With the first quarter of 2024 behind us and Spring in bloom, I hope those of you who celebrate had a very Happy Easter this past weekend. Although Women’s History Month is officially over in March, these are just arbitrary limits and should not prevent us from celebrating the contributions of women to our social fabric and society. I want to share a success story regarding the placement of a seasoned female leader that the Stronger Search team led for one of our clients.
Within the educational landscape of the US, gender disparities in leadership roles have been a topic of discussion for many years. While women make up a significant portion of the overall workforce in education, they have been historically underrepresented in top leadership positions such as CEOs, Presidents, Superintendents and Executive Directors. One of our pillars and values here at Stronger Consulting is to build diverse talent pipelines that link equity-focused leaders with organizations and school systems in need of their expertise and other solutions that benefit underserved children, communities, and families.
This brings me to the exciting & well-deserved placement of Dr. Michelle Brittain-Watts as CEO & President of Edison School for the Arts earlier this year. Michelle is an experienced and effective education leader with over 20 years of experience specializing in strategic planning, organizational development and design thinking with a proven track record of school transformation and improvement. having served as a tenured school leader within Indianapolis Public Schools, Monroe County Schools and Hamilton Southeastern, Michelle is highly regarded and well-respected throughout the city. You can read more about her appointment HERE.
Edison School for the Arts, a K-8 Arts Integration school with 600 students and 32 educators based in Indianapolis, reached out to us in the summer of 2023 to support their executive search for a new CEO & President. Serving a diverse student population comprised of 56% African Americans, 27% Latino and 17% Caucasian students, Edison School for the Arts was seeking a leader with an Arts education background who was also representative of the Indianapolis community the school serves. Given the leadership level and seniority required of candidates being considered for this placement, my team embarked on what we call our Signature Executive Search which took place over 5 months. During the course of this search, 170 candidates were considered with 3 finalists, including Michelle being brought forth before the final selection was made by the volunteer Board and the new CEO was appointed.
The Stronger Search team, now led by Lisa Fox, was involved in all aspects of the process, supporting the Edison School board, and engaging the school community fully embraced the new CEO & President. Of course, we didn’t do this alone, and the final on the ground engagement of the school community was coordinated with Amy Berns, the very experienced Edison School Principal.
On behalf of Stronger Consulting, I congratulate Michelle for her appointment as CEO & President and I wish the entire Edison School for the Arts community continued success as you embark on this new journey together.
We all have a role to play in increasing the number of women in leadership roles throughout the educational landscape. If you or an organization you know are looking for ways to address gender diversity in your organization’s staffing composition, whether it is in recruiting & hiring processes or retention and promotion strategies, Stronger Consulting may be able to help. Reach out to us today.
