Kimberly Baber

I contribute my success first and foremost to my mother, because she was the first pair of shoulders that I stood on to become the woman that I am today. I also attribute my success to family, community, and my faith. My faith and prayer are pillars within my value system, and these foundations have supported me throughout my entire career and continue to guide me to this day.

The best piece of advice I've ever received was when I was a Kennedy Center National Symphony Orchestra press intern. The executive director at the time shared this wisdom during our mentoring roundtables: always do what you love, because if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. That internship was at the very end of my undergraduate experience, and those words have stuck with me and are words that I've carried throughout my career to present day.

I would say, follow your heart. And always, always, always be authentic.

I'm in education, and the face of education is constantly changing with new thought leaders coming and the latest, greatest research, and most recently, AI. I think a great challenge is that there are a lot of teachers leaving the profession because of burnout and a variety of different reasons. One of the greatest challenges I see on a day-to-day basis is the lack of parental or guardianship involvement. When I grew up, the schools and families were partners. We did it together. Now, unfortunately, a lot of families think they're sending their kid to school and the school will do everything, but we can't. Scholars are only with us for so much time, and the reality is, learning began at home. Things that you learned as a child from home, and then when you got to school, it was built upon and continued, like stair steps, and then families would reinforce what the student learned in school. And that's not always the case anymore. The number of parents that do not show up for parent-teacher conferences is really unfortunate. Some parents absolutely can't be there because they're working to create a living for the family, but then those that are available just don't come or have no interest. That's a total challenge.

The values most important to me are communication, authenticity, and respect. I also believe strongly in good old-fashioned doing a good job, doing your best, and giving your best. Additionally, my faith and prayer are pillars within my value system and guide everything I do in both my work and personal life.