Maggie Marcus: Using Your Voice to Shape Systems and Expand Opportunity

About this episode

Maggie Marcus discusses her journey in education equity and the importance of using one's voice to create systemic change.

Join Leslie Gaudet and Maggie Marcus, education equity leader and Executive Director of the Sullivan Family Charitable Foundation, for a thoughtful conversation about influence, integrity, and expanding opportunity through systems change. Maggie shares how her work began in the classroom, where she witnessed talented multilingual students navigating barriers that had nothing to do with ability—and how that experience shaped her commitment to advancing equity at a broader level. From empowering bilingual educators to guiding philanthropic partnerships that create lasting impact, Maggie offers a grounded perspective on what it truly means to lead with responsibility. In this episode, you’ll hear how she defines influence in the context of education and philanthropy, how she approaches visibility without centering herself, and what conscious impact looks like when making funding and partnership decisions. Maggie also speaks to the resilience required to stay anchored to mission-driven work—and what she hopes the next generation of women leaders understands about success, equity, and using their voice with purpose. If you care about shaping the systems around you in meaningful…

People in this episode

Host: Leslie Gaudet

Guest: Maggie Marcus

Topics covered

• education equity
• systems change
• philanthropy
• women leadership
• influence
• responsibility

Keywords

• education equity
• systems change
• philanthropy
• influence
• women leaders
• bilingual educators
• resilience

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sullivan Family Charitable Foundation

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