An Interview with our Outgoing ED

826 MSP is accepting applications for the position of Executive Director through March 31. Amidst this search, our Communications and Development Intern, Lark Lasky, spoke with our current ED, Samantha Sencer-Mura, to celebrate her time in the role and to reflect on what she has learned.

Check out their conversation below and share the ED position opening widely! https://www.826msp.org/careers

Samantha Sencer-Mura, 826 MSP’s Executive Director, speaking during an event in 2019 where we celebrated joining the 826 National network

What drew you to 826? What led you to apply to the role back in 2017?

When I was in college in Los Angeles, I had interned at an 826 chapter there. I really appreciated that experience, and it stood out to me in all the education work that I had done. I think that 826 is working to solve a problem that lots of organizations are: how do we solve education inequities? But I appreciated the creative approach 826 took, especially when creativity is often squashed in K-12 education, largely because of a lack of resources. 

In 2017, I was finishing up graduate school, and moving back to the Twin Cities. I had been working in education for six years at that point, but I had not worked in the Twin Cities or lived here as an adult. I was excited to come back to the community that raised me. I had this idea, like, ‘Oh, we should start an 826 chapter in the Twin Cities!’ I was obviously not the first person to have this idea, as there already was one. So I started following the work, and as I was getting ready to move back, I saw that the Executive Director position was opening up and it felt like a moment of serendipity. I applied and went through a fairly intense interview process, and once I started I had a pretty immediate sense of what a big job this was.

You mentioned that there was a very immediate sense of the large amount of responsibility of this job, and the process of adjusting to that. What were some challenges in this role? 

As an Executive Director, you’re largely responsible for your own learning. So in this role, I had to figure out how to gain the skills I needed, and while I honed my skills I had to keep the organization running. A really big learning curve for me was around fundraising and financial management. Previous to 826, I had been working in direct service and program management. At first I was honestly scared when I realized that I was the person responsible for keeping this organization afloat, for keeping services running for students, and for keeping people’s jobs. That’s a huge responsibility and I had to learn fast so I enrolled in some different programs which helped me understand what it meant to be a financial leader in an organization. Lots of Executive Directors don’t come from backgrounds in financial management, so there was lots of support available.

Given that you had to do all of this very rapid growth and personal expansion, once you were settled in, what was your job like? What are some of your favorite memories from programming?

One of the things I really love about our work is that we work with students on the K-12 spectrum. You get to work with students of all ages, and that’s been one of the most fun parts of the job. There are things I love about every age group, and there are things that are challenging at every age group. In this role, you can go from a field trip with second graders that has such fun and energy to our high school program where you’re talking to a student about a super serious topic. I also love the ability to work with whole families with students of various ages.

Some of my favorite memories involve our publishing where you get to see the completion of this product in which we are putting student work out into the world. Writing and editing and publishing is a struggle, and there are moments with every project where you wonder if you’ll make it. But seeing everything come together is amazing. Especially with our anthologies, you know, I’m not really involved in the day-to-day progress, but I get to see this beautiful manuscript that comes out of that process at the end. I am always just completely blown away… To see student voices in concert with each other is really amazing. Every single time it feels like such a time capsule of the moment that we are in and I’m reminded that our students are full human beings that lead really full lives. They are full of joy, and humor, and really deep stories that sometimes contain very hard things. Getting to sit down with one of those manuscripts is one of my favorite parts of the job.

That’s going to be the thing, you know, like as I leave I’m going to be less connected to daily programming but I still have these amazing books to reflect on anytime… Something that is very special to me is that we have a program at my former high school, and we’re currently in the process of publishing our third book with those students. Together those books are going to be an amazing testament to the richness and diversity of that school, and it feels really special to me as a young person to help produce those books that I probably needed as a young student.

What would you say to potential candidates?

An Executive Director role is a very big job. There’s a lot of different responsibilities, and a lot of different skill sets. It can be very difficult to look at that posting and go, ‘Yes, I know how to do all of those things.’ We’re not expecting someone to come in and know how to do everything. It would likely be impossible. I had to ground myself in the fact that while some aspects of the job were familiar to me, there were also a lot of things, like fundraising and financial management, that were new to me. I had to remind myself that I had something to offer this organization. So my advice to candidates is you don’t need to have all of these skill sets, but you do need to be prepared for working with the Board and staff  to figure out how to get the skill sets you don’t have. You get to figure out what the training looks like, you get to figure out how to get those resources.

Also, even in the midst of learning the technical skills, remember to stay connected to programming. That’s extremely important, and that is what’s going to keep you going. Remember what you’re doing it for.

How has the work at 826 MSP shaped the path you’re taking next?

I’m so grateful for all of the skills that I have been able to learn over time. I still feel very rooted in the mission that I had when I came to 826, which was to work on educational inequities in the community I was raised in. I am actually running for office in our district right now, and that choice feels very grounded in my time at 826. From working with students and families in our community, I’ve realized that education is such a key part of creating healthy, stable, and vibrant communities. We absolutely need more funding, more support, more resources. I’ve also recognized the way that education is tied into other issues. It’s one part of an ecosystem, and that’s what led me to running for office.

Have questions about the ED search? Email our Hiring Committee at edsearch@826msp.org. Find application materials here and apply by March 31!