On Thursday, May 19, Cradle 2 Career will be hosting a Facebook live conversation to welcome and get to know the new Executive Director, Julie Ruzek. Alongside her will be the Leadership co-chairs, Cathy Nathan and Lori Carrell. The conversation will start at 7:30 pm and run for up to an hour. Please join us in welcoming her to the Cradle 2 Career family! 

Julie Ruzek comes to Cradle 2 Career after a long history of working in the public school system and has been engaged with Cradle 2 Career since its inception, both by supporting the work of the High School Graduation Network through the facilitation of data pulls and the genesis of an integrated database system. She has been a tireless advocate for the work and has created a strong working relationship between her teams and community-based partners.   

In her previous roles working within the public school system, she has developed a fundamental experience and record of success in building, aligning, and sustaining strong partnerships. We are confident, that these experiences will aid in accelerating C2C’s ability to achieve its core mission of equity for all children and to continue to serve and grow its networks. 

Previously, Claudia Tabini and Kelsey Duffy served as the Co-Interim Executive Directors and had the opportunity to lead Cradle 2 Career with fortitude and passion. Starting July 5, Ruzek will begin her work as the new Executive Director.  

When asked about Ruzek’s hire, Andre Crockett (Leadership Table member, Network Partner member, and Executive Director search committee member), said he is “super excited about the new hire of Julie Ruzek as the executive director of Cradle 2 Career. I believe she is what is needed as our schools and community have become more diverse to continue to close the achievement gap. In the words of [American Author] Mary Chapman “We can’t afford to ignore any group. The achievement gap plays a big role in being able to address the skills shortage.” 

Cradle 2 Career is excited to see where her leadership, perspective, and experience will lead the organization in the coming years. As well as how that experience will better serve the community partners, students, and families. Please join us on May 19th for this wonderful event!