hi, i’m sunny.
I build capacity in organizations by helping them to invest in their people, purpose, and culture.
I believe these investments are vital for impact organizations that are leading change and trying to better the lives of the stakeholders they are serving.
Educators often talk about “filling their buckets” (buckets meaning their well of energy and motivation). In my experience, educators and leaders are reinvigorated when they are reconnected to the purpose that drew them to the work in the first place. Investing in their development by building their capacities is not just a matter of “filling their buckets”, but expanding and making their buckets bigger! When we see the importance of investing in our organizations by building capacity in our people, we are thinking strategically about organizational effectiveness, impact, vitality, and sustainability.
I started Sunny Strategies believing that my strengths could amplify the good work that organizations were already doing. I am an idealist and a realist: I see so much possibility and potential, dreaming of and envisioning what is to come while also recognizing that so many of our programs require intentional and coherent strategies to have resounding impact.
Sunny Strategies are:
alignment and cohesion in vision, values, strategy, & systems
purposeful and compelling communication and adult learning that invests stakeholders
precision, contextualization, and balance in the design and codification of program models, frameworks, & rubrics
recent program launches
Organizational Partner:
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy
alignment and cohesion
So much of school network programming can feel like throwing something at a wall and hoping it sticks; it will have a life cycle of 3-5 years if it’s lucky. Camino Nuevo Charter Academy had a golden opportunity to lead a consortium of small charter school networks, in partnership with LMU, to build a lasting teacher residency program that embodied and reflected its shared values and priorities as we embarked on a journey of collaboration. I was at the helm of this work, launching this partnership by leveraging our collective experiences and shared stories in order to create a shared purpose statement and equity design principles that would serve as a touchstone for our program. These anchored our difficult conversations, aligned us in our shared values, and provided cohesion in designing a program model that we could stand on together. One of the best compliments I’ve received was in the middle of a learning session, when one of the mentor teachers said, “Wow, I’ve definitely been part of other residencies and things have never felt as cohesive and connected like they do in Avance!”
purposeful and compelling
First impressions may not be everything, but they certainly aren’t nothing. They set the tone and continue to reverberate long after the program is launched. Our quarterly convenings of organizational leaders, as well as recruitment info sessions for residents, mentors, host schools and organizational partners gave us the opportunity to make a lasting first impression. What brought our program model to life was not words on a screen, or a gant chart or diagram- it was stories! Short vignettes, gifs from pop culture, reflection prompts and narratives that everyone could connect to and resonate with and that would bring the Avance core values to life. Our model also required intentional adult learning processes and a maximizing of every minute we shared together. These gatherings led to stakeholder investment, and specifics metrics helped us to know if we were meeting our marks: signed MOUs to say yes! We want to be a part of this!, a surge in the number of resident or mentor applications, or quality survey feedback. When I’m designing, I put myself in the shoes of my participant — anticipating what question, story, learning activity, or even gif will strike a resonant chord and amplify “the moment.” Every detail is intentional in order to make a purposeful and compelling first (and lasting) impression.
precision, contextualization, and balance
Inspirational launches are great, but momentum and vibes can be hard to maintain. We look to create frameworks, rubrics, guidance and support that provide the necessary structure and process to implement the vision and values of a program. I was constantly asking myself these questions: What makes Avance special? What is our value proposition in this sea of teacher residency programs? What are the things that every charter network is trying to get right? Where are the areas that we can push back on existing beliefs and practices? How can we achieve a balance, rather than swinging from one reform to another? I saw that elements of our program design needed to be codified in order to provide guidance; our stakeholders needed a roadmap at key junctures of program implementation. Reminding folks of our shared commitments helped to recenter and refocus along the way.
Check out snapshots of each of these Sunny Strategies for further insights.
“Avance has given me the opportunity to earn a teaching credential and Master’s. As a Latina, I did not see this as an option for me. It also gave me this opportunity in the community I love and with the teacher who inspired me the most in high school. ”
“Thank you to Sunny Min for her incredible leadership and vision in getting Avance off the ground. Her dedication, hard work, and brilliance have been instrumental in our success.”
“I have been in Education for 40 years. I have worked with the UCLA Teacher Prep program, at the UCLA Lab School, and had many student teachers in my classroom and schools. In all 40 years, I have not seen a teacher prep program with the amount of development, mentorship, and financial support like Avance. Avance is unlike any other program out there.”
“I have attended A LOT OF PDs in my decade plus as an educator and none have been as meaningful, intentional, and fruitful as the Avance Mentor PDs. You provided a space that felt authentically curated and yet flexible and accommodating. I grew so much this year as a mentor teacher and as an educator.”
