Dr. Heather Curl, who joined the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) in June as a leadership development specialist, has been promoted to director of leadership development to fill the role vacated by Tricia Lubach, who took the role of WSSDA executive director.
Curl is an experienced educator and a former college and university professor of education who has also taught at the high school and middle school levels. She is also a published educational researcher. Her expertise in instructional design and implementation in adult learning positions her perfectly to bring WSSDA’s leadership development work into its next iteration.
The second staffer to be promoted is Christine Najarro, who has moved from leadership development coordinator to a newly created role as events and branch support specialist. WSSDA created the new position after former staffer Brittany Montano’s departure. The new position includes support and management roles for all WSSDA events, plus providing much-needed logistical and organizational support for all three branches and across WSSDA.
In her four years on staff, Najarro has been part of the team that made WSSDA’s Annual Conference successful as a remote event in 2020, a hybrid event in 2021, and an in-person event for the past two years. She will continue to support the WSSDA Annual Conference in her new role.
The Search
Following the two promotions, WSSDA will hire a new leadership development specialist to fill the newly vacant position. Recruitment of someone experienced in working on or with school boards will be preferred. The interview and selection schedule is designed to allow the selected applicant to attend the WSSDA Annual Conference in November. See the leadership development specialist job posting.