Corps Member Impact Pods

​The POD development experience is meant to allow CMs strategic exposure and development aligned to one of the four areas of impact most where the majority of our alumni serve after their two year corps experience. The Impact PODs help corps members develop the skills and knowledge needed to become collective leaders. 

Impact Pod Descriptions & Leaders

​Nonprofit Leadership

Pod Leader Leah Palestrant -Learning & Development, City Year Jacksonville

Working for a nonprofit allows you to serve your community and the pressing social issues you feel most passionate about so that you are a driving force for change toward equity in communities across America. Working for a nonprofit may also allow for a flexible work environment and the chance to be surrounded by passionate individuals. Nonprofit organizations must be designated as nonprofit when they are created and may only pursue purposes permitted by statutes for nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit organizations include churches, public schools, public charities, public clinics and hospitals, political organizations, volunteer service organizations (such as TFA!), research institutions, museums, and some government agencies. In this pod, you will engage in conversations and experiences that will introduce you to the day to day experiences that are vital to working in the non profit sector. 

School Leadership

Pod Leader Andrea Barletta - Assistant Principal at Northwestern Middle School

Transformational schools require strong, capable, and committed leadership. To achieve educational equity for all kids, we must do our part to cultivate leaders who can lead transformational schools. While there is almost always only one principal, there are many other school leadership roles in a school building and many of them provide excellent developmental experiences: Assistant principals - These traditional “second in command” roles often have a variety of responsibilities including managing student behavior, teacher coaching and management, materials inventory, and other school wide responsibilities. Deans of Students / Culture / Discipline - Some schools have divided the traditional assistant principal role into more specialized roles like these. These roles focus purely on student and school culture facing work like running school wide assemblies, managing incentive programs and disciplinary systems, and building strong relationships with students and families. Directors of Instruction / Deans of Instruction - These types of specialized roles are often focused purely on increasing student learning or coaching teachers to improve instruction. 

Teacher Leadership

Pod Leader Kaila Campbell -Teacher at James Weldon Johnson Middle School

Every day, approximately 10,000 alumni teachers around the country are working to close the opportunity gap for students in your classrooms. You all serve as professional leaders within the field, advocating for excellence at the school level and beyond. Many alumni have distinguished themselves as teachers of the year in their schools, in their districts and even in their states. These examples of leadership serve as beacons of what can be accomplished in the classroom over time. In this pod, we are committed to understanding and supporting our alumni teachers as they work to increase their mastery, their sustained leadership and their impact year over year in the classroom.

Policy & Advocacy

Pod Leader Kory Von Lue - Master's in Public Policy Candidate at Jacksonville University

Pursuing a career in policy leadership allows you to apply your classroom experience and commitment to educational equity in roles responsible for shaping and implementing policies that can impact students and schools in your community for the better. Often policy makers do not have personal experience as teachers; alumni experience as teachers helps to imagine the impact of policy directly in classrooms. At all levels of government, alumni are drawing on their experiences in the classroom to shape public policy with the needs of children and their communities in mind. As more alumni join the ranks of policy leadership, the changes they effect in their communities, across states, and throughout the country reflect a commitment to all children, even though our alumni hold a variety of perspectives and beliefs. In this pod, you will engage in conversations in experiences that highlight the crucial components to working within the policy field and learn about the skills that need to be developed to enter this field. 

Pod Experience Overview

ACC Learning - Exposure to leaders in the field, career assessments and self reflection at quarterly ACCs.  
Experiential Learning - One experience per quarter aligned to the work of the sector including shadowing a leader and participating in external professional development.
Portfolio Development - Development of a tailored resume, POD presentation, third year action plan
For a full description of the Pod expectations refer to the CM 
Learn more about the POD leaders here.