Aloha,
It is an honor to be here in virtual form with you today. I am Krystal Meisel, and my wife and I are feverishly trading our wool socks for slippers in Milwaukee, WI and boarding a plane to be with you all starting next week. Four years ago we set out on world exploration fueled by the wind of the TFA Hawaiʻi Social Innovation Incubator Program. This brought my wife, Ollie, and me to the worn streets of Palermo where I trace my ancestry. The hands of fate brought us back to Milwaukee, WI where I said my final goodbye to my father in the fall as the sandhill cranes were migrating, and where I now face navigating a final farewell to my mother as the Queen Anne's lace reaches her final blooms. The past 4 years have transformed me and it is truly the greatest gift in my life to step into the role of MDLD on the Island of Hawaiʻi.
I was a 2010 Colorado CM and had the incredible fortune of serving as MTLD on Hawaiʻi Island from 2018-2021. In between, I have connected educators to museum exhibits in New York City, led education initiatives for the Mayor's Office in Los Angeles, and even designed and built a makerspace in Honokaʻa. Overall, I bring over 15 years of experience teaching and coaching in K-12 classrooms and educational ecosystems across the country.
This work is deeply personal to me. As the first person in my family to graduate from high school, I know firsthand the life-changing power of educators who believe in their students. My goal is to ensure you feel deeply seen, supported, and grounded in community as we walk alongside one another. I am honored to collaborate with you to unlock incredible opportunities for our keiki and build strong connections across our island community.
When I get a moment for me I love to make art through collages and photography. The banner image above is a collage I made last week. Genealogy and ancestral research are also a deep passion and curiosity. I specifically love supporting others in journeys to their ancestral lands all across the globe. I even moonlight as a book designer and admire all works designed by Barbara Pope.
A few snapshots along the way: teaching photography on Chicago's West Side, TFA training days in Phoenix, my ID and field trips from that very first year in the classroom, memories with TFA staff, the joy of TFAmily Days, and — through it all — my dear love, Ollie.
“What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.”
CURIOUS ABOUT MY FULL JOURNEY? Feel free to download my resume for a glimpse.
