Dear Voices Community –

I’m delighted to announce our newest board members: Leonard Jahad and Garth Harries!

Leonard Jahad is the Executive Director of the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program (CT-VIP), where he supervises a team of outreach workers that mentor at-risk youth in New Haven and Hamden communities. A lifelong resident of the greater New Haven area, Jahad spent over 24 years in law enforcement, including stints in the Connecticut Department of Corrections and community corrections prior to his retirement as Chief Probation Officer for the New Haven Adult Probation Office. Jahad also works within the New Haven Public School system as an Intervention Specialist and serves as President of the New Haven My Brother’s Keeper Mentoring Program, as well as, a football coach for the New Haven Steelers of the Pop Warner Football Association.

Garth Harries is currently the managing partner of the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), an arm of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that partners with education leaders to design—or redesign—districts, schools, and systems for rigor, relevance, and relationships. Harries was formerly the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of New Haven Public Schools and, as such, was the architect of New Haven School Change, a nationally recognized school reform initiative designed to provide all students with an outstanding education preparing them to be the next generation of leaders, innovators and problem-solvers. Harries also co-founded Mindful, Inc, a technology start-up that catalyzed systemic change in the early childhood ecosystem by providing integrated developmental screening and promotion.

You can learn more about Leonard Jahad, Garth Harries, and our full Voices Board of Directors here or by reading the press release here.

Please join me in giving Leonard and Garth a warm welcome!

In solidarity,

Emily Byrne, Executive Director