We would like to introduce to you, our newest employee Juleesia Santiago-Karim (she/her) who has accepted our offer of employment as the School Program Coordinator at Walk Bike Nashville. 

Juleesia has 8 years of experience in program management, volunteer recruitment and developing service learning curriculum to educate high school aged students on issues impacting the local and global community and how to be agents of change.She has also led treks in Central America with highschool students to build schools in developing communities in Matagalpa and Managua. In her most recent position, Juleesia managed the college access & volunteer mentorship program as Program Manager of College Success for iMentor in New York City for the last 3 years at Comp Sci High in the Bronx, NY and Frederick Douglass Academy II in the historic Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. Her experience is enhanced by her degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in social justice. She is currently working on pursuing her Masters in Social Work in Nashville in the near future

As School Program Coordinator Juleesia is responsible for working to support the Safe Routes to School National Partnership as well as reducing air emission around focus schools to improve the air quality in and around those communities. She will report to Cathy Carillo, Schools Program Manager. Specifically, Juleesia will lead our efforts in these areas:

1) Walking School Buses: 

This project coordinates volunteer parents to walk groups of students to school on designated routes to foster safer travel for students who walk and bike to school. Juleesia will be supporting, facilitating, and strengthening the following efforts in our 3 focus schools:

  • community outreach in neighborhoods near the schools

  • coordinating with the community achievement program and physical education teachers

  • managing and directing volunteers

  • supporting students by giving them access to resources that make these walks easier.

2) Environmental Education:

Juleesia will help create this new part of our school programming by:

  • implementing a localized air quality monitoring program at our focus schools

  • supporting a student and community-led analysis of the impact of school car traffic on air quality around schools

  • work with community and school partners to implement an educational curriculum around this air quality data.

3) Community Outreach: The Schools Program Coordinator will also support our work to develop new partnerships with people and groups in and around the focus schools who are also working to address education, environmental justice, public space, and transportation issues.

If you're interested in volunteering with our Safe Routes to Schools program, reach out to Jueesia!