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As Halloween came and went, so did Kidder’s nearly 30-year stint as Executive Director of , a national, independent, non-partisan organization that she co-founded with neighbours and community members in 1996.

That Oct. 31 day, Kidder handed the reins to Kate Blair Hagerman and Paris Semansky – encapsulating a stellar career in public advocacy. Dr. Charles Pascal – an OISE professor emeritus, who was a key driver in ���޾��ֲ�’s establishment of full day kindergarten – also played a vital role in People for ����ܳ����پ��Dz�’s creation and prominence. When he was executive director of the Atkinson Foundation, he was one of the organization’s first champions and first funders.

“I have been doing this work for 30 years and to stop doing it feels sad, exciting, scary, empty. It feels a million different things,” said Kidder. “Before I was doing this work, I was in theatre, so it's like inventing a job and then doing that job for 30 years and then stopping doing that job on purpose.”

But, the day before in the OISE auditorium, there was a chance to celebrate. OISE and People for Education co-hosted Telling Tales Out of School, the organization’s annual fundraising gala. The now 20th annual fundraiser was filled with live performances and artful storytelling that celebrated the promise of public education and supported People for ����ܳ����پ��Dz�’s work.

Naturally, the Telling Tales event came with praise for Kidder’s leadership and guidance over its initial run.

“We celebrate a visionary leader whose impact to our public education will echo through generations,” said Professor Erica N. Walker, Dean of OISE. “Annie Kidder, People for Education's co-founder and executive director will be retiring after decades of advocacy for public education.”

“Tonight also pays tribute to the legacy of the late Charles Pascal, professor emeritus and champion of OISE, who was both Annie's mentor and an early champion of People for Education through his leadership at the , a Canadian charitable foundation.”

“The inventing of People for Education wasn't on purpose,” says Kidder. “The formation came with a whole group of people doing work together, as an ad hoc reaction too recent to the state of education in ���޾��ֲ� at a time.”

“Retiring feels like the right thing to be doing,” says Kidder. “That doesn't necessarily make it feel good, but it is a moment for the organization where it's changing because I'm leaving, and it's also changing because it's expanding.”

A part of the bigger plan

The move to a co-leadership model is part of People for ����ܳ����پ��Dz�’s plan to evolve from a successful ���޾��ֲ�-focused organization to a pan-Canadian organization.

Semansky, who served as the organization’s Director of Systems Change prior to the leadership handover, says this shift is part of a bold five-year initiative to reimagine public education across the country.

“We think public education is the greatest asset in this country – that actually has the ability to help this country meet its biggest challenges,” said Semansky. “That's the work we're going to be doing with organizations across the country. We want to be building a bigger movement for public education.”

“We need doctors and lawyers and miners and nurses; we need them all to be for public education.”

For People for Education, this means consulting on policy with varying industries, in their spaces, and developing an action plan in the coming months. “We're going to vet those policy recommendations and say, ‘What's in the way of these things actually happening?’, and then that together is going to help us [form] an action plan that says, ‘we think these are the kinds of coalitions that need to be built to move those changes forward.’”

An homage to public education

The Telling Tales fundraiser also launched gifts that will celebrate the legacy of Kidder but also advance the promise of education.

The Honourable Margaret McCain, an InspirED award-winning friend of OISE, widely recognized as one of ���޾��ֲ�’s leading child advocates, has bequeathed People for Education $1 million. That gift has launched the establishment of the Margaret Norrie McCain Legacy in Education Fund.

As well, named in honour of Kidder and Pascal, the Pascal-Kidder Award for Innovation and Advocacy in Public Education will celebrate visionary leadership, bold ideas, and transformative action that advances the promise of public education in ���޾��ֲ�. This new award will recognize those who are reshaping education systems to ensure all young people have the opportunity to thrive.

The first winner is expected to be awarded sometime in 2026.

For Kidder, these award announcements are quite exciting. “Charles understood how to be an advocate using all of his knowledge and that it is important for OISE,” said Kidder.

“We need lots of different kinds, forms and platforms of advocacy for public education, and Charles definitely provided that.”

As a duo, she says, she and Pascal were advocates not based on ideology but what they knew works or makes a difference. “I love, love, love that there'll be an award that's in both our names.”