My Why

I am Lisa McIntyre and I am proud to serve our community on the Board of Education for Northville Public Schools.  The School Board is the face of our education system, which is a Beacon of our community, and I welcome the opportunity to bring my leadership as informed by my education and experience as a Mental Health Professional for over 30 years focusing on children and families.  I am an expert in focusing on deep dives into difficult situations, listening to understand, developing creative solutions for complex problems, and collaborating across large systems to effect high level outcomes.  My ability to develop relationships with different stakeholders across communities has proven to help people find safe spaces to tackle serious challenges and expand their engagement with the world around them.  

As a School Board Trustee, I help our community find ways to safely engage in a variety of difficult situations to shape our school system for our new future.  With the resources we have in our community, we have the ability to think more expansively to come together to support each other in ways that at the present moment seem like just a dream.  Truly, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to create the kind of community that supports our children’s goals and dreams, expanding for adults to reach their own aspirations, and care for each other with compassion during unprecedented times.    

As a School Board elected official, I will engage in ongoing curriculum advancements to meet students' needs, as we hold Northville Public Schools to the most competitive academic standards in our state and county.  I will also will focus on these priorities:

• Community - I will facilitate our growth as a district as source of empowerment for teachers, staff, students and families to attain their highest educational and personal goals, at the same time continuing the highest standards of academic excellence across all age groups, a rich extracurricular setting for a vibrant arts community, innovative Robotics and technology programs, and strong athletic teams.
• Safety - I will expand our focus on community safety,  keeping physical safety top of mind for all members of our community through creative problem solving, and managing our collective emotional health as we wade through incredibly difficult circumstances that call for attending to unique needs as we move toward the future.
• Unity & Inclusion - I will lead our community into brave spaces through vulnerability and connectedness that allow us to see the ways that we are alike.  We will mobilize our resources to invite discussions of topics that will allow us to build bridges in areas we now notice need attention in order to promote healing and allow us to expand our experiences of what it means to be part of a small community in Michigan.

Engagement in Action looks like many voices being heard and moving through empowered spaces to demonstrate the values we all hold in esteem.  Under my leadership, our community in Northville Public Schools will demonstrate the highest valuation for our educators and mental health workers for the depth in which they teach our children and empower them with creative use of resources this community can mobilize for addressing complex problems in these unprecedented times.  Our school district is an example for many others in our surrounding community and state for the standard of academic achievement and sense of community.  Expanding to address the goals of community engagement, ever evolving safety in regards to physical and mental health, and unity and inclusion will be my focus as a Northville School Board official.  Northville exudes charm and inclusion when prospective new families visit our area.  Professional families choose this community because of the highest level of academic excellence and rigor that is well known throughout the state and the country.  I am excited to collaborate with the leaders of our community to expand that experience as we move through these challenging times.  

A Mental Health Professional for over 30 years, I understand the connection between physical health and mental health, and how those are critical to supporting students and communities in pursuit of their highest academic and life goals.  I mobilize groups of people who are new to working with each other to complete difficult tasks under pressure, while maintaining both the experience of calm and enthusiasm.  People look to me to create safe spaces to explore difficult topics and work toward effective solutions, while expanding our understanding of each other and how we support our families needs and goals.  

One of my greatest strengths is welcoming people into new communities and helping them mobilize the resources they need to move forward in success.  Having lived in Germany, Kalamazoo, Chicago, Phoenix and now Northville, moving into new communities and finding ways to connect and make impact in the ways I can, is something I have successfully navigated time and time again.  Engaging and inspiring youth and the adults supporting them to foster their greatest success is something I have accomplished in many different settings.  I am excited and proud to join a team of compassionate, engaged community members through the Northville Public School Board, as we lead our educational programs through this pandemic into our new reality of engagement as a larger community. 

Education & Brief Summary of Experience

• BA from Kalamazoo College in Psychology - culminating in an individual research project with risk youth in Kalamazoo and Chicago.
• MS from University of Saint Francis College in Mental Health Counseling - Focus on employee mental health through an Employee Assistance Program, while simultaneously providing direct clinical services in a high level clinical program serving at risk children and families, addressing physical and mental health issues so that families could achieve success in school and beyond.  
• Clinical therapist in diverse metropolitan communities including Chicago and Phoenix, providing comprehensive mental health care for youth, adults and groups needing support, while mobilizing resources to provide for long-term personal and academic success, after evaluating barriers and challenges at various stages of need.  
• Community leader through PTA at Ridge Wood Elementary in Northville, gymnastics program in Michigan, faith based programs in Arizona, successfully expanding a sense of community in each of these settings, while collaborating with others to achieve successful program outcomes.
• High value placed on being ethical, moral, inclusive and fiscally responsible while achieving great academic success leading to the highest personal and professional success.
• Mobilize resources to accomplish difficult tasks such as continuing in challenging athletic endeavors and welcome new families to competitive gymnastics through our annual large scale event that connects families across the region starting a new competitive season.