PEOPLE Coleen Brighton Leander Educational Excellence Foundation executive director
BY ZACHARIA WASHINGTON
2023 EDUCATION EDITION
Coleen Brighton, the executive director of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation, has been part of the organi- zation since 2015 and began her new position in May. She spoke with Community Impact about her role, the importance of LEEF in Leander ISD and the initiatives she is working on. This interview has been edited for length, style and clarity. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR YOUR NEW ROLE? the campuses need to have the best educational experience.
continue building partnerships that are meaningful and impactful for both sides and to bring in funding—but also volunteers, training certi cation, all the di erent programs that meet the needs of our students. Not every business has the marketing budget to buy sponsorships or scoreboard ads, but every business, I believe, wants to support our future leaders and the kids in our community. Part of my job is nding a way for every business or family member to get involved with LEEF that works for them. WHAT IS THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF LEEF? We enrich the educational expe- rience. Our goal is to serve all of our students at all of our campuses and bridge the gap for what the district and
FUNDRAISING FOR A CAUSE
A big part of my vision and goal is to develop stronger relationships within the community, and that is [with] both businesses and families. I believe we can build stronger relationships at our individual campuses, and we haven’t been able to do that with a small sta . With our full team, we’re really going to be able to go out there and ... do a better job of telling our story. A big part of building those relationships and increasing revenue, I believe, is going to come from monthly giving. WHAT APPROACHES DO YOU TAKE WHEN IT COMES TO FUNDRAISING? I see LEEF as the bridge between LISD and our community. I want to
HOW IS THIS ORGANIZATION IMPORTANT TO LEANDER ISD? I think we are hugely important. A lot of people will think of LEEF and education foundations as grant patrol and teaching grants because that’s the most visible thing. That’s a small part of what we do from a funding perspective. ... We raised enough funding that we were able to fund a full-time mental health specialist for three years. LEEF funds six college and career coaches at each of our six high schools, and we have been since 2014. And so those are just two really easy programs to explain that [if] you take LEEF away, you don’t have that anymore.
In the last ve years, the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation has raised nearly $2.3 million for Leander ISD. This money has funded teaching grants, college and career coaches, advanced placement testing, textbooks, literacy initiatives, ne arts and a mental health specialist.
$335,000
2018
$348,000
2019
$432,000
2020
$512,548
2021
$632,000
2022
SOURCE: LEANDER EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOUNDATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
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