Dr. Talisa Dixon is a long time educator who served in two superintendent seats in Cleveland Heights School District located in University Heights City, Ohio, and in the Columbus City Schools in Ohio, an urban school district of over 46,000 students. She served as a social studies teacher in Akron, Ohio before taking on Assistant Principal and Principal roles before rising to executive leadership. Dr. Dixon is a distinguished educational leader in her state of Ohio and nationally. She has recently joined the national Girls Policy Network (GPN) as a learning facilitator, working with high school girls of color around policy knowledge, empowerment and voice.
Enjoy the conversation with Dr. Kishimoto and Dr. Dixon below.
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The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Dr. Kishimoto
Hello, everyone. Happy holidays. I can’t believe it’s the end of the year. It is December 2024. Welcome to The Stories We Must Tell. I have with us yet another amazing leader, a national leader, sitting in Ohio. We are excited to have Dr. Talisa Dixon with us today. Welcome Talisa.
Dr. Dixon
Thank you. I’m so glad to be here.
Dr. Kishimoto
It’s so much fun having some time to talk together. You and I were introduced not too long ago by a mutual friend, and we’ve just hit it off. I just love when this happens. This is the power of networking, isn’t it?
Dr. Dixon
I know it’s been so awesome getting to know you, working with you and to be one of the voices of equity. Oh my gosh, it’s awesome. Awesome.
Dr. Kishimoto
There are just so many incredible leaders throughout the nation. We focus on women leaders in particular, but we know that our many allies are doing incredible work. And so, we celebrate all of our superintendents, former superintendents, and executive leaders in education.
I want to talk a little bit about your work as a superintendent in Columbus City Schools and in Cleveland Heights and would love to just have you introduce yourself to the audience. What was that like? I know you retired. How does that retired title feel right now? I know I don’t like anyone using that title on me.
Dr. Dixon
No, I know. So yes, I had the awesome opportunities to lead both in Cleveland Heights and Columbus City Schools and both districts are very different. Cleveland Heights had about 5000 students. Columbus City Schools is 50,000 students. One of the things that we know we have in common, was thatwe had students who were ready to learn and teachers who were prepared to teach. And when you are in those environments, surrounded by a community that really embraces the school and the learning, what better way to go and to lead and to really give kids the opportunities to see their wildest dreams come to fruition through learning. So, it was a blessing, and I miss the kids.
Dr. Kishimoto
But you know, we continue to have incredible opportunities post superintendency to work with students, to continue to have an impact on our peers who are now leading in the top seat. Before I get into some of that work that I know you’re doing and some of the work you and I are doing together, what does this space of the post superintendency, what does that look like? I talk to colleagues around the country who have transitioned to other roles and have stepped away, and often it’s shocking for the first few months to not be in the superintendency and not be at that pace, but not to be right at the heart of that work in a district, how does this post superintendent time work for you, and how does it feel?
Dr. Dixon
Well, you know what, you’re right, it feels so very different, especially when you do it at the end of your career. I spent the last nine years of my career in the superintendency. So when you move on, you’re thinking, Okay, where do you go next? You know, what do you do next? Because your school community really becomes your family community, and you embrace everyone from your assistants to your security people, to your students. So it really becomes your family for about 30 years. So, it is eye-opening, like, oh my gosh, how can I now impact the K-12 space in a different place? It’s been challenging at times, you think about, oh my gosh, I miss it. But then it’s freeing at times, because you really think about the other great opportunities to impact the K 12 space.
Dr. Kishimoto
I’m glad you phrased it that way because I tell women leaders, who are thinking about the superintendency, that there just is nothing more incredibly special. I think it’s an incredible role. It’s a great place to find yourself as a leader in this nation. You have tremendous impact on a whole network of people, from young people and children all the way to parents, to people in the community, to legislators. There just isn’t a role like this you know anywhere else. But when you step out, like you said, it’s your family, it’s your whole lifestyle.
Dr. Dixon
Your whole lifestyle, your career. And I think people don’t realize, when you get into education, you’re really dedicating your whole self to this work. It’s very different from other jobs. It’s really a career, because you start off in that classroom with the kids, and you really, for most of us, we really see ourselves as developing and maturing in leadership and just really taking advantage of opportunities, from teaching to the superintendency office. You say, oh my gosh, I spent my year thinking about the teachers we see that retire after 40 years, oh my gosh. Could you really do that? And you’d look back and say, Yeah, I think I could have done two to 10 more years of it.
Dr. Kishimoto
Yes, and it’s funny because we talk about whether we use the word retirement or we stay away from that word, and we kind of talk about the post-superintendent work that we do, it’s almost as if we never step away, right? We have this network of people nationally that we continue to do work with.
I want to pivot a little bit and talk about one of those things that you’re doing right now with a group called the Girls Policy Network, which is really exciting. It’s a program that serves high school girls of color by teaching them about their own policy voice and self-empowerment. These girls, these young ladies, are 16, 17, and 18, years old. They are just full of energy and hope and expectation. And so, I wanted to ask you about that work that you’re engaged with, and what you’ve been hearing from these young ladies. What are you learning from them?
