Take Five is a quick-hit series highlighting the people behind Leading Educators’ mission, shining a light on the experiences they bring to our partnerships with school systems. Learn how Leading Educators can help you go further faster. 

Meet Bekki Sarradet

Meet Bekki Sarradet, Senior Director of Network Support at Leading Educators. As part of the national Network Support team, Bekki’s work centers on job-embedded learning with the Leading Educators project teams to spread promising practices from the field and continually strengthen our support to school systems.

Bekki’s journey as an educator started over two decades ago as a third and fourth-grade teacher in her hometown of Colorado Springs. From the classroom, she moved into coaching and consultant roles with different national organizations including National Institute for Excellence in Teaching and TNTP. Those experiences honed her skills in recognizing the systemic barriers facing historically marginalized students. She’s passionate about designing solutions that overcome the barriers students face to provide the excellent education all students deserve.

What fuels your passion for education?

I’m especially energized when I get to focus on ensuring teachers and leaders have the support and training needed to teach with compassion and excellence. I’m passionate about Leading Educators’ mission to build and sustain the conditions, teaching, and leadership to ensure that the students furthest from opportunity succeed in school and in life. 

I’m motivated every day to show up and work hard to fulfill that mission because I wholeheartedly believe that a high-quality K-12 education is a civil right.”

Tell us about one of your proudest accomplishments as an educator.

As a teacher, I put a lot of effort into getting to know my students, not just as kids in my class, but as the actual people that they were, the families that they came from, and the cultures that they grew up in and represented.

I made sure that something as simple as a classroom party during a holiday season was turned into an opportunity to learn about one another. Each classroom party turned into a potluck where families could bring their favorite dishes and parents and caregivers were invited and it became more of a community rather than just your normal average, everyday classroom.

I think, as a result of that, I was able to build trust with families and caregivers so that when those times arose when we had to have a difficult conversation or explore solutions to some challenges that the kids were facing, we had that really strong foundation and a strong relationship to build on. Then we could tackle those things in partnership, teacher and family together.

Why did you decide to join Leading Educators at this stage in your career?

I joined Leading Educators because of the organization’s unwavering commitment to serving students and educators and their investment in continual growth and learning. Leading Educators, as an organization, doesn’t rest. We’re constantly striving to do more and do better so that we can help our partners achieve the life-changing results that each student and school community deserves.

What excites you about working to improve educational opportunity in 2024?

This year, I’m energized by the surge in school systems partnering with Leading Educators! It’s a testament to our proven ability to collaborate and truly impact the lives of students and teachers. This fuels my commitment to ensure our knowledge management and internal learning efforts empower project teams, enabling them to achieve even greater impact. It’s an honor to feel like I’m actively building Leading Educators’ capacity to serve students and educators.

What do you like doing outside of work?

Outside of work, I enjoy camping, riding bikes along the lakefront, attending concerts, and hosting get-togethers for my friends and family.