The top leaders at Partners Advancing Values in Education and Schools That Can Milwaukee, two Milwaukee-based nonprofits that have merged and will soon relaunch as a new organization, are both departing the combined organization.
Dave Steele, president and chief executive officer of PAVE, and Abby Andrietsch, co-founder and executive director of Schools That Can Milwaukee, will leave at the end of the week.
John Grogan and Leslie Dixon, co-chairs of the combined organization, announced Steele’s departure in a recent email to the organizations’ supporters. Andrietsch had previously announced her plans to leave the organization at the time of the merger announcement in March. PAVE and Schools That Can completed their merger in May.
When announcing the merger plans, the organizations said Steele would retain a leadership role with the new organization. He has been with PAVE since 2005, beginning as a program assistant, then director of school partnerships. He has been president and CEO since 2016.
“Abby announced earlier this year that she would be stepping down to re-balance and prioritize spending time with her two daughters. And Dave recently shared that, after more than a decade in service to our mission, he is ready to embark on a new adventure for his next decade. We are grateful for their many years of hard work, and wish them well as they each begin new chapters,” Grogan and Dixon said in the email.
Rashida Evans, a former school administrator who was most recently chief program officer for Schools That Can, has been named interim executive director until a permanent leader is hired.
The organizations, both of which are are focused on recruiting and developing leaders in Milwaukee schools, plan to relaunch in the fall under a new name.
PAVE makes grants and provides training and support to school leaders and board members to help them overcome organizational challenges, attract outside resources and increase school enrollment. Schools That Can is focused on recruiting, training and coaching principals and other school administrators.