“Bringing Avance Residency to our organization is about more than the number of residents at a given school. I see how this will impact our teachers, leaders, and our organizational culture.”
Organizational Partner:
Nick the Math Guy & the Math Yogis
alignment and cohesion
Nick the Math Guy has a successful track record of providing math instructional expertise to numerous school districts and networks in Los Angeles. In the course of his work, he saw the need for impactful math interventions that would bridge the gaps created by pandemic learning loss, especially in underserved schools and communities. He wanted to offer research-based high dosage math tutor programming, the Math Yogis way. What exactly was the Math Yogis way? In helping to answer this question, I wanted to find out how he had been able to establish such a strong clientele base. I poured over his products and materials, shadowed and observed Nick in action, and unpacked bright spots in his work to trace the effective through lines and trends present. Articulating the Math Yogi way meant anchoring the program in these guiding principles and letting them infuse Math Yogi Tutor Profiles and the Math Yogi Tutoring Session Look-Fors. Once these were in place, we built processes for alignment in hiring, training and support. We were able to pilot the program in eight schools, and were 8 for 8 in terms of impact and gains in student math learning!
purposeful and compelling
In the last few years, schools, especially those in high-need communities, have enlisted external services to address learning loss. We had to figure out a way to communicate the purpose of the Math Yogis in a compelling way, especially in a crowded marketplace. While it would have been easiest to lead with our results, what was most compelling to Math Yogi tutor recruits, and prospective schools, network partners and funders was our vision. We wanted to have impact that was rooted in equity and a methodology that centered student efficacy, empowerment and learning, all while minimizing math-related stress. Our message that math literacy is a social justice issue, as well as the showcase profiles of our Math Yogi tutors was a compelling one for many schools. After a successful pilot, the Math Yogis will be scaling and expanding its programming to 15+ schools with full-year tutoring. Namaste!
precision, contextualization, and balance
Working behind the scenes of a program startup requires flexibility and nimbleness and a constant refinement of systems and processes. A key strength of my partnership with the Nick and Math Yogis is to ensure that the precise details of programming are customized for every student and school receiving Math Yogis Tutoring services. We’re often asked by our partners how we vet our tutors. It’s difficult to find tutors who are confident in their math knowledge, while also adaptable and responsive to students. They must also have the right type of mindset to work with our students. This isn’t SAT tutoring or Kumon, or an after-school math enrichment program. In partnership with Nick, we articulated a rigorous and responsible hiring process that hones in on the right mindset: the ability to receive and incorporate feedback, assess for math content knowledge and student work, and believe that every student has the potential to learn math at a high level.
Check out snapshots of each of these Sunny Strategies for further insights.
“The personalized approach to tutoring is why we’ve continued to partner with the Math Yogis for the past three years. Our scholars have benefitted immensely from having in-person support, and we have been continuously impressed with the experience the Math Yogis come in with. Every tutor is fully knowledgeable of each scholar’s specific strengths and needs, and prioritizes building impactful relationships. This year, the preliminary data shows that our proficiency has increased by at least 11% school-wide, which is no doubt attributed to the work of the Math Yogis!”
“There are clear advantages of partnering with Math Yogis: number one, the relationships formed between the Math Yogis and the kids, something that you will never get with a virtual platform. Number two, the deep dive into the data and collaboration identifying student misconceptions to target services to be culturally responsive to students. You’re not getting tutoring that’s broad or generalized to a math standard or a set of math skills. Their approach is very data-informed. Number three, the innovative stance to try new things while being research-based in their methodology. They’re open to customizing the format, working with the school to best serve our students.”
“I love me some Math Yogis! They are positive, professional, and collaborative. I didn’t know students could actually enjoy math intervention until I saw the Math Yogis.”
What I’m good at
(1) Making a compelling why & investing stakeholders in purpose (2) visioning clarity (3) development of people (esp. educators & emerging leaders) (4) program design & launch (5) designing & facilitating adult learning (6) creating vision look-fors aka rubrics (7) balancing the big picture with the necessary details (8) curating learning spaces (9) taking ownership (10) leveraging bright spots & strengths (11) building trust, rapport, & credibility with stakeholders of diverse backgrounds and at all levels of organizations
Services
Talent development & talent pipeline programming
building capacity, launching, & IMPLEMENTING new programming, initiatives, and priorities
scaling and codification of systems, processes, and program models
ADULT LEARNING DESIGN AND FACILITATION
CREATING COHERENCE AND ALIGNMENT IN ALL FOUR OF THE ABOVE
Please check out the services page for more specifics and ideas to serve your needs.
sunnyminstrategies@gmail.com
based in the vibrant city of los angeles
Check out my CV to see my years of experience teaching, leading, learning, and having impact.Contact
