Leading with Compassion and Courage: Celebrating Jani Koester’s 44 Years of Leadership and Advocacy
Jani Koester has dedicated her 44-year career to serving students and families through education. For the past 37 years, she has served as the Transition Education Program (TEP) Lead Resource Teacher with the Madison Metropolitan School District, where she has become a respected leader and advocate for children and youth experiencing homelessness. Through decades of service, collaboration, and unwavering compassion, Jani has helped build systems of support that continue to impact students, families, and communities across Wisconsin and beyond.
Jani’s journey into homeless education began in 1989, just two years after the passage of the McKinney-Vento Act in 1987. Originally a special education teacher in rural Illinois, Jani came from a family of educators and entered the profession during a time when career opportunities for women were often narrowly defined. While teaching and coaching track in Polo, Illinois, she was approached about interviewing for a newly created position supporting highly mobile students in Madison.
Despite the challenge of leaving her students during their senior year and peak track season, Jani felt called to the opportunity.
“It felt like the right thing to do,” she reflected.
At the time, there was little public understanding of student homelessness or the newly passed federal law designed to support students experiencing housing instability. Jani became the first person hired into what would become the district’s Transition Education Program, helping to establish and shape the work from the ground up. Over the years, the program grew from a one-person initiative into a team of 11 staff members before later shrinking due to staffing reductions. Today, Jani once again serves as the sole staff member leading the work.
Throughout her career, Jani has remained deeply committed to ensuring that students and families experiencing homelessness are not overlooked, particularly families living doubled up and young children who are often under-identified in systems and services.
Among her proudest accomplishments is her leadership in establishing a dedicated county position focused solely on supporting doubled-up families through advocacy within her local Continuum of Care (CoC). She also helped establish a standing doubled-up work group that became a permanent committee within the CoC, contributing to expanded housing programs and resources for families experiencing homelessness in Dane County.
Jani additionally helped lead efforts to train early childhood providers to recognize and identify young children experiencing homelessness, reinforcing the importance of ensuring all members of a family are seen and counted.
“One of the things we have to remember is that homelessness impacts entire families, not just adults,” Jani shared. “When we fail to include children in our data and systems, we erase them.”
Her commitment to visibility and awareness extends throughout the Madison community. For several years, Jani has helped coordinate district-wide Homelessness Awareness Month activities each November, including ribbon displays representing identified McKinney-Vento students and their siblings, educational campaigns, resource sharing, and county-wide homelessness summits that bring together hundreds of community members and professionals.
Central to Jani’s work has always been collaboration and relationship-building.
“Community connections are what make the work happen,” she explained.
Through partnerships with social workers, food pantries, housing agencies, transportation providers, early childhood programs, and community organizations, Jani has worked tirelessly to ensure students and families receive the support necessary to remain connected to school and opportunities for success. She has also served in numerous leadership roles within her local Continuum of Care, including secretary, treasurer, vice president, president, and executive leadership positions.
For newer McKinney-Vento liaisons, school social workers, counselors, and advocates entering the field, Jani offers simple but powerful advice:
“Don’t be afraid to use your voice.”
Jani encourages professionals to ensure that students experiencing homelessness remain visible in every conversation, meeting, and data discussion.
“These students often don’t have a voice at the table,” she said. “We have to be willing to ask, ‘Where are kids who are homeless in this conversation?’”
She also emphasizes the importance of using direct language around homelessness rather than terminology that minimizes the realities families face.
Beyond advocacy, Jani believes one of the most important aspects of the work is patience, listening, and relationship-building.
“Sometimes families just need someone who will listen,” she shared. “You may not always have immediate solutions, but you can provide the gift of your time and your ear.”
Jani’s connection to the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth has also been a defining part of her professional journey. She has served on the NAEHCY Board of Directors, participated on the Early Childhood Education Committee, and attended NAEHCY conferences since the earliest years when attendance expanded beyond state coordinators.
“NAEHCY has been the one place where we could go for professional development without having to create it ourselves,” Jani said. “It has sustained us for 37 years.”
Over the years, Jani and her colleagues have presented numerous conference sessions, shared resources widely with peers across the country, and received national recognition for their innovative work and advocacy efforts.
As she reflects on her career, Jani remains deeply focused on the importance of hope for students experiencing homelessness.
“Many students experiencing homelessness can’t think beyond where they’re sleeping tonight or how they’ll eat tomorrow,” she said. “We have to help them see themselves in the future.”
She believes helping students envision possibility, stability, and success is one of the most powerful interventions educators and communities can provide.
“Every student deserves hope and the opportunity to believe they can have something more,” Jani shared.
Through 44 years in education and 37 years leading work in homeless education, Jani Koester has left an extraordinary impact on countless students, families, educators, and communities. Her legacy serves as a powerful reminder that meaningful change begins with listening, collaboration, courage, and an unwavering belief in the potential of every child.