My Summer: Ed.L.D. Candidate Janis Ortega

After a successful stint as the Teach For America (TFA) national managing director, Ed.L.D. candidate Janis Ortega was ready for a different challenge at the Ed School.  “I left [TFA] wanting a different perspective,” she says. However, after completing her first year in the Ed.L.D. Program, TFA’s global network – Teach For All, which sets out to develop similar models in other countries – came calling with a summer job offer. It was an opportunity she couldn’t refuse. Her role at Teach For All would have her working directly with network partners across the world on knowledge development through the use of training models and case studies. She would also be asked to work directly with Teach For Pakistan on strategy and planning.

When she signed on to the seven-week position, she learned that Teach For Pakistan had launched only two years ago with the aid of one funder. As the organization was gearing up for growth, it needed to focus on fundraising and becoming a sustainable nonprofit. That is where Ortega’s work came into play.

“They had little idea how to fundraise,” she says of the Teach For Pakistan leadership team and board. “My role was helping them see themselves as a social enterprise and how funders would be a part of that.”

By the end of the summer, she was invited to spend a week on the ground in Karachi working directly with Teach For Pakistan staff.

“This was one of the most exciting trips I’ve ever been on,” Ortega says. She was blown away by the incredible people of Pakistan, she says, and how much they embraced her as a visitor.

In many ways, Ortega was surprised at the similarities between education in Pakistan and the United States, especially the challenges in attracting talent in the classroom. She says that there is a stigma about teaching in Pakistan leading many to pursue other professions. Additionally, she says the country struggles with many other challenges, including a lack of social infrastructure and low pay for teachers.

Ortega learned that there are many challenges in education that are universal. “To take a global view on the challenge, you are stripped down to what might blind you and it gives you a new set of eyes,” she says, noting that the experience reinforced her belief that leadership at all levels of a system are fundamental in education. “It gave me more joy and enthusiasm for the work I do around leadership development.”