Tanya Coke is a hands-on mother of three who also runs a consulting practice and finds multiple hours per week to devote to the town of Montclair, recently working on both the School Integration Working Group and the Transportation Working Group. Find out what Tanya's up to, and who really cooks dinner and cleans up in her house:     

SHE'S ALL THAT: Tanya Coke

MOVED TO MONTCLAIR: January 1999 from Park Slope, Brooklyn. 

KIDS: Three: Two girls, age 11 and 13, at Glenfield, and a second grade boy at Nishuane. 

WHY SHE'S ALL THAT: A human rights lawyer, Tanya now uses her legal expertise in her business and philanthropic activities. For the last seven years, she has run a consulting practice providing strategic planning and program development for social justice philanthropies and nonprofits. Clients include the Atlantic Philanthropies, as well as major national civil rights, human rights, and civil liberties organizations.  

Tanya also devotes an astonishing amount of time to the Montclair community.  She is on the Board of Directors of the IMANI Institute, a group that partners with the Montclair Public Schools to offer educational support programs designed to give underserved minority students the same opportunities that are available to their more advantaged peers. She also co-chaired the district's School Integration Working Group, whose goal was to revamp Montclair's plan for student assignments to different schools. She is also a member of the Transportation Working Group commissioned by the Board of Education to look into cost-saving options to meet the $6.5 million education budget deficit. 

Find out what all that means to us, what else Tanya does, and how she manages it all:

HOW DO YOU RUN A BUSINESS AND DO EVERYTHING ELSE? 

Not a day goes by that I don't thank Comcast for my current lifestyle. I work 30 hours a week, but I do it from my third-floor office. I'm at my desk every day until exactly 3:30 when I race down the block to Nishuane to pick up my son. 

WHAT DO YOU DO AT IMANI?

IMANI was established to help close the opportunity education gap for minority children in Montclair. We offer tutoring assistance, SAT prep, and college counseling for middle school and high school kids. I'm on the Board, so I work on strategic vision and fundraising, and I launched the elementary school program that provides book clubs for kids in grades K-5. The program targets lower income and minority kids but is open to anyone. 

It's all about making sure minority children in the district are engaged in out-of school-time learning, and are on the path to college. 

AND THE SCHOOL INTEGRATION WORKING GROUP?

I co-chaired the group, and we worked with the Kirwan Institute for Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. The goal was to revamp Montclair's plan for student assignments to different schools to ensure diversity and equal opportunity, while complying with some new legal requirements. The magnet program in general has been successful but, like any system, it requires periodic revamping.

Some schools are losing their diversity, so we were looking at a more nuanced set of factors for school assignments—like the makeup of a child's neighborhood. Parents will continue as always to rank order choices, and the district will try to accommodate, so long as each school has an acceptable level of diversity along racial and socio-economic lines. 

WHAT IS THE TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP?

Our committee was charged with examining expenditures on pupil transportation and how we might reduce them, consistent with our legal obligations and community commitment to integration and the magnet program. It's ongoing, but we just presented a series of options to the Board of Education, and they now have to decide how to proceed. I expect there will be continuing conversations.

DO YOU VOLUNTEER AT THE SCHOOLS, TOO?    

I try to fill in where I'm needed. I'm on the Nishuane PTA Board as corresponding secretary. I recently laid out the Nishuane Newsletter, and just did the Cookie Swap. 

DO YOU EXERCISE?

Now that I'm post-40 I try to get to the gym two to three times a week. I take yoga and run on the treadmill which keeps me current on pop culture—I get to watch music videos, my guilty pleasure. 

WHAT ELSE DO YOU LIKE TO DO?

I admit to being a GLEEK. I watch GLEE with my kids every week. It's highly satiric but also exposes the humanity behind stereotypes. They do these hilarious mashups of current hits with pop songs so it gives me an opportunity to school my kids on what music used to sound like. After the show we go to YouTube to see what the original songs sounded like. My kids now like Billy Idol and Barbra Streisand. 

WHAT ELSE?

Recently I've cut down my consulting hours to pursue a second career. I think every woman should have two careers. I'm trying to think about more creative pursuits which would trade on my interest in fabric arts and design. 

WHAT DOESN'T GET DONE? 

That's actually quite a long list. You only have to look at my fingernails to know one of them. Also, I'm sad to say that date night or alone-time with my husband often gets sacrificed. 

BIGGEST CHALLENGE:

Experiencing adolescence for the second time, which is no easier on the parental end! You never know what you're going to get when they wake up—the sweet and huggable girl or the teenager who ditches you in the mall. It's humbling.

Also, keeping on top of three kids' needs and school work is very tough. And managing the travel calendar—my husband is a busy practicing lawyer, and is often out of town, and my work often has some travel. We've had occasions where we're practically doing handoffs in airports. Replacing myself when I'm out of town is an enormous challenge. 

BIGGEST HELPER?

I have so many. On a recent Thursday, I was out of town, and I had a team of six people taking my kids to and from their activities. At moments like that I will accept that I am "all that" and a superwoman! It really took six people to replace me. But it's no different from what so many moms do. I think everyone's schedule is complicated, and it's so important to help each other out. 

I also have a full service husband. When he's in town, he's at home for dinner, and on the weekends the kids get 100 percent of his attention. He also likes doing dishes. And there are so many more.

KIDS' ACTIVITIES?

My eighth grader plays field hockey and takes ceramics, my sixth grader takes ballet, and my son plays soccer and tennis and does hip hop dance at Sharron Miller. Both girls also do community service work. 

BEST WEEKNIGHT DINNER STRATEGY WHEN YOU'RE COOKING:

Teamwork. My 11 year old is an accomplished and sophisticated cook, and my 13 year old loves to bake. I usually start cooking, my daughter finishes, and my husband cleans up. We tend toward hearty foods—curries, and saucy, well-seasoned dishes with lots of rice, and always a green vegetable.    

BEST DINNER STRATEGY WHEN YOU'RE NOT COOKING?

We usually cook, but sometimes we'll take out from Pepe's BBQ. It's at the corner of Harrison and Eagle Rock, and they have a great barbequed chicken dinner.

FAVORITE NIGHT OUT:

There are so many good restaurants in Montclair; we like to try somewhere new each time. We recently had had a lovely meal at Bistro 18. We also like Mesob, Egan's, and Corso 98.   

BEST PLACE TO PICK UP KIDS' BDAY GIFT:

Aunt Jean's Toys & Treats. The owner, Jeanette Latour, is also a big booster of local charities, which is great. 

BEST PLACE TO PICK UP HOSTESS GIFT:

JafaJems. It's a treat for the eyes to get a gift from a far-flung place. 

FAVORITE MTC CLOTHING STORE:

That's a funny question for me—my kids would like to nominate me for What Not to Wear, as my local/about town look needs some help. But they would agree that I clean up nicely enough. I like to shop at Barbara Eclectic and D'Moni, and Dem Two Hands is my hands-down choice for accessories.   

FAVORITE MTC ACTIVITY:

Family bike rides to the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. It's a nice two-mile ride, and the destination itself is a treat. My kids love the sausage samples. 

FAVORITE THING ABOUT MTC:

The thing I most appreciate about Montclair is that it's a diverse community that's trying to do better.