06.14.10
Costain to Head AchieveMpls

by Dylan Thomas, Southwest Journal

Pam Costain this month will make the move from School Board member to head of AchieveMpls, the nonprofit organization, a foundation supporting Minneapolis Public Schools, announced June 1.

Costain said she planned to start at the AchieveMpls office June 23, and would sit in on her last public School Board meeting June 8. She previously announced she would not seek re-election when her School Board term ends later this year.

“I had made a decision to leave the board … largely because I had to get a job,” said Costain, who had not held a full-time job for almost two years since leaving her last position to work on the district referendum campaign in July 2008.

Costain had extensive experience working in nonprofits prior to joining the School Board in 2007. She spent 14 years as executive director of Resource Center of the Americas and was a program director with Wellstone Action for 12 years.

AchieveMpls manages several district programs, including the Step-Up Summer Jobs Program and the College and Career Centers in high schools. The organization also supports Arts for Academic Achievement and other initiatives that address educational challenges in schools.

“It’s really for me the job of my dreams,” Costain said. “The last thing I wanted to do was walk away from Minneapolis Public Schools and the agenda, right now, we’re pursuing.”

Costain said she forged close relationships with both district administrators and community members during her time on the School Board.

“What I think I will help to bring to Achieve is greater alignment with the new strategic and academic focus of the district, because I know a lot about it and I know where the district is trying to go and where they need money to support it,” she said.

District policy requires the School Board to appoint a replacement for Costain until a new board member, elected this fall, is sworn into office in January 2011.