Genavieve Koyn

• Researched the internal and external processes concerning the creation, retention, and evaluation of partnerships within Say Yes Buffalo’s Community Schools program.
• Created a system for evaluating the many community organizations and individuals that work with Community Schools, including evaluation of their application, pitch, and performance.
• Identified successful practices within Say Yes Buffalo’s Community Schools program as well as developing new systems to replace ineffective ones, and combining both into a Best Practice Manual.
• Provided administrative assistance to Say Yes Buffalo’s Community Schools Staff, including using Microsoft Word, Power-Point, and Excel to create documents for internal use, marketing, and data analysis.
• Initiated new collaborations and information sharing relationships between Say Yes Buffalo and other Community Schools initiatives across the United States.

“Say Yes, as I am sure are other social justice minded organization, is populated by very passionate people. The passion that these people bring to the table is what empowers our staff to be advocates for Buffalo students, allowing Say Yes to be successful, but also can cause a certain degree of friction between some individuals. This friction is mitigated by the strong leadership that exists within the Say Yes – leaders who direct rather than instructing and who empower their staff to be leaders is their one regard. As someone with an outside perspective, I have been able to learn so much from watching the leadership team within Say Yes and I would predict that this will be one of my largest takeaways at the completion of this program – how to best lead others when doing this type of community work.”

--From Genna’s Reflection Journal

“Genna has been a remarkable asset to our team. Her big-picture and systems mindset helped her dive into the work for the Community Schools Initiative and other departments within Say Yes Buffalo.  Genna’s ‘Can do’ attitude made those of us who worked with her feel at ease and confident in her ability to step in and provide quality support when needed. No matter the work pressure, Genna maintained an optimistic attitude and with a sense of humor to lift those around her. She is truly a joy to work with and our Community School team and the entire Say Yes staff will miss her presence and energy around the office.”

--Esther Annan, Director of Data and Evaluation at Say Yes to Education-Buffalo