Colleagues,

It's awful to have to report to you all that our friend and former CEF Executive Director Joel Packer died of a heart attack over the weekend.

I know some of you had the chance to meet Joel at CEF events here in DC and hopefully some of you got a chance to get to know Joel over the years. There are many things to say and many things will be said in the coming days about Joel and the impact he had on the people on and off the Hill in the federal education advocacy community here in Washington. I'll just say two things for now: if Joel hadn't been so welcoming to me back whenever it was that I attended my first CEF meeting on behalf of NCL, my subsequent life would likely have had a very different trajectory. And, while I have received occasional credit for helping to build a stronger relationship between NCL members and CEF and with the larger education community as a result — that isn't something I came up with on my own, it was in very large part due to Joel's encouragement.

Joel was enjoying retirement along with his wife who also retired a few years ago. They were actually traveling when he died. I last saw Joel in late October — right in the middle of the Nationals' World Series run. He was a huge fan. I'm glad he had the chance to relax (he was pretty much always working during his CEF days) and enjoy life (most especially spending time with his grandchildren), but it's still heartbreaking he didn't have more time.

Jeff

Jeff Carter
Cell: (202) 374-4387 | @jeffcrtr

Senior Policy Advisor
National Coalition for Literacy
http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org/
mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org
Former President, Committee for Education Funding

Executive Director
Physicians for Social Responsibility

1111 14th St, NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20005

http://www.psr.org/ | mailto:jcarter@psr.org

Jeff, I am so sorry to hear this news about Joel. He was indeed a giant in the world of education advocacy, and we all stand on his shoulders in our own advocacy work. Please keep us updated on any plans for memorial tributes or gifts.

Deborah

Deborah Kennedy

Senior Consultant / Owner, Key Words

President, National Coalition for Literacy

office: 202-364-1964 (September-May)

office: 603-293-2402 (June-August)

http://www.key-words.us

http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org

---- On Mon, 27 Jan 2020 10:27:41 -0500 Jeff Carter jcarter@literacypolicy.org wrote ----

Colleagues,

It's awful to have to report to you all that our friend and former CEF Executive Director Joel Packer died of a heart attack over the weekend.

I know some of you had the chance to meet Joel at CEF events here in DC and hopefully some of you got a chance to get to know Joel over the years. There are many things to say and many things will be said in the coming days about Joel and the impact he had on the people on and off the Hill in the federal education advocacy community here in Washington. I'll just say two things for now: if Joel hadn't been so welcoming to me back whenever it was that I attended my first CEF meeting on behalf of NCL, my subsequent life would likely have had a very different trajectory. And, while I have received occasional credit for helping to build a stronger relationship between NCL members and CEF and with the larger education community as a result — that isn't something I came up with on my own, it was in very large part due to Joel's encouragement.

Joel was enjoying retirement along with his wife who also retired a few years ago. They were actually traveling when he died. I last saw Joel in late October — right in the middle of the Nationals' World Series run. He was a huge fan. I'm glad he had the chance to relax (he was pretty much always working during his CEF days) and enjoy life (most especially spending time with his grandchildren), but it's still heartbreaking he didn't have more time.

Jeff

Jeff Carter
Cell: (202) 374-4387 | @jeffcrtr

Senior Policy Advisor
National Coalition for Literacy
http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org/
mailto:jcarter@literacypolicy.org
Former President, Committee for Education Funding

Executive Director
Physicians for Social Responsibility

1111 14th St, NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20005

http://www.psr.org/ | mailto:jcarter@psr.org

National Coalition for Literacy Members mailing list

Members@lists.national-coalition-literacy.org

To unsubscribe: http://lists.national-coalition-literacy.org/mailman/listinfo/members_lists.national-coalition-literacy.org