It is with much enthusiasm that we announce the hiring of Lindsay Schambach as the Executive Director of Imagine. After a national search, many hours dedicated by our search committee, and oversight by our board of directors, we found our next Executive Director from here in our Imagine Community. We are excited about all that Lindsay will bring to Imagine.

Lindsay comes to Imagine with extensive leadership experience in education, with KIPP NJ, a network of free public charter schools for kindergarten through college and alumni. Her decade long career with KIPP began, first as the founding principal of KIPP THRIVE Academy, then as the leader of KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy High School in Newark, NJ. She currently serves KIPP NJ and KIPP Miami as the Director of Leadership Development serving more than 1,000 educators and nearly 7,000 students in three cities, Newark, Camden and Miami. She has trained at the national level, in affiliation with the nationwide KIPP Foundation, receiving the KIPP Fisher Fellowship in 2012, and has grown the Principal in Residence program for KIPP, training aspiring leaders to be highly effective principals.  

“Imagine was a light for me and my son as participants when we were working to find our way,” says Lindsay. Three years ago, Lindsay’s husband, Michael Schambach, died of Stage 4 Colon Cancer, and Lindsay knows that it was Imagine, and her amazing circle of colleagues, friends and family, that helped her through this loss. “I am thrilled for the opportunity to work alongside the dedicated Newark and Mountainside staff, volunteers, and board to ensure no child grieves alone. I am honored to have the chance to provide the same love and support for our children and families, that was provided to me, during some of the most difficult times in our lives. Support, compassion, and community help create the possibility of a beautiful future, a future we all deserve.” – Lindsay Schambach. 

We look forward to introducing Lindsay to our Imagine families, supporters, and volunteers in the coming weeks and months.

“As founder of Imagine, I am pleased to welcome Lindsay as we serve the Imagine mission together. We could not have found a more dedicated, caring, strategic, and experienced leader to take the reins of the organization and lead us into the future.” – Mary Robinson, Imagine Founder 

We would also like to thank Rich Szeto for his ongoing support of Imagine, particularly these past several months as our Interim Executive Director. His leadership, insight, and support of the search process has been invaluable to Imagine, and we look forward to his continued service to Imagine as Lindsay steps in as Executive Director.

“Lindsay’s experience is impressive and her own personal experience with loss offers a level of understanding and empathy that is important to leading an organization like Imagine. We are thrilled to have her as part of the Imagine family and look forward to serving under her leadership.” – Rich Szeto, Interim Executive Director of Imagine.

Lindsay will be transitioning from her responsibilities with KIPP and into her role as Executive Director with Imagine over the next several months. We will schedule opportunities for greeting and getting to know Lindsay better in the coming months. Please join us now as we offer a warm welcome to Lindsay Schambach as the Executive Director of Imagine.

Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss is a New Jersey-based grief support center for children, young adults and families dealing with the death or life-altering illness of a parent, sibling or child. In addition to its peer grief support programs, Imagine provides training through education and outreach programs across the state to a variety of organizations including schools, houses of worship and corporations. Its goal is to create communities where grief and loss are transformed into resilience, empathy and compassion, and where no child grieves alone. For more information or for grief support please visit our website at imaginenj.org.