On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am delighted to introduce our new Executive Director, Savitha Moorthy. Savitha has a strong background in literacy and language development as well as deep experience in early mathematics and science learning—her special expertise integrates these diverse domains to design cohesive learning experiences that promote children’s school readiness. Savitha has a PhD in Education from Stanford University and strong research skills, which complement her experience as a Montessori preschool teacher and developer of community-based programs.

Savitha was selected by Tandem’s Board of Directors after an extensive search. “Savitha’s commitment to diversity and social justice are a cornerstone of her work and her thinking, and her passion for the work Tandem does and its importance was abundantly clear from the beginning. We are confident in her ability to be a thought partner for our funders and community partners,” said Chetana Bisarya, Tandem board member and the chair of the leadership transition committee. Savitha joined Tandem at the end of May.

Savitha is assuming the Executive Director role from Molly Wertz. Molly founded Tandem and has led the organization for the last 15 years.

Savitha is excited to build on Tandem’s exceptional programming and stellar reputation in the community while leading the organization into its next chapter of growth and development.

Most recently, Savitha worked as the Director of STEM Equity Research at Digital Promise, an education nonprofit focused on closing the digital learning gap. At Digital Promise, Savitha’s work was concentrated in the area of early STEM education; she worked in close partnership with parents, educators, media producers, and technology developers as well as other researchers on a variety of research and development projects. Her portfolio of projects included collaborations with the Napa County Schools and the Jim Henson Company.

Prior to Digital Promise, Savitha spent eight years at the Center for Technology and Learning at SRI International, an independent nonprofit research center that aims to identify evidence-based solutions to improve the quality of learning for all students. While at SRI, a signature project in Savitha’s portfolio was the US Department of Education’s Ready To Learn Initiative, which explores how high quality public media programs can be combined with hands-on experiences to promote preschool children’s literacy, mathematics, and science learning. Savitha has presented her work at a number of national conferences, and has written extensively about her projects in a variety of publications.

Aside from being a researcher, Savitha is also an early childhood educator. Her first teaching job was in a Montessori school and the preschool classroom will always be her happy place. After several years in the classroom, Savitha applied to graduate school and received her doctorate from the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. For her dissertation, she completed an ethnography of a community-based adult English as a Second Language program, which allowed her the opportunity to learn firsthand about the barriers encountered by immigrant families as they navigate life in a new country while learning a new language. While at Stanford, Savitha also worked at the Haas Center for Public Service, where she led two service-learning programs—Ravenswood Reads and Ravenswood English—that paired Stanford undergraduates with elementary school children in the Ravenswood City School District to promote children’s literacy and language development.

Savitha believes that investing in early childhood care and education is an investment in equity. Identifying how families and educators can partner in promoting children’s school readiness is a common theme that unifies her portfolio of diverse projects. As an immigrant, a woman of color, and a member of a mixed-race family, Savitha’s own experiences of arriving and being in the United States have informed her work, which has attended specifically to culturally and linguistically diverse communities, particularly ones with a significant low-income population.

Aside from her work, Savitha is also active in her community. Her service efforts have been directed primarily towards her local school district, Hayward Unified School District (HUSD), which enrolls roughly 23,000 students including several English Learners and students eligible for free and reduced-price meals. For the past year, she has led a monthly family math workshop at the Helen Turner Children’s Center for parents of preschool-aged children as well as ad hoc workshops in culturally responsive pedagogy for teachers in the STEAM professional learning community; she is also a member of the superintendent’s bond oversight committee, that will help oversee the district’s use of funds from a recently-passed bond measure.

Savitha has been in the Bay Area for nineteen years; she considers herself a Californian and she describes herself as an “East Bay girl at heart.” She lives in Hayward with her husband, three-year-old son, and two temperamental cats. Not only is Savitha a voracious reader herself, but she is also proud to be raising one—she reads widely and indiscriminately, both on her own and with her son. She believes that books are the mirrors that reflect our lives and the windows to barely-imagined worlds, and that magic happens when a child and a caring adult gather around a book together. That’s a philosophy that’s especially well-aligned with Tandem—we’re thrilled to welcome Savitha as our new leader.

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