Today, we are honoring the extraordinary Brian Diamante, senior director of data and research for the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association.
This is our second of a new type of CharterFolk X story—where we honor those “unsung heroes” who have made big impacts on the charter school movement. If you have someone you think we should write about, please reach out to us.
Brian Diamante is a numbers guy, but it’s difficult to measure his immense impact. At the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association (NJPCSA), Brian is responsible for conducting analyses to support the association’s charter school members and its policy priorities.
But as it turns out, Brian works—and has developed serious expertise—far outside of the bounds of his job description. A real jack of all trades.
“He’s an expert on the state budget, he has expertise on school funding, producing funding data reports and analysis on trends, distilling budget information to the association, and our schools. He works with the lobbying team and me to set goals around the state budget,” said Harry Lee, president and CEO of NJPSCSA. “He’s also our IT guy… before we expanded, he was also doing all of our graphics.”
“By far one of my favorite colleagues”
Brian has a unique, highly valued skillset that makes him almost singular in New Jersey education policy.
“He is one of five people in the state that really understands the school funding formula,” Harry said. “He’s been around for a long time. Schools trust him, schools call him directly; he is their help line on a lot of things—especially around state budget.”
Danielle Alpert, NJPCSA’s chief external affairs officer, fully agreed.
“Brian and I work very closely together because I rely on him very heavily for fiscal analysis of our school funding formula in New Jersey, which is extraordinarily complex,” she said. “I would say he’s one of maybe five people in the state of New Jersey who know the school funding formula in and out.”
“Goofy and hilarious”
The New Jersey school funding formula might not be funny, but Brian is.
“From a personal level, he’s hilarious,” Harry said. “He’s the ultimate glue person, from a team perspective. He’s serious when he needs to be serious, but he’s just goofy and hilarious. He gets along with everybody.”
Danielle echoed that sentiment: “He’s by far one of my favorite colleagues I’ve worked with in this space. One of the most passionate, hardworking individuals, but also empathetic, jovial, and he brings a great energy every time you work with him. He’s funny. He’s a great colleague.”
Impact on NJ charter schools
Brian’s impact on New Jersey’s charter school sector often flies under the radar. But both Harry and Danielle described his value to charter schools across the state as immense and critical.
“He’s also probably the hardest-working guy that I know. He will work all hours of the day and night to help our schools,” Harry said.
“Brian is an exceptional human being,” said Danielle West-Augustin, CEO, Queen City Academy Charter School. “His warmth and integrity make him invaluable. The way he can help you to think about analyzing and triangulating data is such an asset. He has helped our team to think of data in multiple ways. Brian is always ready to help when needed. He’s such an asset to NJPCSA!”
A recent article highlighted how charter schools played a key role in helping Camden overhaul its public education system and better serve students, while nearby Trenton’s schools have struggled. Jed also wrote about what’s happening in New Jersey last week.
Brian’s expertise, guidance, and brilliance bolstered the sector’s successes in recent years. Brian has kept NJPCSA out in front.
“Our abilities, because we have Brian on staff, are remarkably ahead of other education groups,” Danielle said. “He helps us to be ahead of the game. Whether it’s his financial models or growth models that he does, I feel like we are extraordinarily sophisticated and have a very forward-looking view because of his contributions. He puts us in a position to not just understand what’s happening now, but what’s coming in two, three, five years. Brian has given us a leg up because of his ability to do analysis and projections. We are in a far better position to understand what is going on with our sector.”
“More than just a numbers guy”
Brian also demonstrates his dedication to the work by eagerly and creatively helping his colleagues.
“Brian is so much more to the association than just a numbers guy,” Danielle said. “He can build algorithms for us, but he’s truly a thought partner on legislation. So, it’s not just doing the analysis—I refer to him as my brain trust.”
Danielle had been working for a lengthy period of time on charter school legislation. At one point during the process, she spoke with Brian about some regulations, hoping he could help her track down some information. He told her he would look into it.
“Then, I didn’t hear from him that afternoon, so I was thinking maybe I’m crazy and that specific regulation doesn’t exist,” she said. Brian’s response shocked her when she checked back in with him.
“He had built me a dashboard so that I could look at legislation and regulations on my phone. He created this thing on my phone so when I want to look up something, I can,” Danielle said. “I mean, I was just asking him a question. And then he built me this tool.”
Brian’s humor, humility, and dedicated support for his colleagues and for New Jersey’s charter schools set him apart.
“He’s the coolest,” Danielle said. “There’s no one more deserving because he’s also very humble and just generally really kind and doesn’t put himself on the extraordinary level that he is. He doesn’t view himself the way the rest of the world views him.”