Jamie Gracie

Postdoctoral Fellow, The EdRedesign Lab

Jamie Gracie is a postdoctoral fellow at EdRedesign. She most recently graduated with her Ph.D in economics from Harvard, where she studied labor and public economics. Her research is focused on intergenerational mobility and gender inequality in the labor market. She is a James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Scholar in Inequality and Wealth Concentration at the Harvard Kennedy School and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She was previously a Linda G. Hammett Ory fellow with EdRedesign. Before beginning her Ph.D., Jamie graduated from Amherst College, where she studied economics and Spanish.

Tauheedah Jackson

Deputy Director, The EdRedesign Lab; Director, Institute for Success Planning

Tauheedah Jackson serves as the Deputy Director of EdRedesign and the inaugural director of EdRedesign’s Institute for Success Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She partners with local communities, nationwide, to design personalized, relationship-based systems of support for children and youth through cross-sector collaboration. EdRedesign advances cradle-to-career, community-based personalized systems of support and opportunity for all children and youth, particularly those living in poverty and champions a broad, holistic model of child development and education that goes beyond schools. Prior to joining EdRedesign, she was the director of Place Based Strategy & Community School Initiatives at the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL). In this role, she was responsible for engaging networks of leaders in local communities and supervising the programs, logistics, and daily operations of the national Coalition for Community Schools. In June 2023, Tauheedah joined IEL’s board of directors.

Tauheedah brings to EdRedesign nearly 24 years of experience working in youth development, local government, philanthropy, school districts and out-of-school time programs. As the previous director of the Hartford Partnership for Student Success, Tauheedah led a cross-sector collaborative partnership that founded and funded the local Community Schools initiative in Hartford, Connecticut. Under Tauheedah’s leadership, Hartford Community Schools became locally and nationally recognized as an exemplar for its systems-building work. She also served as the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, after fulfilling several operations and program capacities within the organization.

A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Tauheedah is a first-generation college student. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College in government and secondary education and holds a master’s degree in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Tauheedah is a sought-after presenter and facilitator and serves on various nonprofit boards. She has received several awards recognizing her leadership in the field, including Hartford Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty. As a mother of 3 sons, Isaiah, Isaac, and Ian, she is committed to working toward ensuring more equitable access and opportunity for all.

Rey Saldaña

President and CEO, Communities In Schools National Office

Rey Saldaña is the President and CEO of Communities In Schools® (CIS®) the national organization that surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.

Saldaña is a CIS alumnus, whose journey from former student supported by CIS to national leader of Communities In Schools, sends an inspiring message to young people nationwide about the power they have to write their own success story.

Most recently, Saldaña served as the Regional Advocacy Director for the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation and the Chair of the San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Agency-VIA. Prior to that, he successfully served four terms on the San Antonio City Council where he was first elected at age 24, becoming the youngest council person in that city’s history.

During his four terms, Saldaña focused on helping to meet the needs and harness the skills of young people and working families in his community. He championed the expansion of park space and community clinics in underserved areas, fought for increased funding for the city’s public transportation system, successfully campaigned for funding of the city’s early childhood initiative (Pre-K 4SA), and streamlined the city and county’s child truancy court. He chaired the city’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee, where he worked closely with state and federal legislators on law making and local policy development.

Concurrent with his elected position, he taught as an Adjunct Professor at Trinity University and Palo Alto Community College. Additionally, he worked with The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Office of Community Engagement and served as Chief Engagement Officer with KIPP San Antonio Public Schools.

In recognition of his accomplishments and enduring interest in the mission of Communities In Schools, in 2017, Communities In Schools invited Saldaña to serve on the CIS National Board of Directors, making him the first alumni to join the Board.

Saldaña holds a master’s degree from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education where he studied policy, organization and leadership studies, and two bachelor’s degrees in political science and communication from Stanford.

The son of immigrants who came to this country from Mexico, Saldaña was born and raised on the South Side of San Antonio and is the product of Title I Texas public schools. He is a proud first-generation American and first in his family to graduate from college. He and his wife Jessica are the happy parents of Eli, Olivia, and two rescue dogs.

Rob Watson

Executive Director, The EdRedesign Lab; Lecturer on Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Rob is the inaugural Executive Director of EdRedesign, Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Faculty Affiliate of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University. At EdRedesign, Rob leads an interdisciplinary team of staff, fellows, consultants, research affiliates, and students supporting communities across the U.S. to develop cradle-to-career systems of opportunity.

His work has focused on themes of civic engagement, community development, and educational equity in the U.S., Latin America, and Africa. Prior to joining EdRedesign, Rob served as a consultant and advisor to organizations that include the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, Harvard College, Tufts University, The Social Impact Studio, FUSE Corps, The Foundation for Louisiana, The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, The Obama Foundation, and Harlem Children’s Zone.

A former Peace Corps volunteer and winner of the Peace Corps’ 2023 Franklin H. Williams Award, Rob has co-founded five civil society organizations in Paraguay, including Teach for Paraguay, a member of the global Teach For All Network and the Paraguayan Government’s first national youth service program. Additionally, he partnered with the mayor, superintendent of schools, and community stakeholders from his hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York to launch the Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet, a collective impact organization that convenes leaders across sectors to develop a citywide cradle-to-career agenda for children, youth, and families. Rob is also a co-founder of the Poughkeepsie Service Accelerator (PSA), a place-based service year collaborative that aims to attract and retain local talent to pursue social impact careers in the Mid-Hudson Valley region of New York State.

In January 2024, Rob was selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar. Rob is a member of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Funding Project, former World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and former Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Millennium Scholar. In January 2025, Rob joined the StriveTogether Board of Directors. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College, an Ed.M in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Mid-career Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard Kennedy School.