Dr. Dixon
First I would say, there’s so much promise in our future, and we know that as superintendents because we see that all the time across our districts across the country. But when I sit and listen to the girls and I listen to their vocabulary that they’re using now, and how they’re connecting with one another in this virtual space, it is both refreshing and empowering. They want to learn more. They’re like little kids, elementary kids, who are sponges. They’re still sponges at 16 to 17, 18, years old. So, the questions that they’re asking us, they want to know more about us. They want to know what to do to prepare themselves for their future. When I think about that, I said, you know what, world look out! These young people are ready. These young girls are ready to take on the world. It makes you feel good to be in their presence.
Dr. Kishimoto
When I hear them talking about policy issues such as sustainability and resource management, and they’re talking about food deserts, and they’re talking about the empowerment of women in STEM and in medical fields. It just makes me, like you said, feel so hopeful, like our future is in good hands. They are already thinking about these issues that I think sometimes as adults in the community, in a broader community, we forget how much they’re paying attention to us.
Dr. Dixon
Because they’re just not coming up with these ideas out of the hat. To your point, they already have been thinking about it. When they talked about the food deserts, you know, one young lady said, you know, it’s just in some communities, my community should be doing more. They’re seeing these things happening. They want to do more.
The young ladies who talked about equity, gender equity, are seeing how their school districts are prioritizing one gender versus another in their minds and coming up with solutions, saying, I know how to tackle that. So, this strategy with policy really gives them the guardrails to say you can tackle these issues. Here are some ways to do that, and this route will guide you to do that effectively, and they’re so ready.
There was one young lady who couldn’t make the next meeting because she was on the swim team, but she said, hey, I know how to make it work. I’m going to stay engaged with my policy group because she was so passionate about the work that she wanted to stay engaged, even though she had another commitment for the next couple of weeks. And to me, when you have strategies that students want to come back, they want to make sure that they balance that with their other opportunities, you have something powerful.
Dr. Kishiomoto
It’s just great to learn from them. Our young people in this nation push us as leaders to think deeper, to think differently. And that’s what’s so amazing about intergenerational learning as well. If we think of ourselves as leaders in this intergenerational space called public education, then there’s so much we learn from these young people.
One of the things I do want to ask you about without going down the rabbit hole of politics, is that we do have a situation where we have politicians who have been speaking up in ways that are really not in line with what women as a nation have been talking about, their health rights, and their body rights. And also, more recently, a comment about how women shouldn’t serve in combat, and yet, we have women serving in all of the armed forces all over the world right now and have been for years. So, this isn’t new. And so, how do we talk to our young ladies who are in high school about the kind of messaging they’re hearing that makes them feel like, whoa, what does this mean for me and my future and my voice and my power? What are some of your thoughts about how we keep the conversation where we need to keep it?
Dr. Dixon
One, I think we acknowledge that the conversation is happening. We don’t shy away from the tough conversations, that’s so important. In years past, there were some things that we didn’t talk about. They were taboo. You didn’t talk about them. Now we are open to those conversations, and we’re allowing these spaces for young women to talk freely about what they’re hearing, about what they’re feeling, but we’re also setting up spaces that will allow them to do something about it. And I think that’s where the power is, that you just don’t hear it. You set up a platform where students can actively engage in something that they feel or believe is not right, and I think that’s the power of it, I believe.
Dr. Kishimoto
I agree with you. Now, time together goes so quickly when we’re having these conversations for this show, but I want to make sure that we wrap up by talking about the tech power and equity conference coming up in January. There’s another important conversation, right, about women leading in the AI and tech space. We know it is a field that is primarily led by men still, and so we want to have a space for women to come together. You are one of the conference planners and organizers. You’re going to be welcoming the women who attend. And we’re excited. We have over 30 women superintendents and several women state superintendents among the attendees, women who are in the technology space, who often are one of only in that space, in their districts. What are you hoping to get out of this?
Dr. Dixon
Well, wow, first, I’m just honored to be a part of it. A couple of things, one is the networking. I hope women really take this opportunity to really network in this space, to meet other women, to take their information, and to follow up. There could be other opportunities that stem from this conference.
The other one is giving women the platform to present their ideas in their work. You know, how many times do we go to other conferences, and we don’t hear about the unique opportunities or the outstanding work that women are doing? So, this opportunity allows women to showcase their work on a national stage. And I think that is so freeing and empowering.
And the last thing is, it’s the career opportunities. There may be some networking where people say, hey, let’s partner. You know, we may want to do a startup or do a research paper together. We want to be able to collaborate and showcase this work in other spaces. So again, I think the networking, the partnership with career development, and showcasing their work, to me are really the things that I hope that there are some powerful takeaways from this opportunity.
Dr. Kishimoto
Oh, wow. So many opportunities here. When we come together as women leaders and take advantage of the space together.
If you haven’t registered yet, January 23 through 25th in Phoenix, Arizona, Tech, Power and Equity, join us! We’re going to have Dr. Dixon, amongst many other amazing women leaders there.
Talisa, thank you for your time. I am so excited that our paths have crossed. It’s amazing when we leave ourselves open to receive others, to be part of our lives. And I’m so glad that you are part of my life.
Dr. Dixon
Thank you. Thank you. That makes me feel so good. And I can’t wait to see you and other women at this powerful conference. And I can’t wait until our next meeting with the girls and to see their projects. I’m just really excited about their future.
Dr. Kishimoto
Thank you, Dr. Dixon
