Robert Rader, (he/him) has a passion for high-quality education, diversity and social justice.
He was executive director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) from January, 1996 until he retired in July, 2022.
At the 2022 CABE/CAPSS Convention, he received CABE’s Friend of Public Education, its highest award.
Bob, together with other members of CABE’s excellent staff, strengthened the Association’s membership, finances and technology. Under his leadership during the COVID crisis, the Association provided increased support for boards, including nonmembers by providing frequent workshops, information dissemination and analysis. He was a member of the State Education Department’s Partners group, which has worked extensively on COVID issues.
Bob has written extensively on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion and staffs the CABE Board of Director’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He was the key driver for the services that CABE offers in this area, including the Equity Toolkit, which provides information to school boards and superintendents on an antiracism agenda. Over the last few years, he has also written extensively on social-emotional skills needed by board members to be as effective. He also did most of the writing as the CABE Board of Directors developed its first strategic plan and, in the early 2000s, CABE purchased its first home.
Since appointment, Bob has presented numerous workshops on issues of importance to boards of education, nationally, statewide and locally. He has authored hundreds of articles for the CABE Journal and been published in the various National School Boards Association (NSBA) publications and in the Connecticut Society of Association’s Source. He is the primary author of Leadership for State School Boards Associations, an NSBA publication. He was the key author and developer of The School Board of the Future.
Bob joined the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) in 1981 and worked at NYSSBA in a variety of positions, including Legislative Representative, Director of Risk Management and Director of and Counsel for Policy and Employee Relations Services.
He attended public school on Long Island, earned a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a J.D. from Albany Law School. He also received the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives and was past president of its Connecticut branch, CSAE. He was the 2008 winner of the CSAE Executive of the Year Award. He was recently awarded a Certificate for Diversity and Inclusion from eCornell.
Bob was Past Chairman of the National School Boards Association’s Liaison Committee, which represented all state association executive directors in working with NSBA. He has served on many committees and task forces representing school boards. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Regional branch of the Anti-Defamation League, which fights for justice and tolerance for all.