BES Staff Spotlight: Jabari Peddie

As BES’s Chief of Leadership Development, Jabari Peddie sets the strategic vision for coaching and developing leaders through the organization’s programming. Additionally, he serves as a coach for the LENS leadership development program.

Prior to joining BES, Jabari held several titles in schools, ranging from teacher to Founding Principal of one of the largest turnaround initiatives in Boston, MA. He has a strong understanding of school startup and turnaround; leadership in instruction, operations, and school culture; and organizational strategy.

Jabari places equity and justice at the very center of his life and work, and allows these values to guide his decisions and actions. He is affiliated with organizations including Teach for America, Lynch Leadership Academy, Coach Training Alliance, and the Teachers’ Lounge MA. Get to know more about him below:

What inspired you to work in education?

My first career experience after graduating college was a sales position at a major media agency. While this job filled my pockets, it did not fill my purpose. Professionally I felt like I was languishing, as I had not yet discovered what it was that I was most passionate about. I soon learned this was service to my community and particularly serving students with whom I shared similar identities and experiences.

During my first day in my placement school, I saw and felt something very familiar to when I was a student growing up in inner city schools.  Seeing the same challenges persist nearly 20 years later made it impossible to ignore, and to an extent, it made me feel culpable had I not committed to taking action to address these injustices.

I’ve always experienced what felt like an inescapable gravitational pull toward students, and I’m grateful that I’ve been able to serve them in many different capacities including camp counselor, tutor, mentor, teacher, principal, and more.

What is your favorite part about being a BES coach?

My favorite part is that wide eyed “aha” moment that leaders experience in coaching sessions and being a witness to them surfacing and seeing just how powerful they truly are.  Selfishly, it’s the feeling of being connected to students across the country and believing that in some way I’ve had a positive impact on them through my work with their leaders.

What is the greatest lesson you learned in your career as a school leader?

Assume a learning posture. You are the lead learner in the building. Model how it looks to engage with learning and feedback. Create the conditions that allow you to learn the best and reflect those throughout the building.

If you could go back in time to when you were starting out in your career or facing challenges as a school leader, what advice would you give yourself?

You are enough! This is a message about casting doubt aside, loving yourself, and being self-confident. This is a message about recognizing that you are where you are by assignment and not by accident.

What is one key challenge school leaders face today, and can you provide an example of how the program can help them work through / overcome this?

One challenge is leading through your identity and your values, as these tend to remain on trial and continuously be questioned in leadership positions.

A solution we teach leaders in LENS is to do deep identity work, which allows them to explore the multiple aspects of who they are, what they value, and how those things are present in and influence their perceptions, decisions, and actions.

How do you help leaders interrupt the injustice and inequity present in education?

Whatever has life in the school building is because of the leader. If there is harm happening, regardless of the identity of the leader, it is because the leader has allowed that to happen.

When coaching leaders, I make it a point to help them confront their own biases and power so that they are more aware of different permutations of prejudice and what that could look like in every corner of the building, even down to the trash on the floor. I ask them to consider what that communicates to students and staff about what they collectively allow in the building.

Coaching leaders who coach other adults is a big part of the LENS program. I go on equity walks with my leaders, discussing biases they are and are not aware of, and help them extinguish moments of bias towards others that may keep staff, students, or families from thriving.

What is an achievement you are most proud of?

Becoming a Founding Principal.

What are your interests and hobbies outside of work?

I am an avid Knicks fan, runner, chess player, 90s hip-hop aficionado and audiophile!

Interested in receiving coaching from Jabari through the LENS program? Schedule a 1:1 meeting with him or fill out an interest form to connect with our team.

The LENS program is still accepting applicants for the 2024-25 cohort, which will begin in late July 2024. Learn more at bes.org/lens.