A. Joseph Tamer
INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES & COMMUNITY IMPACTS
Leading Institution-Wide Initiatives
At Rancho Solano, I served on the executive team implementing a strategic master plan that relocated the high school, brought three middle-school populations together with the upper school, and expanded capacity across four campuses. I worked with architects, faculty, administrators, and families to translate the plan into a functioning shared campus, helping align facilities, programs, student life, and community needs through a major institutional transition.
Belonging, Cultural Competency & Inclusion
My work has taught me that inclusive learning requires listening to communities and ensuring that students can see themselves and their possibilities within education. Through Infiniscope, I partnered with Native Hawaiian educators to bring local knowledge and voices into place-based learning; Interview a Scientist broadened the people and career pathways students encounter in STEM; and our HBCUv partnership with UNCF explored shared digital infrastructure designed around the needs of HBCU institutions and their students.
Service Learning & Community Engagement
Service has been a recurring part of my work with young people. For the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, I led a residential summer program combining service, leadership, and reflection. As Dean at Marianapolis, I led a 2010 spring-break service trip to Mingo County, West Virginia, and in 2018 chaperoned a service mission to Cuba. These experiences shaped my belief that service learning is most powerful when students build relationships, reflect on what they experience, and understand their responsibilities to others.
Connecting Learning, Experience & Community
Through NASA Infiniscope, I cultivated partnerships with LAUSD, ASU Preparatory, Kamehameha Schools, and other communities that connected curriculum development with professional learning and classroom practice. Educators received tools and training while our team learned directly from implementation with students. These partnerships created a feedback loop among academic programs, student experiences, community needs, research, and subsequent improvements to the resources we built.