Home: Washington, D.C. Birthplace: Galveston, TX. Profession: Educational leadership. Organization: Educational Epiphany. Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Alma mater: The University of Texas; Loyola University; The George Washington University. Languages spoken: English; conversational Spanish and French.
Current project: Launching a teacher store on Amazon. Recent recognition: IPPY Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing. Latest accomplishment: Published a book on PK-12 literacy entitled The Universal Language of Literacy. Latest contribution to others: Mentoring superintendents, academic officers, principals, and edupreneurs. Hobbies: Reading, professional basketball, travel, landscaping, and home improvement TV. Recent travel or adventure: Rome. Recently viewed and recommended: Coming to America.
What one word would your closest friend use to describe you? Giving. Moral compass: Hebrews 11:1. How do you define an ideal business relationship? Mutual trust, respect, and clear communication, transparency and shared goals. What is at the top of your bucket list? Live in different country every summer for five consecutive years. What ingredient is essential to your perfect vacation? Sand.
What was your first paying job? Working in my neighborhood grocery store at fourteen. What’s prominently featured on your home or office wall? My diplomas. What’s the best advice you received growing up? Never get too big for your britches (my grandmother). What personal circumstance has had the greatest influence on your life? Growing up in abject poverty.
What is your big idea?
Our children are not incapable, they are simply untaught.
What change are you working on to effect in your profession or field? Advancing sustainable student achievement and school improvement. What widely held belief do you reject? The belief that academic underperformance is about race or Zip code.
What title would you choose for the movie about your life? A Life that Teaches. What actor would you choose to play you in the movie about your life? Mahershala Ali. Who would you like to spend an evening with, in heaven? My grandmother Ruth Tolden and her mother, Eva Lee. As a kid, what did you first want to be when you grew up? A physician.
Personal mission: Assisting teachers and leaders in their collective effort to produce schooling experiences for children. Personal motto: “Be as you wish to seem” (Socrates).
