From the Classroom to the Boardroom—and Back Again: Why Staying Close to the Work Matters
After spending the first chapter of my career in public education—serving as a teacher, instructional support, and district leader—I stepped into the world of EdTech, where I spent nearly two decades helping school leaders improve student outcomes at scale. Then, in a full-circle moment, I returned to the classroom.
It wasn’t a strategic career step. It was personal. I’d spent so many years helping districts solve big-picture challenges with data and technology, but I needed to get close to the work again. Close to the students. Close to the teachers. Close to the day-to-day realities of our schools.
What I found in that third-grade classroom broke my heart and lit a fire.
A Foundation in Teaching—and Leading
I began my career in 1989, teaching elementary school in Florida. Within six years, I’d moved into district-level work, helping schools use data to drive instructional improvement. Back then, I was manually calculating growth scores from green-bar dot matrix reports and guiding principals on how to create meaningful school improvement plans.
I wasn’t just crunching numbers—I was helping leaders translate student performance data into action. I spent years supporting every principal in a district of 45,000 students, coaching them to make instructional decisions grounded in evidence.
This was the heart of the work for me. And it shaped how I approached every role that followed—from curriculum specialist to technology project manager to eventually serving as VP and SVP at major EdTech companies like Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and PowerSchool.
Bringing Integrity to EdTech Sales
I didn’t seek out a sales career. It found me—after I’d successfully deployed an instructional management system districtwide, the company behind the product asked me to come sell it. They weren’t just looking for a salesperson; they wanted someone who understood what districts needed and could deliver with integrity.
That’s been my compass ever since.
What I learned early on is that superintendents, principals, and teachers aren’t looking for a pitch—they’re looking for partners who understand the stakes. The stakes are kids. That changes everything.
As I’ve grown in leadership roles, my goal has always been to ensure that our sales teams lead with empathy, knowledge, and respect for the work educators are doing every day. I’ve sold to state departments, collaborated with lobbyists, and presented to school boards—but it’s always been about one thing: helping districts do right by students.
A Return to the Classroom—and a Wake-Up Call
After years in leadership, I took a brief detour into tutoring and then—when the timing was right—returned to teaching full-time. I had a year left to vest in my retirement, and I was curious: What does it feel like to be a teacher today?
What I saw floored me.
Teaching is harder than ever. The emotional and physical toll is real. Teachers are carrying so much more than instruction—they are counselors, caregivers, translators, troubleshooters, and data entry clerks.
And the kids? They’re carrying even more.
In that one year, I witnessed the lived realities of my students—stories that still bring me to tears. Kids worried about violence at home. Kids without beds. Kids navigating trauma while trying to learn to read. I had friends send over a thousand books to build a classroom library. I had others donate funds so every child could have a holiday meal. The need was overwhelming. And so was the resilience.
Carrying the Work Forward at Education Advanced
That year reset something in me. It reaffirmed why the work we do in EdTech matters. It gave me a deeper urgency to make sure our solutions are practical, integrated, and genuinely helpful to the educators using them.
When I joined EAI in 2024, one of my first questions was: Do our tools integrate? Because back in that classroom, I experienced firsthand the frustration of disconnected systems and repetitive data entry. The time educators lose navigating those inefficiencies is time they don’t get back with students.
I’m proud that our team acted on those questions quickly—and continues to prioritize meaningful improvements. I lead sales here, but I see my role as advocating for the educators I’ve stood beside: helping ensure we offer real, impactful, teacher-centered solutions.
Let’s Stay Close to the Work
If I’ve learned anything from my journey, it’s that perspective matters. Having sat at every table—from the teacher’s lounge to the superintendent’s office to the EdTech boardroom—I know how easy it is to drift away from the realities on the ground.
That’s why I believe in staying close to the work.
At Education Advanced, I get to work with fellow former educators who haven’t forgotten where they came from. We build tools that solve real problems. We listen. And we stay connected.
Because the stakes are still the same: kids.
And they deserve our very best.
