“What’s Your Superpower?” Community Building Activity

The day began with the “What’s Your Superpower?” activity, where each participant was “called into the group” by sharing their supervisory superpower, alias, and a real-world example of how they have used it in their work. This activity helped the group connect quickly, supported name/alias association, and created a supportive community environment that allowed deeper sharing and vulnerability throughout the day.

CSTAC & OCS BINGO

Participants engaged in an energetic CSTAC & OCS Bingo game—an interactive way to connect and assess their knowledge of CSTAC supports and OCS roles and responsibilities. 

BINGO Winners: Collette Laurent (Phipps Neighborhoods), Cristy Gonzalez (Afterschool All Stars), & Jisbel Barada (Phipps Neighborhoods)

OCS Foundations & Role Clarity

OCS Senior Administrator David Dianora provided an overview of the history of community schools in NYC, as well as the OCS structure and team functions.
Participants then reviewed the Essentials for Community School Transformation and engaged in a deep dive into the roles and responsibilities of principals, CSDs, and CBO supervisors. This segment provided essential clarity on the support supervisors should be offering to CSDs, principals, and school/district leaders—while also balancing the needs and priorities of their CBOs.

Expert Panel Discussion

A panel of experienced CBO supervisors joined us to share insights, lessons learned, and practical guidance:

• Latasha Morgan, New York Edge
• Tom Armstrong, The Leadership Program
• Katrena Perou, Inspiring Minds NYC
• Moderator, Lisa Rochford, OCS Director of Capacity Building

The panel focused on:

• Leadership development
• Supervisory practices
• Collaborative leadership approaches
• Partnership management
• Communication strategies

Each of these themes is critical to supporting CSDs and strengthening school–CBO relationships.

World Café Collaborative Problem-Solving

We closed the day with a World Café–style discussion, giving participants the opportunity to ask questions and seek guidance from the panelists, co-facilitator Joe Vereen (CSTAC-NYC Director), and peers. Discussion themes included:

• Leadership and supervision
• Partnership communication
• Budget development and utilization
• Practical challenges faced in the field

Supervisor Understanding of Their Role

This represents a significant shift in clarity, confidence, and role understanding.
(Click image to enlarge)

Topics Participants Felt Most Comfortable With after the Institute:

Ranked from most to least:

1. Collaborative Leadership
2. CSD Supervision
3. Partnership Management and Communication
4. Budget Development and Utilization

Which shows us where we need to focus our attention and resources moving forward.

Participant Takeaways

When asked, What is one thing you will apply to your work or do differently after today’s session? participants generated the following word cloud.
(Click image to enlarge):

The institute concluded with a powerful message shared by panelist Latasha Morgan, capturing the heart of supervision in community schools:

Leadership as Legacy
Budgets, programs, and protocols are tools — but people are the real system.
Collaborative leadership means we build capacity in others, not just outcomes for ourselves.
When we share power and grow people, our mission outlives our titles.
If we’ve done this right, our leadership won’t end with us — it will live in the people we’ve developed.
That’s how Community Schools become more than a model — they become a movement.