Partners

Kris Kurtenbach, founding partner, is devoted to developing collaborative solutions to education, workforce, and community challenges. She works with leading individuals and philanthropic and education organizations at the federal, national, state, community, and school-district levels to achieve their goals through superior research; planning and design; meeting facilitation and convenings; strategic consulting and positioning; and outreach and community engagement.

Kurtenbach founded Collaborative Communications Group on the belief that civic leaders and civic stakeholders can mobilize the ongoing political will of communities to demand and support high-performing public education systems and solutions. To this end, Kurtenbach designs and builds community-based organizations, and creates and supports strategies for engagement across various sectors of a community. Her work includes the creation of tools for conversation, facilitation of neighborhood and cross-sector conversations, and strategic advice, coaching, and consultation. In addition, Kurtenbach has helped school districts create community-based visions for success and then developed plans to achieve those visions. Her work also includes initiative support to national school reform networks that seek to integrate community engagement and mobilization efforts into project plans.

Kurtenbach’s experience includes communications strategy and implementation, facilitation and writing, and strategic and organizational consulting to foundations, nonprofits, policymakers, education leaders, andcommunity leaders. She has worked extensively with federal and state policymakers as well as municipal and education leaders cities and towns across the country. She has consulted and written extensively on education and publication engagement for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform; Council of Chief State School Officers; National Art Education Association; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Center on Education and the Economy; National League of Cities; Public Education Network, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Kurtenbach has a Master's degree in education policy and administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in magazine journalism and a Bachelor's of Arts degree in literature from the University of Kansas.

Terri Ferinde Dunham is working to create a new learning system where schools and communities work together. She works with organizations focused on both in- and out-of-school learning to develop networks, strategize new initiatives and build capacity.

Ms. Dunham is the executive director of the Expanded Learning and Afterschool Project, a 50-state initiative harnessing the power of networks and leaders to help schools and communities leverage the time beyond school to accelerate student achievement by sharing research on high quality expanded learning; identifying and spreading best practices in afterschool and summer learning; and sharing affordable, sustainable and effective expanded learning approaches.  Launch in March 2012, the project has nearly 1000 supporters including a consortium of funders.

For more than a decade, Ms. Dunham has managed the National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation with 41 statewide networks focused on policy and funding for high-quality afterschool programs across the country.

As a partner at Collaborative Communications Group, she has managed, facilitated and supported groups that expand learning opportunities and redefine professional development for clients including the Council of Chief State School Officers, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the New Day for Learning initiative of the C.S. Mott Foundation and the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Prior to her role at Collaborative, Ms. Dunham served for 10 years at the U.S. Department of Education where she produced a live, interactive television program featuring school and community leaders. For this work, she was recognized as a Fellow with the Council for Excellence in Government.

She holds a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor's degree in communications and government from the American University.

In her community, Ms. Dunham serves the school improvement committee for Campbell Elementary, an Expeditionary Learning School, and is incoming chair of the board of the Greenbrier Learning Center, an afterschool and summer learning program serving students in Arlington, VA.