About Us

The Parents for Student Success model for parent involvement is universally applied.  We know that culture makes a difference for famlies and their children. Our trainers and consultants are trained in and practice culture competency. 

 

We are passionate about the need for every child to have at least one adult familiy member willing to manage their school success.  A family's social and economic standing might mean they have to work harder to achieve success for their children, but it can be done.  At Parents for Student Success, we help parents understand that every child is born with gifts and with challenges; magnify the gifts and the challenges will be diminished.

 


Co- Founders

 

Ellie Graham, M.D, MPH;  an Associate Professor of pediatrics, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.  Dr. Graham specializes in health care for children living in poverty and children of immigrant families.  She has practiced in some of America’s and the worlds poorest communities.  She travels on a regular basis to Central America to care for children with little or no access to medical care.  Her three sons, who she raised in the communities dominated by her patients, are now successful adults contributing to global humanity.  Her work on behalf of healthy children despite the reality of family poverty has been recognized widely by her peers and the community she shares with her patients. She is the first recipient of the prestigious APHA Helen Rodriguez-Trias Award for Social Justice.

 

Dawn Mason, M.Ed;  a former Washington State Representative, and retired City of Seattle, Management Systems Analyst.  Mason is a specialist in parent involvement and community education and past president of First Place a school for homeless and trauma bound children.  She currently serves on the Board of Visitors of Antioch University Seattle, Cultural Reconnection Missions and African American Kenyan Women Interconnect.  She is the recipient of several awards for her work on behalf of children and education. The Washington Student Lobby awarded her Legislator of the Year for her positive impact on access to education.  Currently, she spends time in Kenya, East Africa working with Kenyan women who are addressing the well being of children orphaned by or living with HIV/AIDS.

 

Doreen Cato, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of First Place, an agency located in Seattle WA, focused on the education and well being of chlldren at risk of or facing the reality of homelessness.  She has received numerous awards for her work on policies that address the needs of children living in poverty. 
 
Benita Horn, has a long time committment to undoing racism and is the owner of a organizational development consulting firm.  Her research into ways that African children learn and grow in spite of poverty is basis to many projects serving orphans and vulnerable children living in Kenya, East Africa.

 


 
Contact us to learn how we can help you with your parent involvement needs.