-
Meet IPEI's New Executive Director
The Ithaca Public Education Initiative Board of Directors is excited to announce the appointment of Indi McCasey as Executive Director of IPEI, effective October 30th 2023.
-
Image of Indi McCasey
Image of Indi McCasey
“IPEI’s support of Ithaca educators and students is both inspiring and personal for me. My partner grew up in Ithaca, graduating from both Ithaca High School and Cornell University. We moved back here in 2021 to be closer to her family and we’re both excited for our 2-year-old to be a second generation Ithaca City School District student!
As an Education Consultant, I’ve been fortunate to work with teachers and schools across the country and globally from Juneau to Kansas City, New Haven to Oakland, Australia to China focusing on culturally responsive teaching, authentic assessment, and educational equity. In my role as Executive Director of IPEI, I plan to utilize this experience to strengthen partnerships, leverage opportunities, and engage community members to further build upon Ithaca’s love for learning.
I and the IPEI Board look forward to hearing from students, families, teachers, administrators, donors, and community members about your ideas for IPEI’s future!”
-
Indi comes to IPEI with over 15 years of experience as a creative consultant and program administrator in arts and educational spaces. Most recently, Indi served as the Executive Director of the Arts Education Alliance of the Bay Area, and as the supervisor for the Arts Incentive Grant program for the Oakland Unified Arts Partners. Indi has been living in Tompkins County for a number of years and is thrilled to bring their experience in grant writing, racial justice, arts education, community building, and creative learning solutions to their work with IPEI and the Ithaca City School District.
The IPEI Board of Directors was deeply impressed throughout the interview process by Indi’s dedication to learning about the history or IPEI, their past successes in grant writing, and co-creating collaborative and inventive learning spaces, as well as their humor and generosity in talking about students and the worthwhile work of IPEI. We believe Indi has the skills, knowledge, and deep care for the Ithaca community needed to strengthen and grow IPEI’s vital role in creating unique learning opportunities and improved learning spaces for our Ithaca City School District educators and students.
We welcome you to reach out to welcome Indi to the IPEI community in the coming weeks, and expect you’ll get to meet them in-person soon!
-
More About Indi McCasey
Indi McCasey (they/them) believes in the power of intergenerational, creative collaboration to cultivate spaces of joy and transform communities. They have spent over 15 years working at the intersection of arts, education, and wellness with nonprofit organizations and schools focusing on culturally responsive teaching, organizational culture, authentic assessment, and educational equity. Indi served as Executive Director of the Arts Education Alliance of the Bay Area during the COVID 19 pandemic, strengthening the organization’s reach and capacity, while stabilizing funding through expanded partnerships. Through their work as a Creative Education Consultant, along with their role as a faculty member of both the Alameda County Office of Education’s Integrated Learning Specialist Program and Harvard’s Project Zero Classroom, they have facilitated strategic planning processes and professional learning communities in Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, Juneau, Kansas City, New Haven, Santa Fe, Sydney, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
As a member of the Creative Youth Development (CYD) National Partnership, Indi co-developed a shared practice framework based on the CYD values of youth leadership, racial justice, and collective action. Indi is a current member of the National Advisory Committee of the Teaching Artist Guild, a former member of the Funding Advisory Committee of the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program, and the former co-chair of the American Youth Circus Organization’s Social Circus Network. They hold an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education where they served as an Artist in Residence at Project Zero in 2014.
You can learn more about Indi’s work at indimccasey.com