BEDF and BPS commit to expanding equitable fundraising efforts across the district.

The Boston Educational Development Fund (BEDF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Pamela Leins as Executive Director. Pamela’s first day with the organization was July 19th.

Pamela joins BEDF after six years as the Director of Planning and Development for Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF), where her duties included managing the Foundation forBCYF, and most recently, concurrently serving as Interim Deputy Commissioner. There, she led a team to connect Boston families with resources and opportunities which helped lay the groundwork for talent and community cultural wealth sharing.

Prior to her work with the City of Boston, Pamela was Senior Education Manager at Junior Achievement of Northern New England (JANNE). Her resume also boasts positions at ROCA and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health & Human Services (EOHHS).

“BEDF is thrilled to welcome Pamela Leins as its first Executive Director and greatly looks forward to Pamela’s work to strengthen and implement our organizational vision, fundraising, and financial strategies, in furtherance of our mission,” said Essence McGill Arzu, Esq., BEDF Board President and Partner at the Arzu Law Group LLC. “Her extraordinary enthusiasm and passion for supporting youth, education, diversity, and community, coupled with her strengths of engaging with people and building strategic partnerships will help drive BEDF forward into its next phase.”

“I am so excited to see BEDF positioned to evolve into an organization with the leadership, vision for equity, and alignment needed to be a true partner to the Boston Public Schools,” said Klare Shaw, former BEDF Board Member/Search Committee Co-Chair and National Director of Programs at Liberty Mutual Foundation. “With Pamela Leins at the helm, we’re assured that our level of service to the community, individual schools, and other nonprofits will be responsive and exemplary. BEDF is poised to attract the confidence of school leaders, donors, and city officials as we collaborate with Superintendent Cassellius and her staff to strengthen educational and career outcomes for all of Boston’s students.”

“Equitably funding all of our schools is a top priority to improve outcomes for our BPS students. I am thrilled to work alongside Pamela Leins and the BEDF to elevate opportunities for increased funding to realize the excellent and equitable education we strive to provide for our 50,000 students,” said BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius. “Since the onset of the pandemic, funding access has proven more important than ever to provide holistic support for our families. I am sure through Pamela’s leadership and her proven commitment to the youth of Boston, BPS will continue to innovate and thrive as BEDF raises supplemental capital to underwrite programs that ensure student success”.

A first-generation Latina American born, raised, and educated in Boston, Pamela is a proud product of Boston Public Schools and Boston Community Centers (now known as BCYF). In addition to her work for youth across the city, she is the owner of In the Cut Boston Barbershop and Vice President of the TAG Association, a nonprofit whose mission is to celebrate Latinx culture, educate our youth, and elevate our community. A graduate of Northeastern University, and Mattapan resident, Pamela is the proud mother of two boys – one incoming BPS kindergartener, and caretaker of two recent BPS graduates.

“The partnership between BPS and BEDF is not only necessary in uplifting the voices of our scholars, but also essential as we move forward in calling out and breaking the barriers of inequities for our young people who have been historically misrepresented,” said Pam. “There is so much talent and innovation in our BPS community, and in a resource-rich city like Boston, I am excited to lead a team that will make meaningful connections and partnerships to leverage all of our resources for the greatest impact, particularly as we recover from dual pandemics.”