Parent engagement coordinators provide the foundation for family engagement by modeling shared leadership, facilitating trust, and creating space to build partnerships with parents and schools. The Children's Aid Society (CAS) partnered with the New York City Department of Education, schools, and the community to provide resources and supports to students and their families using the Family Success Network community school model. In their work, they found that the success of parent engagement initiatives, particularly with a short-term grant such as the i3, depended heavily on the skills of parent engagement coordinators and the engagement levels of the school staff. Offering training, preparation, and support for parent engagement coordinators allows them to model collaborative leadership, value the voices of parents, and create space for building partnerships with parents within school communities. This model was established in the Washington Heights community schools, and in the South Bronx. Establishing parent leaders is central to the work of parent engagement, and developing a culture of shared decision-making was the first step to preparing the parent engagement coordinators. Once a culture of shared leadership had been established, parent leaders themselves serve as important models to show the entire community how powerful parents can be.