# 60 Best practices for working with your authorizer, featuring Kathryn Connell-Espinosa

Strong authorizer relationships are the foundation of long-term charter school success — but they can also be one of the most misunderstood.

In this episode of The Charter School Insider Podcast, host Daniel Casselli sits down with Kathryn Connell-Espinosa, Executive Director of the SUNY Charter Schools Institute, to discuss what effective collaboration between schools and authorizers really looks like.

Kathryn shares more than a decade of insight from overseeing 237 charter schools across New York, offering a rare glimpse into what makes great authorizer-school partnerships thrive. She explains how open communication, strong governance, and early transparency can help schools avoid pitfalls — and why authorizers are most successful when the schools they serve succeed.

Whether you’re a school leader, board chair, or new founder, this episode will help you build stronger, more productive relationships with your authorizer — and understand the key role they play in your school’s accountability, growth, and long-term success.

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