Medford Candidate Profile: Jenny Graham, School Committee

MEDFORD, MA — The Medford municipal election is coming up on Tuesday, and one key race is for school committee.

Seven candidates are running for six seats on the committee. The field includes incumbents Paul Ruseau, Jenny Graham and Melanie McLaughlin, and challengers Aaron Olapade, John Intoppa, Nicole Branley and Erika Reinfeld

Graham, 46, owns the local consulting firm Zelus, and is running for her third term in 2023. Here' show she responded to our questionnaire:

Name:

Jenny Graham

How old will you be as of Election Day?

46

Does your campaign have a website? If so, include the URL here.

https://www.electjenny.org

What city or town do you live in?

Medford

What office are you seeking?

Medford School Committee

If you are running in a district, you can specify the district here.

Please give us your party affiliation.

Democrat

Education.

Babson College, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance

What is your occupation?

I own a Medford-based consulting business, Zelus, LLC, where I advise government agencies and corporations on strategic planning, core business functions, change management, and learning design and delivery. My business partner and I founded Zelus 19 years ago. We are a certified Women’s Business Enterprise.

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

Husband Scott, and children Lila (14) and Lucas (12). Lila is a freshman at Medford High, and Lucas is a 7th grader at McGlynn Middle School

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

Mayor Burke appointed me to serve as a member of the Superintendent Search Committee in 2017. I was elected to the Medford School Committee in 2019 and have served two terms. During the current term, I was elected Vice Chair by my colleagues.

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

Medford Public Schools is in a period of change that needs skilled leadership and commitment from its School Committee members. As the owner of a Medford-based business consulting firm, and a committed public school parent who is deeply involved in our school district, I believe I have valuable skills and experiences to contribute to the work of our School Committee and help Medford strive for excellence for all children.

As a member of the School Committee for the last four years, I don’t even really know what ‘normal’ looks like for the School Committee. I think we are finding our way there. Our schools were under-resourced and not operating at the best we can be for students, and in the coming year, we’ll be grappling with the end of pandemic funding.

We desperately need a new and reimagined Medford High School. We are pursuing a grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MBSA) so that they will pay for a significant portion of the project we need. In 2022, we submitted a strong bid, and while we were a finalist, we were not selected. The agency was dealing with record inflation and had to accept fewer projects. We’ve submitted again in 2023 and eagerly await a decision later this fall. We need to be ready to move as fast as humanly possible to improve the conditions for learning and create a flagship school that we are all proud of and our students deserve. I’m ready to put a shovel in the ground and move us forward.

I am the founder of an operations improvement consulting firm that employs nearly 50 professionals dedicated to helping clients in government and other industries manage and make change happen. My expertise in implementing operations and process improvement, as well as the customer experience, would be a boon for our school district, which needs additional support to improve its communications and family support.

I graduated from Babson 24 years ago with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a Concentration in Finance. I am a proud entrepreneur and business owner of Zelus Consulting Group. We are dedicated to helping clients in government and insurance manage change and MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN. We are implementers who can look at an operation or process and identify how to move it from where it is to where its leaders want to be. I am a certified PMP (Project Management Professional) and am designated a Certified Professional of Learning and Performance by the Association for Talent Development.

I cannot think of a better way to use my skill set than to continue to serve Medford Public Schools.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ... and this is what I intend to do about it.

Funding.

Over these last few years, we’ve seen the consequences of a lack of resources in our schools. Our building maintenance deferrals over the years delayed our ability to get kids back to school during the pandemic and most recently caused the HVAC systems at nearly every one of our schools to be non-functional during a September heat wave. The high school lacks infrastructure like air conditioning and reliable internet. The state of the high school bathrooms is a well-documented source of frustration for many.

In the coming year, we’ll face the end of pandemic Federal funding. Our current budget relies on that funding for more than 30 staff positions ranging from nurses to mental health support staff to administrators. How to move forward and advocate for the district and our students will be the School Committee's central work in the coming year.

