2023 NEARI Education Support Professional of the Year

Providing support with kindness, caring, friendship and commitment. It’s what an Education Support Professional does each day and every year we honor one among the many who exemplifies the ESP vocation. This year, the NEARI Gail Colburn Education Support Professional of the Year is Lisa Logan.

Lisa Logan has supported students for over 20 years in the East Providence School Department. She started getting more involved in her local by joining the negotiations team, becoming a building representative, and a delegate to the NEARI Delegate Assembly. 

Logan progressed in her local association by becoming vice president, then co-president, a role she currently holds. 

She shows great leadership skills and is an advocate for her students and for her members. Logan is extremely dedicated, takes initiative and is always willing to try new things. Logan said in her acceptance of the award at the annual ESP celebratory dinner that, as a parent to a young adult with high-functioning autism, she brings her personal experiences into the classroom to assist her students each and every day. 

As the statewide recipient, Logan is eligible for the national NEA ESP of the Year award, which includes all expense paid travel to the 2023 NEA Education Support Professional National Conference and a $10,000 personal cash prize. 

We are proud to recognize Lisa Logan for her dedication to her students, her colleagues, and her union. She represents the essence of ESPs and the critical role they play in our school communities. 

*The NEARI ESP of the Year award was named in 2017 in loving memory of Gail Colburn, former NEARI leader and staffer who organized the first ESP Caucus in the 1990s.