How Danelle Almaraz Builds Collaboration in Education System Innovation
- Pathfinders For Good
- Feb 15
- 3 min read
The Question That Changed Everything
A veteran teacher stood up in a crowded meeting room, his six-foot-five frame towering over consultant Danelle Almaraz. His voice boomed: "Who the F are you and why should we listen to you?" The room fell silent. This high school had cycled through consultants like seasons, each promising transformation but delivering disappointment.
Danelle looked up calmly. "I'm going to call a norm check," she said. "I was a middle school teacher for 20 years. I'm not afraid of attitude, but I don't know you well enough to know if I need to be afraid."
What happened next changed everything.
Beyond the Breaking Point
The teacher's hostility wasn't personal—it was systemic. Like educators across North America, he represented a profession pushed beyond its limits. Schools had endured six principals in three years. Teachers faced initiative fatigue, absorbing endless top-down mandates while watching 30% of students miss 18 or more school days annually. The industrial-era education model that once served society was crumbling under modern pressures.
Danelle recognized this pattern from her own journey. After leaving accounting—where managers kept sending her "back to your cubicle"—she'd spent three decades in education. From math teacher to superintendent, she'd witnessed the gap between what educators knew worked and what systems allowed them to do.
The Moment of Truth
That resistant teacher began to cry. "I'm a big teddy bear," he admitted. "I would never hurt anyone." The room's energy shifted completely. Other teachers found their voices: "We're going to start calling norm checks on you because it's not okay to talk to people this way."
From that moment, the school transformed. Grade-level teams created agreements about how to work together. The simple framework—be curious, be kind, be present—became their foundation for change.
This breakthrough revealed Danelle's core insight: sustainable change requires empowering those closest to students, not imposing solutions from above.
Building Movements from the Middle
Danelle's approach flips traditional change management. Instead of training principals who might leave, she builds teacher leadership teams of 10-12 people. Using her "Schools on the Move" framework, these teams assess themselves across four key drivers: clarity of focus, shared leadership, collective expertise, and continuous improvement.
The magic happens when teachers create their own "how might we" questions based on real classroom challenges. Rather than implementing district mandates about instructional methods while students miss 30% of school days, teams design solutions for their specific context. They collect evidence aligned to their inquiry questions, make agreements about what to try together, and use data as a flashlight to spotlight what's working.
Her AI chatbot provides 24/7 support, helping teachers get unstuck without fear of judgment. She can see their questions on the backend, adjusting responses to provide exactly what they need.
Your Leadership Pathway
For changemakers inspired by Danelle's approach, her story offers both mirror and map. Whether you're transforming education, healthcare, or community organizations, the principles remain constant: trust those closest to the work, provide frameworks rather than prescriptions, and use data to illuminate success rather than assign blame.
Start by asking these reflection questions with your team:
Clarity of focus: What specific challenge could we tackle together for six to eight weeks?
Shared leadership: Who has insights we haven't heard yet?
Collective expertise: What evidence would show we're making progress?
Continuous improvement: How will we adjust based on what we learn?
The goal isn't perfect implementation—it's creating problem-solving cultures where people feel empowered to address what they see every day.
Ready to explore more of Danelle's insights?
The full conversation reveals her specific frameworks for building teacher leadership, using AI strategically in education, and creating sustainable change in complex systems without burning out dedicated professionals.
Explore the full episode or audio summary using the links provided below.
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