Dear JET Community, 

As we begin 2022 with renewed commitment to our work and hope for better times ahead, I am pleased to welcome Eliza Perez Fabillar as the new Executive Director of JET. Eliza has been working part-time with JET since October, getting to know our program and constituents, and this month assumed her new full-time role. 

Eliza will lead JET into a new phase of growth, building on our successes over the past several years to meet the demand of school districts eager to cultivate great teachers with JET. In a time when Massachusetts schools are experiencing dramatic challenges and constant change, we believe our mission to develop a capable, diverse teacher workforce is more urgent than ever. 

We are very fortunate to have found an education leader with such breadth and depth of experience. Eliza has spent 30 years in educational program design and management. She brings experience in strategic planning, research, and fundraising to this role as well as a fervent commitment to education equity and justice. You can learn more about Eliza on the JET website here. 

As a JET co-founder, I will remain active in the organization, assisting with a smooth transition and finding new ways to fulfill my ongoing commitment to JET’s mission. 

As we celebrate this exciting step in the JET journey, we must recognize the many professionals and partners who have brought us this far, including co-founder Karen O’Connor, and the Massachusetts Foundation for Teaching and Learning, who has sponsored JET since 2016. We’re grateful for our talented, hard-working staff, mentors, and interns, our deeply committed district and higher education partners, and most of all the paraprofessional educators who constantly inspire us with their skill, commitment, and passionate persistence. 

It continues to be a privilege to work with all of you, and I look forward to all we’ll accomplish together in this next phase. Please join me in welcoming Eliza to our team! 

With gratitude and optimism,