Through our next budget cycle, I’ll push to do many of the same things I’ve pushed for over the last four years. We need to create a budget process to ensure that the budget we request reflects what we see as the needs of our students and district and that it happens more promptly. This dialogue is critically important, and I’m proud of my progress this far, but there is more to do. As the Mayor and the Council determine how to create the larger city budget more openly and collaboratively, I am ready to partner with them to ensure our Schools are a top priority where the needs of our city are being discussed.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am a product of public schools, and I believe in the power of education. I am a first-generation college graduate with a degree in Finance from Babson College. My husband Scott and I are the parents of two children in the Medford Public Schools. My professional background in Finance, Process Improvement, Change Management, and Learning Design and Delivery align well with the responsibilities of the School Committee. I own a Medford-based consulting business advising government agencies and corporations on strategic planning, curriculum development, and change management. I am a certified PMP (Project Management Professional) and designated a Certified Professional of Learning and Performance by the Association for Talent Development.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

I am a two-term incumbent and look forward to continuing to serve Medford’s children.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

In the next term, I will be focused on:

Continuing to fight for the budget needed to support our students and care for our school buildings.

Amplifying the voices and priorities of the community we serve as we create our next strategic plan to guide the district in the coming years.

Creating a master plan that continues Medford’s recent efforts toward environmental sustainability, LEED certification, and protecting our environment in building projects.
Implementing new, science-based curricula in literacy and health, including professional development for our teachers and staff.

Ensuring that the end of one-time federal grant funding does not result in drastic staffing cuts that hurt the education we provide.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

For the last few years, I’ve worked hard as a member of the School Committee during the most unprecedented time in public education ever. Through it all, I’ve listened, learned, and pushed for the best for our students and staff. We’ve made countless difficult decisions, and I’ve done so because I am committed to making MPS the very best it can be. I’m so proud to be leading our district. Here are just a few of my accomplishments over the last two years:

- Transformed the School Committee’s annual budget request process to align with the district’s strategic plan and outline what our schools need and do not have in plain language.

- Increased paraprofessional compensation significantly to align our pay scale with the belief that all our employees deserve a living wage.
Led the hiring committees for the new Medford High School Principal, Chief Financial Officer, and Director of Communications.

- Represented the School Committee during collective bargaining sessions with our union partners to settle nine contracts that meet the needs of students and staff.

-Prioritized expanding the capacity of our after-school program by implementing a sliding rate scale that increases access for families, increases staff wages, and creates a full-time paraprofessional position with benefits.

- Chairs the Family Engagement and Communications and Strategic Planning Subcommittees and is a member of the Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, and Accountability; Personnel and Budget; Rules and Policy; and Superintendent Evaluation Subcommittees.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

For change to happen, you must put one foot in front of the other. Do this every day, and you WILL achieve your goals.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

We have a lot of work to do to ensure that every student who passes through our halls is safe, cared for, and successful. How we do this looks different for nearly every student, which makes the work very complicated. I will continue to support efforts to ensure our students are safe and cared for. Being successful means that we need to continue to look at our curricula and ensure it is working for us. Success means students reading on grade level by grade 3 and that we focused on the science of reading. Success means that our vocational programming continues to evolve and grow. And most importantly, success means creating lifelong learners with creative and intellectual passion to be the leaders we seek in the world.

We’ve made a lot of progress in the last four years to lay a more stable foundation for Medford Public Schools. We’ve hired highly talented teachers, principals, and administrators. We’ve invested in tools and curricula to ensure they have what they need to help students succeed. In the next two years, I’d like to see us turn our focus to weaving these investments together, creating systems and structures that are repeatable and streamlined for all, and accelerating progress. We are ready for this, but it will take tireless commitment to the work. I’m ready for it.

But make no mistake, change is hard. It requires us to be pragmatic and planful and ask good questions. Significant changes require a lot of what-ifing to be successful. I help clients make change happen every day. They will tell me, “I need to improve my outcomes, but I have 25 constraints, including a shoestring budget”. So, we work with them to understand where they are at and agree on their desired outcome. Then, we take steps, one at a time, to move toward the goal. It’s not easy and can take a long time, but there is always an opportunity to progress. Together, we can move more quickly and with better results. As a member of the School Committee, I will continue to bring my experience and passion to the table to work hard, collaborate, and serve. You can find out more about me at www.electjenny.org. If you have questions, though, don’t hesitate to reach out. I ask for one of your votes on November 7th to keep moving forward together.