Susan Naimark

5 Posts

Susan Naimark worked in community development for many years, most recently as the director of National Community Building and Organizing Programs for NeighborWorks America. She served eight years on the school board for the City of Boston, and was one of the founders of the Boston Parent Organizing Network. Susan now is an independent consultant who does training at the intersection of community building, education, and racial equity organizing. She is the author of The Education of a White Parent: Wrestling with Race and Opportunity in the Boston Public Schools (Levellers Press, 2012).
Neighborhood Change

Gentrification and Public Schools: It’s Complicated

February 4, 2016 | Susan Naimark

An influx of more affluent families and their resources and advocacy is just what every struggling school needs, right? Well . . .

Neighborhood Change

Engaging the Public Schools: Are You Ready?

October 29, 2015 | Susan Naimark

Many community development organizations approach the issue of public education with trepidation. Too many public schools have been entrenched in mediocrity for too long. The politics are messy. Public schools […]

Neighborhood Change

New Territory

February 11, 2013 | Susan Naimark

How two CDCs added school reform to their agendas.

Diversity Is Good for Everyone

February 9, 2013 | Susan Naimark

How Non-Minority Students Also Benefit from Racially Diverse Schools, by Genevieve Siegel-Hawley.National Coalition of School Diversity Research Brief #8, October 2012.

Housing

Volunteerism in Community Development: Going Beyond a Helping Hand

September 2, 2010 | Susan Naimark

The 2008 presidential campaign showed us another side of volunteering. It drew literally millions of people, many for the first time, into the electoral process. But beyond political campaigns, can volunteerism provide increased capacity for communities and community organizations?