Meet Krystal Cormack, the new Director of Tutor Support with Ignite Reading.
Her work focuses on ensuring that tutors have the information, resources, and connection they need to meet ambitious goals for students. Krystal is an educator, education-advocate and lifelong learner. Her dissertation and graduate research focused on the experiences of teachers who resigned from the profession during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Her background in Broadcast Journalism has enabled her to write, speak and communicate with groups regarding multiple topics and across lines of difference. Her professional work has focused on leadership development, constituent support and customer service.
Krystal continues to live into her leadership abilities, which will be a tremendous value-added to any endeavor that she undertakes. In the past, Krystal has led organizations across lines of generational, racial and positional authority, and has done so with her own style and in excellence. She has a deep understanding of parliamentary procedure and insists on order and organization in the efforts which she leads.
Krystal is highly passionate about customer service in her work and personal interactions. During her time leading at the Mississippi Department of Education, she instituted a system of customer service ratings so that educators could rate the level of customer service they received when interacting with her team. She led trainings for her team on customer service and insisted on kindness and friendly interactions with teachers, principals and superintendents. Though this was highly unorthodox for a bureaucratic institution, Krystal instilled the importance of leadership through excellent customer service on her team.
Krystal remains a passionate educator with a specific focus on ensuring that students from underserved communities attain the education that they deserve. During her time as a teacher in Coahoma County, she ensured that her classroom ran smoothly and provided students with a joyful learning environment that cultivated their academic and character growth. Her passion for expanding educational opportunities is a driving force in her work, volunteering and in her personal giving. She advocated among the legislature and education decision-makers for Black students in low income communities. She lobbied for policy shifts that would positively impact educators of color in critical shortage school districts. She will continue to be an advocate for the very communities we are committed to supporting through our service.
We can also count on Krystal to bring her organizational, logistical and operational leadership to the organization to support our work. Krystal has a particular skill set for planning, executing and organizing virtual learning opportunities that spark joy and engagement. She believes in thoughtful planning and preparation, and is notorious for “speaker prep” in which she previews, revises and edits speeches before they are delivered to the audience.
