I am a champion for educational equity. Any challenge, big or small, can be taken on when you have top talent in the driver’s seat.

When I became a leader in the Houston Independent School District, 28 high schools did not have a single college counselor; the average counselor had caseloads of nearly a thousand students. Many of the brightest graduates in the district were opting to attend open-enrollment colleges with graduation rates in the single digits. Bold change needed to happen.

Fast forward 10 years, thousands of HISD students and graduates are being served by the successful EMERGE program that I helped grow; students are enrolled at hundreds of Ivy League and other selective universities across the nation on full-ride scholarships and graduating from college on time at rates of over 94% . We raised over $20MM that allowed me to recruit nationwide for hundreds of college counseling professionals and leaders to work in Houston ISD. As a result, every high school has a college counselor, and through our innovative Project Explore program, students received postsecondary guidance as early as the 5th grade.

My theory of change is simple: find and grow talented people, and give them the tools to thrive.

Currently the proud Superintendent of Anchorage School District, one of the largest urban districts in the country.