THE PLAYBOOK
THE EXPERIENTIAL WORKSHOP
ABOUT US
The workshop is designed and led by Trish Millines Dziko and Kimberly Smith – two seasoned education leaders who have led at the edge of education innovation, worked in non-and-for-profit education, launched organizations, created groundbreaking models and programs and built transformative teams – and, along the journey, have collaborated with, supported and built deep friendships with many incredible education leaders.
Trish and Kim met when they were selected for the Aspen-Pahara Institute cohort in 2013. In 2016, they successfully launched and led a non-profit organization. Trish and Kim love working together and creating professional learning experiences that are unique and innovative – and decided to launch The Playbook to address a gap they are seeing in the education sector to help leaders recenter their work in their why, team and work.
Kimberly Smith
Kimberly A. Smith is Co-Lead and Chief Innovation Officer at Digital Promise’s Center for Learner Pathway Innovations. She supports a national network of forward-thinking school district leaders working in partnership with their communities to research and develop solutions to create college and career opportunities that ensure learners can thrive in today’s dynamic world.
She held previous education leadership positions at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, PBS, Discovery Education and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. She is an Aspen-Pahara Institute fellow and co-founder of the National Charter Collaborative.
Trish Millines Dziko
Trish Millines Dziko is a change agent, mentor, and advocate for children of color. She is the cofounder, Executive Director, visionary and strategist behind the Technology Access Foundation (TAF) — one of the leading education non-profits educating kids of color to their full potential.
A New Jersey native, worked in the tech sector for nearly two decades, and saw very little change in employee demographics despite tremendous industry growth: Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders remained grossly underrepresented. Determined to solve the problem, Trish left her successful career in tech in 1996 to ensure more young people who looked like her could thrive in this influential field
An Aspen-Pahara Institute fellow and co-founder of the National Charter Collaborative, she received her BS in Computer Science from Monmouth University in New Jersey.