Dear Step One Community,
The Board of Trustees is thrilled to announce that Susana Casher will be the next Executive Director of Step One School! Susana will begin the new role in August at the start of our 2022-23 school year, upon Sue Britson’s retirement.
Susana is well known to Step One, as she has held the position of Program Director at the school for the past nine years. As Program Director, Susana has been responsible for supervision of all classroom programs, teachers, and children, including oversight of parent communication, observation and assessment of children, and support of curriculum development and implementation. Susana holds a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley and an Ed.M. from Harvard University. Prior to Step One, she worked as a Play Therapist for children in the Head Start program at Habitot Children’s Museum in Berkeley, developing parent education programs, as well as with Life is Good Playmakers, supporting preschool teachers in implementing therapeutic play in their classrooms.
We selected Susana for this role after an extensive national search, which yielded more than 20 candidates. Throughout this process, Susana continually impressed us with her deep knowledge of the school and the Step One community, her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, her capable management style and her enthusiastic vision for the future of Step One.
While we can’t wait to begin working with Susana in her new role, we also want to acknowledge the incredible legacy and achievements of our retiring Founding Director, Sue Britson. We look forward to celebrating Sue’s retirement with you all in the months to come. Please read on below for notes from Sue and Susana.
A note from Sue:
“I am beyond thrilled to congratulate our wonderful Susana as Step One’s next Executive Director. Her amazing support of teachers, children, and families is in evidence here every day. My partnership with Susana over the last nine years has been incredibly rewarding and filled with the love, learning, and talents that are so important to Step One’s leadership. I look forward to the coming months of transition as I ‘pass the torch’ to Susana as Step One’s next visionary leader. I know you will join me in welcoming her with so much Step One love and support!”
A note from Susana:
“I am honored to be moving into the role of Executive Director at Step One, and excited for what is in store for our wonderful school. Working in partnership with Sue over the last nine years has been an incredible gift and I look forward to continuing her commitment to Step One’s core values and dedication to children, families, and teachers. I am eternally grateful to our school community of board members, staff, parents, and caregivers for embracing me and my family for all of these years.”
We will begin the leadership transition in the coming months, leading up to Sue’s retirement at the end of the school year. Some initiatives already underway include, developing and releasing our next Strategic Plan and hiring a new Program Director.
Many members of the Step One community participated in this recruitment process, and we would like to give our special thanks to the parents, teachers, and community members who served on the Succession Planning and Interview committees. In particular, we wish to thank Board member and Succession Planning committee chair, Maureen Nandini Mitra, whose countless hours of work and organizational prowess kept the process on track, and also consultants Wendy Brawer and Sofia Chancey of InTune Collective, who provided valuable guidance and oversight of our recruiting efforts.
We will stay in touch with periodic updates during the transition, and as always, we thank you for your commitment to our school.
Friends Forever,
Jenny Herbert Creek
Board Chair