For Charmise Desiré, a prestigious appointment is a new way to care

Charmise Desiré’s path to becoming an officer of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association is the result of a simple but far-reaching networking philosophy.

Summed up in her own words, “Networking is not limited to looking for a job. It's about building relationships and listening to those that you engage more than you talking.”

This “simple” philosophy, combined with unwavering commitment to her community, has led to Desiré’s recent appointments as both secretary-treasurer of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, and 2023 chair of the Resolutions Committee of the New York State School Boards Association.

With these appointments, Desiré, a Uniondale school board member since 2018, has expanded her ability to listen to her constituents and advocate for her community’s schools.

Desiré had already served since March 2020 on the Nassau County Executive Committee of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association. That position has empowered her to speak out for Uniondale and other communities of color when collaborating with supportive organizations like the Long Island Education Association and the Nassau Region PTA.

But now, as an officer, she can more effectively represent the School Boards Association at major events like the yearly Long Island Association State of the Region Breakfast. That event is a chance for federal, state and county leaders to raise current issues and to “give us the lay of the land,” as Desiré put it. Among the guest speakers at the January 2024 breakfast will be U.S. Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, who represents the congressional district that includes Uniondale (NY-04).

“The school, business, and political worlds come together at the Long Island Association event,” Desiré said, “because these issues affect the community at every level.” In addition to information from the speakers, the networking at the breakfast provides new contacts who can help with advocacy and problem-solving.

Desiré sees her new position as an extension of her lifelong community engagement.

“My parents were always engaged,” she told radio show host Nicole Burke, “and as children we always went with them. … Networking with others should be a growth pattern, which your young children need. They need to know how to go into a room full of strangers and how to navigate that, just from a basic comfort level.”

Burke hosts a weekly radio show, “The Voice of Uniondale,” on WRHU. On the segment that aired June 29, Burke and Desiré discussed networking as a way to build community strength.

Getting out to talk to others can be intimidating for some, said Desiré, but even at a very quiet level, it will boost one’s own well-being and support one’s neighborhood.

“So, a way to network is just speaking with people in the grocery store,” Burke commented to Desiré, “or wherever you shop.”

“You go with your own comfort level,” agreed Desiré. “How do you know whom to go to on the Town Zoning Board if you have questions about new construction in your area? Your neighbor may know. Or a first-time home buyer might say, ‘I may end up leaving New York because these mortgages are so high.’ How will you know that there's a Uniondale Community Land Trust that offers affordable homes for-first time home buyers unless you put yourself out there a little bit?”

During the years when Desiré herself was a working mother with young children, she could not be heavily involved in the district. But her more-involved friends brought her helpful information. She attended school events when she could.

Then her involvement began to grow.

Across her 20 years living in Uniondale, Desiré has served as a PTA member, the founding president of the Uniondale High School Football Parent Booster Club, and a computer instructor for the Adult Education Program. She has also served on the UHS Character Education Committee, the District Technology Committee, and a District Pupil Capacity Focus Group.

She became an engaged member of various civic organizations in the Uniondale community and a graduate of the Parent Leadership Institute of Long Island, in association with the Childcare Council of Nassau County. In 2018, she was elected to the Uniondale School Board, and then in 2020, took on her role with Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association.

“I was inspired to get involved with the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association as I watched fellow board members of color serving from other school districts, and they did so diligently as advocates for underrepresented communities,” Desiré said.

“Charmise Desiré always goes above and beyond in her efforts to support the Uniondale community and public school education in general,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Monique Darrisaw-Akil.

“Being neighborly means caring about more than yourself,” said Desiré. “The phrase ‘It takes a village’ is talked about in raising children, but it takes a village in other areas, too, because we can help each other.”