August 7, 2017 To Whom It May Concern: As a recent retiree of the NYC Department of Education with 29 years of service, I am pleased to share my experience working with Kenya and recommend her for future professional pursuits. Kenya approached the Office of Adult of and Continuing Education with a proposal to grow our footprint in K12 schools throughout the city. Her presentation highlighted the relevance of family and community engagement while linking our mutual goals to the Chancellor’s overarching goals that embrace family and community empowerment and engagement. Subsequent to our initial meeting at our Central Office in Brooklyn, Kenya orchestrated speaking engagements for my office, creating a marketing campaign around our efforts within schools and communities. Over the next two years, our collaborative efforts grew to include nearly 20 classes in five additional schools--serving over 500 New Yorkers weekly. This was significant growth for us. At times, we actually struggled to keep up with the need for expansion of services. However, with Kenya’s understanding of school implementation, we were able work collaboratively to attain qualitative and quantitative growth in our joint venture. I am pleased to recommend Kenya Johnson and I am confident that she would be a great asset to any organization where vision, partnering, and excellence are top priority! Feel free to contact me at (914) 770-5999 or yneal@optonline.net should you need to speak further. Sincerely,
Yvonne R. Neal Formerly Senior Director of Accountability New York City Department of Education Office of Adult and Continuing Education