Mastery Transcript Consortium Welcomes Tamika Guishard as Director of Communications and Development

“Along with the entire Mastery Transcript Consortium, I’m thrilled to welcome Tamika Guishard to our team as our new Director of Communications and Development,” says Stacy Caldwell, Chief Executive Officer for MTC. “Tamika has spent much of her professional career helping youth learn, grow, and develop their authentic personal and professional identities and has been hugely successful in building strong trusting relationships, using her superb communication skills to open further opportunities for youth and educators.”

Tamika Guishard’s passion for media and education is as boundless as her resume is diverse. Reading through the long and varied experiences that span everything from working alongside PBS to help launch a series from award-winning documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns as part of her work with National Park Service, to DC Public Schools, Tribeca Film Institute, and even her own production company, Guishard Films, one can see that Tamika is certainly a force to be reckoned with, as well as one that inspires and is driven to inspire others to bring out the best within themselves.

“Using media in education gives me an opportunity to amplify the story about how some populations are being marginalized in education,” Tamika explains. “Media can be used to educate and enlighten the general public as well as diversify an organization internally. For example, when I worked on National Parks’ and Tribeca Film Institute’s Centennial partnership, a large part of that project was getting American youth to reconsider the notion of what it means to be American, what it means to be a citizen, and how those stories tie into our park system.”

As a filmmaker, Tamika is a trained storyteller and sees how the Mastery Transcript is also designed to tell a story.

“The Mastery Transcript empowers youth to tell their own story with a digital tool,” Tamika continues. “It allows students to paint a fuller picture with more vivid colors and sets up a stronger, fuller foundation for their future with higher education. This holistic story empowers students to start a more robust conversation with colleges and employers, a conversation that’s not so black and white about what indicates progress and accomplishment.”

Tamika also sees the value of the Mastery Transcript extending beyond traditional education and being utilized for personal growth and development far into adulthood as a valuable tool for lifelong learning and development.

“A lot of times maturation can mean a ‘flattening’ of who we are. You get pressured to fit into a mold or expectation, but really, as children, we’re complex and that complexity should be celebrated and explored rather than narrowed and flattened. MTC keeps those doors and opportunities open so that kids can continue to explore, document, and value those facets of their character and development for as long as possible,” she says. “And even as adults we continue to be naturally complex with many unique interests and experiences. MTC is really great at empowering and propelling people forward in a unique and authentic way. Being an adult does require you to take on certain roles, but you can still cultivate other strengths simultaneously or at another time. Those strengths are still in you.”

As Tamika readies herself to start her new role at MTC, she’s very excited about being able to communicate how savvy this tool is and how much sense it makes in today’s world.

“Mastery Transcript is turning attention to a lot of conversations that have been held in corners of the education world, which are now finally coming to light,” she concludes. “I look forward to being a part of bringing this conversation to the main stage of the educational arena.”