Maya Martin Cadogan

Washington D.C

Founder & Executive Director
PAVE

Maya Martin Cadogan served in leadership for the public charter school systems in Washington, D.C., for nearly seven years. In that time, she noticed one glaring matter while attending city meetings on future educational policies — Black parents were consistently absent from the table. And these conversations, and the policies implemented, were happening in a school system that’s majority Black.

Cadogan, 42, a proud sixth-generation D.C. native, chose to break down that barrier. In 2016, she founded Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE), an organization dedicated to mobilizing and connecting Black parents to the issues that affect their children. In partnership with community leaders and policymakers, PAVE creates space for Black parents to advocate and build an educational system that meets the needs not just for their individual child, but for all children.

“Our parents now set their own policy tables, and invite elected officials and policymakers to their rooms where it happens,” says Cadogan.  

As the founder and executive director, Cadogan has grown the organization from a one-person team and an all-parent board to a parent-powered organization with an annual budget of nearly $3 million. PAVE supports the work of 3,500 parent leaders and seven Parent Leaders in Education (PLE) boards throughout the district. And the advocacy work has led to systemic transformation in how the District of Columbia funds and supports students and their families. That includes securing hundreds of millions in new funding for traditional public schools and public charter schools.

Prior to launching PAVE, the Dartmouth College graduate was an entrepreneur in residence with New Schools Venture Fund. She was chief of staff at Achievement Prep, a public charter school network in southeast D.C., and she was the director of policy and special programs for Center City Public Charter School, which has six campuses located in the district. Currently, she is the board chair of LEARN, a charter school network that launched through a first-of-its-kind parent-driven selection process. — Monée Fields-White