers. Impact that ripples out across classrooms and schools.
Together, we have built upon the strong foundation created by Janet McGarvey, our founding director. Membership has grown by 40% across the state and educators come to our programs from across the country. We emerged from the pandemic a stronger organization, with hybrid and online offerings that expanded access in ways we hadn't imagined, and launched a coaching and consulting arm. We have deepened school partnerships, completed our first five-year strategic plan, and are now implementing new strategic practices that spark thoughtful innovation and agile iteration in the face of rapid change and ongoing uncertainty.
What I am most proud of, however, is bringing equity to the center of our mission and our practice, serving as both a resource and a model for schools engaged in the hard, necessary work of dismantling systems that prevent full participation. As bell hooks wrote: “we are teaching and learning in the direction of justice, peace, and love" co-creating the world we hope to see.
This is the right time for an intentional leadership transition, and I am grateful that the board has moved quickly and wisely, forming a search committee led by Mariama Richards and Joel Sohn and partnering with Karen Whitaker at Carney Sandoe. CATDC is in extraordinarily good hands. I want to express my deep gratitude to outgoing board chair, Phil Gutierrez, for his steadfast support and extraordinary leadership.
My own next chapter is still taking shape, though I am certain that it will involve more learning. I look forward to completing my doctoral research on how intentional communities sustain themselves through rapid change and times of crisis, questions that have informed my work at CATDC, as well as giving back to the field of education in new ways.
In the meantime, I will lead CATDC with the same energy and commitment that have defined my work from the beginning. I hope you will stay close: be in touch about program ideas, attend workshops, bring your colleagues into the community, invite new schools to become members, and if you are able, contribute to the Janet McGarvey Fund, which provides greater access to vital learning and growth.
With gratitude and affection,
Lisa Haney
CATDC Executive Director