Meet Kathryn Graf: Candidate for Ridgefield Board of Education
How has your professional and personal background prepared you for this role?
Professionally, I started my career as a public accountant at Ernst & Young. There, I was an auditor for Fortune 500 companies. I saw how best practices in the corporate world are executed while in a client-service role. In my role on the Board of Education, I will be serving you, the public.
When I left Ernst & Young, I was part of in-house accounting teams where I helped grow, build and mentor different sized teams, not just in accounting, but in payroll, equity, and technical accounting and compliance. Sometimes I worked from the ground up, sometimes with very limited resources. That experience taught me to be scrappy and adjust best practices to smaller situations.
On a personal level, I have two young children – a first grader and another in pre-school. I’m invested in the long-term of this community. I believe that every child deserves the opportunity to succeed.
What do you think the Board’s greatest strengths are and how will you build on them?
The BOE did a lot of wonderful things during Covid. I’ve had many conversations with Tina Malhotra, the incumbent and current BOE chair. She’s built amazing relationships – with the district as well as other boards in town. There’s a great amount of trust within the current Board members and they’re working hard to move things forward. I think the Board is also getting the right input and coordinating very well with the school superintendent to ensure that priorities are being met for students.
What are your top priorities for the Ridgefield Board of Education when you are elected?
I’m committed to collaboration and transparency. And given my background, the annual budget is something I will really want to wrap my arms around. I’ll be considering how we are approaching the numbers on a quarterly basis. How are we doing an actual versus budget spending analysis? Are we giving enough to the public in terms of data to keep them informed? I’m really interested in getting the best ROI (return on investment) for the community.
Then, given my experience with payroll and equity programs, I hope to focus on our hiring and compensation programs for all of our teachers and our staff support.
How will you balance growth and progress while preserving Ridgefield’s character?
Ridgefield’s character is what drew me and so many others to this town. We’re really doing great things, but great is also a moving target. We need to consider the pulse of the town and focus on long-term strategic initiatives in our 5-year plan. I believe we need to get outside office doors and speak to the public. We need to understand the issues families are concerned about. How are those concerns evolving? How is the Board of Ed interfacing with the different town boards? We can’t simply operate in a silo. We need to be in sync with the community.
What are the key issues the Ridgefield Board of Education faces?
Of course, cell phone policy is an on-going conversation with lots of considerations. Again, we can’t make a siloed decision here. That policy impacts so many different groups, not just the students sitting in the building.
School start times is another on-going conversation. This issue impacts everyone in town. For instance, how do school start times affect traffic flow in town? How many more buses do we need? How do they impact after-school care and cost?
What is your leadership style?
I really believe that everybody has a voice. I like to give folks the opportunity to be heard. I like to whiteboard ideas so that we all can understand from the macro level. Where are we starting? What’s the pie in the sky? I ask a lot of questions. I always want to understand all the ins and outs of a topic, and who’s impacted. I’m a big proponent of getting the right brains at the table and enlisting their input.
What does Ridgefield mean to you personally?
We moved to Ridgefield two years ago but grew up nearby in New Canaan. Having gone through the public school system there, I’ve always valued strong public schools. We have a solid baseline for our schools. The fact that there are six elementaries that funnel into the two middle schools and then into the one high school creates such a robust community which benefits all people living in this town, not just parents.
What is one thing voters might be surprised to learn about you?
I love photography. I love cooking. I love entertaining.
I was immensely involved in soccer growing up and I’ve started coaching here in town. Meeting different kids really lights me up.
What sets you apart from your opponents?
I was surprised to learn that there hasn’t been a financial professional like me on the Board. Financial compliance is my sweet spot earned over many years working with major Fortune 500 companies and smaller entities. I’m also a researcher and make decisions based on data. I’m also a stickler for accuracy.
Why should Ridgefield trust you?
Ultimately, I want to do the right thing. My jobs, as a CPA and an auditor, have entailed submitting information to the SEC. I don’t take that lightly, never have, never will. I will always raise my hand and if I don’t have the answers, I’ll make sure that I get feedback from somebody that knows more in those areas. I’m always open to listening to others. That’s critical in this role. It’s in my nature, it’s in my career, and in my personal beliefs as well.