# Community, Communication, and Bridge-Building: Seeing Off Cohort 16 June 22, 2026 - [ Blog ](/news-categories/blog) ![C16 Headshots](/sites/g/files/omnuum4446/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2026-06/C16%20Fellow%20Headshots.jpg?itok=6wqOzi2b) *For Cohort 16, Data Work Really Is People Work* A successful SDP Fellow – one who matriculates through the full fellowship training, builds relationships and networks, and leaves an impact on their education organization – [demonstrates integrity, humility, and analytic entrepreneurship](https://sdp.cepr.harvard.edu/sdp-hiring-resources). As Cohort 16 (Fall 2024 – Summer 2026) comes to a close, we noticed something else. Each and every one of these 46 fellows were selected into this program for their leadership, analytic, and adaptive skills. But something else showed up in this cohort: they are all expert at building bridges. In her farewell speech to the cohort, SDP’s K12 Fellowship Manager Sarah Blake reflected on how these fellows would have made an impact on her as a former educator. > *As a classroom teacher, I was once asked by my principal to help with a new initiative from our district, which involved too many of my own hours learning how to sort and filter a dashboard for our nearly 1,000 student school to assist in providing teachers with end-of-year assessment data. It was incredibly frustrating to be asked to do this task with no clear goal, to look at information that was nearly six months old, and for the district to replace the initiative with something new a few months later. For me, I needed a thought partner, someone who could help me make sense of the data, connect it to a bigger purpose, and show me that all those hours might actually make a difference for my students. I needed a bridge between top-down directives and the everyday realities in my classroom.* > > *Each of you has taken it upon yourself to be that bridge. You’ve met early childhood educators and their families at a crucial time in an early learner’s journey. You’ve helped state legislators and policymakers understand the need for improving access to funding and resources. You’ve supported quality before-and-after school programming, ensuring students have enriching and positive experiences.* And that they did. These fellows not only served as bridges across stakeholders in their agencies and within their cohort, but also bridged together who they each were at the start of the fellowship with who they became by the end. SDP Fellow JT Stark put it bluntly: “I can honestly say this journey has been transformational.” Stark recounted the imposter syndrome many SDP Fellows face as they begin the program. *Am I good enough? What if I let everyone down?* In Stark’s case, his wife encouraged him to continue on toward his SDP Fellowship Orientation, telling him, “You have worked so hard.” Stark recounted: > *We’ve been through a lot together, and she is, without question, my biggest supporter. But it was that last part that did it for me. “You have worked so hard.” Because that does not just apply to me. I represent a team that has fully bought into the idea that we can directly impact students and teachers through data. They work hard. I’m in schools collaborating with educators. They work hard. And I did not want to let them down.* Stark shared two clear directives he identified for himself: to make it about learning and be a sponge; and to honor the opportunity by participating fully, taking advice, and adding value when he could. But sometimes, working in school systems can make it hard to stick to those goals. SDP Fellow Paige Kaliski put it into words in her farewell speech to the cohort: > *To be in community with this group of fellows who just gets it has been vital for me. It’s been grounding and validating. To have conversations with people dealing with the same things as me, facing the same challenges and feeling the same things I’m feeling, has meant the world to me. It’s reminded me of what I love about this work, and it’s also made it clear to me that I am not alone. We’re the ones sitting in this tension every day and we have to live in the both-and, knowing that education, children, humans are inherently messy, and data analysis is still important and still needs to be done.* Kaliski reflected on the importance of longevity and sustainability in a field built off systems that weren’t designed to change quickly. As human beings, we need to take care of ourselves and those around us, pushing for what’s right without burning ourselves out. Kaliski called back to SDP Senior Director Miriam Greenberg’s opening of SDP Convening 2026, where she encouraged us to consider hope as a necessity. As Kaliski said, “What better way to demonstrate our hope than by figuring out what we need to do to stick around?” SDP Fellow Dr. Cristal Cisneros also had a thing or two to say about the importance of community and communication. A qualitative researcher, Dr. Cisneros entered the fellowship holding close to her a family tradition of storytelling. She recounted her family’s version of conducting longitudinal data studies: making every family interaction a data collection exercise, observing what was happening in a room and where relationships were fraught or blossoming. Dr. Cisneros reflected on the importance of including qualitative data in our work: > *Qualitative research taught me that people are more than numbers. That data has emotion, history, contradiction, humor, and inspiration….\[and\] data is never neutral. The way we collect it, interpret it, and weaponize it has often been used to uphold systems of inequity and white supremacy reducing our communities to deficits, statistics, and failures instead of recognizing our brilliance, resilience, and humanity. That is why my work matters to me. I want to challenge the narrative of what counts as “rigor.” I want schools to understand that meaningful change cannot happen without listening deeply to students, families, and communities. Numbers alone cannot tell the full story of mi communidad. Real transformation requires context, relationships, history, and trust.* To Dr. Cisneros’ point, bringing people into this work was a common thread across all these fellows’ experiences. As Sarah reflected in her speech to the cohort, many had SDP’s “Data Work is People Work” stickers prevalent on their laptops or water bottles. And that’s just it. It’s about the people. Sarah shared: > *The technical skills you applied are powerful, but it’s the humility, the perseverance, and the partnership you brought that stand out most. Your cohort has demonstrated this work across every level of a student, teacher, and parent’s educational experience, from our earliest learners to higher education, and I’m so proud to be a witness and champion of your work.* This cohort, like those before it, continues to model a new kind of data leadership; one that prioritizes relationship-building, humility, and making data work about the people it measures and serves. As Stark said in his closing speech to his cohortmates: > *We’ve been put in a unique position. To drive change. To think differently. To improve systems. To disrupt when necessary. To make life better for teachers, and ultimately for kids.* > > *The people in this room can change the world. I genuinely believe that.* > > *Every data point we work with reflects a life in motion. A child navigating their own journey, filled with challenges, growth, and limitless potential. And it’s our responsibility to encourage and help shape that journey with care, intention, and purpose. So all kids have a chance at success.* > > *That’s the work.* > > *Now it’s time to go improve the world.* We thank you, Cohort 16, for your hard work over the last two years. Wherever you go next, we know you’ll keep building these bridges that make data work meaningful *and* impactful. See also:- [ SDP Convening 2026 ](/tags/sdp-convening-2026) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)