Case Study

Two critical seats, filled without a gap.

KIPP Foundation·Executive Search·National·2025
2,000
Applicants sourced for the two seats
27
Candidates advanced to phone interview
2
Regional Superintendent seats filled

Filling two Regional Superintendent seats in the same window is a hard ask for any team. We brought KIPP two leaders with real, CEO-level turnaround credibility, without slowing down for either seat.

Mike Montoya, CEO, Stronger Consulting
The Challenge

Two regions, no room for a coaching gap

KIPP Foundation needed a Regional Superintendent who could coach Executive Directors toward consistent academic results across an entire region, someone with a genuine turnaround record, not just central office experience. Each of KIPP's 28 regions depends on dedicated senior coaching, and without the right person in the seat, the network risked inconsistent academic support across an entire region of schools.

First
Turnaround record required.

Central office experience was not enough; the seat demanded someone with a genuine, proven record of turning around school results.

Then
No room for a coaching gap.

Each of KIPP's 28 regions depends on dedicated senior coaching, and a gap in either seat risked inconsistent academic support across an entire region.

Also
An unsustainable stretch.

KIPP had been stretching its central coaching team across multiple regions, an approach that worked for a while but would not hold as the network grew.

The Approach

The Stronger approach

First
Ran two searches at once.

Conducted two concurrent Regional Superintendent searches in the same window, since Executive Directors could not go without consistent coaching in either seat.

Then
Found proven turnaround leadership.

Identified a finalist with proven turnaround credibility: sitting CEO of a public charter network in the Denver area that she had just guided through a full turnaround and merger.

Next
Delivered depth at scale.

Narrowed a pool of 2,000 applicants to 27 who advanced to a phone interview, filling both open Regional Superintendent seats with proven turnaround leaders in the same month.

The Outcomes

What KIPP Foundation gained

Two regional seats filled together
Tricia Noyola and Chad Soleo joined as KIPP Foundation's two Regional Superintendents in September 2025, closing both seats in the same month.
Proven turnaround leadership secured
One finalist came in as a sitting charter network CEO who had just led a full turnaround and merger, with an earlier record of expanding a network's Austin-area schools from four campuses to sixteen and reaching 100 percent college matriculation for graduates.
Depth from a massive pool
Narrowing 2,000 applicants to 27 phone-interview candidates gave KIPP a genuinely competitive slate for two seats at once, not a compromise pool.
No coaching gap for Executive Directors
Both seats closed in the same window, so every region kept dedicated senior coaching without interruption as the network continued to grow.

Both candidates brought us proven, CEO-level turnaround experience, exactly the credibility our regions needed. That kind of depth is hard to find on your own, and Stronger met our aggressive timeline.

Helen Chan, Vice President - Talent, KIPP Foundation

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