Joan Wasser Gish

About Joan Wasser Gish

Joan Wasser Gish works to embed what we are learning from education research and…

Experience

1. Director of Systemic Impact at the Center for Thriving Children

   Boston College

   Sep 2015 — Present

   As a member of the Leadership Team, Joan works collaboratively to develop and expand the Center for Thriving Children. This includes staff development and the growth of capacity, revenue, and strategic partnerships. As head of Systemic Impact, Joan leads a multifaceted strategy to advance the integration of education with social services, youth development, health and mental health resources to improve learning outcomes. This includes: leading the co-development of National Guidelines for Integrated Student Supports; launching the Systemic Student Support (S3) Academy serving 100+ Massachusetts schools; launching a Technical Assistance Center for the Midwest reaching Indiana students in year 2; informing national policy and dialogue, influencing policy in numerous states, and providing resources to policymakers including policy briefs, tool kits, and technical assistance; developing resources to advance effective practices in the field including action guides, practice briefs, and national guidelines; and learning from evidence-based models in the field including BC-incubated City Connects. Grounded in the developmental sciences and co-designed by researchers, educators, families, and community agencies, City Connects is now in 200 schools (public, charter, and private) across six states and the nation of Ireland demonstrating significant benefits to children: better effort, grades, attendance, academic achievement, reduced drop out rates; and higher rates of enrollment and completion of postsecondary programs. Economists have found that taxpayers\' return on investment is at least 3:1. Driving the right set of existing resources to the right child at the right time, over time, can achieve breakthrough results for the nation\'s growing population of high needs students.

Education

• Columbia Law School

  JD

  1996 — 1999

• Teachers College, Columbia University

  MA, Education Policy

  1996 — 1999

• Brown University

  BA, Political Science & Political Theory

  1992 — 1996

Skills

• Legal Research
• Proposal Writing
• Legislation
• Community Outreach
• Legislative Relations
• Public Policy
• Research
• Grant Writing
• Nonprofits
• Research Design
• Political Campaigns
• Project Management
• Policy
• Public Speaking
• Strategic Planning
• Program Development
• Writing
• Strategic Policy Development
• Policy Analysis
• Education Policy
• Non-Profits
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Politics
• Analysis
• Legal Writing