By: Michele Pomerantz, Director of Regional Collaboration, Cuyahoga County
As a first grade teacher for 22 years, I never imagined I would end up as a director for County Government. What skills did I have that could transfer to government? Well, it seems plenty. As the Director of Regional Collaboration, I work with all 58 mayors and managers in the county as well as community members by helping them access the many services that support their constituents. Cuyahoga County is responsible for supporting the health and human services for our most needy in the county, providing public safety, maintaining roads and bridges, and increasing economic development throughout the county. I act as the liaison between all of those departments and the consumers of these services.
As an educator, the skills most transferable for this work include individualizing my connections with the mayors to best serve their needs. As with students, we know one-size-fits-all lessons won’t work, and it’s the same with Mayors, community groups and legislators. Another valuable tool for this work is context and communication. A teacher’s main goal is to communicate and provide the context of the subject matter to build trust and motivate students to achieve. I do this with the County. Whether it is a special project like the U.S. Census or increasing voter turnout in a pandemic, I approach these projects like any teacher would — by organizing the information in succinct achievable increments and building on current strengths to motivate residents and leaders to accomplish community goals.
I love working with Teaching Cleveland because it creates a living connectedness and empowerment for student and educator participants. Key leaders must know the context of our community’s past in order to accelerate individual and collective power and responsibility. Participating in this program opens doors for students and educators to see how sweeping topics like immigration, redlining and desegregation still impact our daily lives. The connections with local policy officials create networking opportunities that empower and expand the power circle controlling purse strings and equity.
In my current job, one of my favorite parts of my role is to act as the County Executive’s lobbyist, How would a first-grade teacher become a state lobbyist? Think about it, every part of an educator’s day is predetermined and dictated by state and federal government — length of the school day, content subject matter, student assessments and teacher evaluations — are all controlled by government policy. As a teacher I worked with my local union and state representatives to show legislative decision-makers the real impactful issues in a classroom and the reasons why change was needed. Similarly, in my role as the Director of Regional Collaboration, my role is to connect with state and federal legislators to advocate for changes in state and federal policy that support the agenda of the County Executive, Armond Budish. Instead of advocating for my students or fellow educators, I advocate for more resources for the County’s 1.2 million residents and for projects that enhance the county as a whole.
Each educator and student can have a voice at city, county and state government, Teaching Cleveland provides the professional development tools necessary to move from knowing the past to changing the future.
