Director
Hedy Nai-Lin Chang directs Attendance Works, a national and state level initiative aimed at advancing student success by addressing chronic absence. A skilled presenter, facilitator, researcher and writer, she co-authored the seminal report, Present, Engaged and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades, as well as numerous other articles about student attendance.
Deeply committed to promoting two-generation solutions to achieving a more just and equitable society, Hedy has spent more than two decades working in the fields of family support, family economic success, education and child development. She served as a senior program officer at the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund and as co-director of California Tomorrow, a nonprofit committed to drawing strength from cultural, linguistic and racial diversity.
Hedy is also the mother of two school-aged sons who attend public school in San Francisco.
Listen to a podcast of Hedy Chang talking about chronic absence in the early grades.
Communications Lead
Phyllis W. Jordan of The Hatcher Group provides communications support for Attendance Works, which includes updating the website, creating toolkits, reaching out to the media and assisting with policy briefs and op-eds. Phyllis joined the Bethesda, Md.-based communications after nearly a decade at The Washington Post, where she edited education news and state politics. She previously worked for the Los Angeles Times, The Virginian-Pilot and The Fairfax Journal. She lives with her husband and two children in Washington, D.C. The Hatcher Group works exclusively with nonprofits and foundations, connecting them with policymakers and the media to advance social change.
Technical Assistance Coordinator
Cecelia Leong coordinates Attendance Works’ technical assistance resources. In addition to facilitating peer-to-peer sharing between researchers, practitioners and consultants through the Peer Learning Network, Cecelia works closely with the Attendance Works team to identify emerging technical assistance needs in reducing chronic absence and innovative tools to address
those needs. With 12 years of experience, Cecelia has used her skills as a writer, researcher and evaluator to document innovation and best practice on issues affecting children, youth and their families. She has focused on the following policy areas: K-12 education reform, universal preschool, integration of social services including school-linked services, family support, and equal access for immigrant students. Cecelia has two school-aged children who are working on perfect attendance.