I didn't walk across a stage to get my high school diploma. I earned my GED — from the same school my daughter graduated from as valedictorian thirty years later. She earned over two million dollars in scholarships. She is graduating from Purdue University as a civil engineer.I did not just close my own postsecondary gap. I broke the cycle.Before I was an administrator, I was a dual credit Accounting teacher at Chicago Public Schools. I structured a Business and Accounting CTE pathway offering four college courses — giving students the opportunity to earn up to 14 college credits within a single pathway before graduation. Not because they were the "college track." Because I refused to accept that CTE and college were different destinations.That belief is now embedded in everything I build.I am an educational leader focused on aligning education, workforce development, and postsecondary pathways to expand opportunity for students and communities — particularly in underserved regions.My work centers on systems-building, not isolated programs. I design and lead structures that connect secondary education, industry partners, postsecondary institutions, and policy priorities so that students transition from school to career with clarity, preparation, and purpose.At Bloom Trail High School — a Title I school where 87% of CTE participants are Black and Hispanic students — I have allocated $366,000 in competitive Perkins V and CTEI grants, built a four-pillar CTE framework from zero, launched FCCLA and NTHS chapters, established dual credit partnerships producing above-state-average enrollment, and designed the first Half Cap Academic Recognition Program in District 206 history.I am also an author and doctoral student in educational leadership, where my scholarship examines leadership expectations and postsecondary planning practices in Title I and high-performing high schools. My research is grounded in both lived experience and practice, with a focus on translating theory into systems that produce measurable outcomes for the students everyone else has already given up on.In addition to my district leadership role, I participate in regional workforce and policy conversations through the Southland Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development Committee and national professional communities through ACTE and NABSE.I am driven by one central question: How do we create clearer, more intentional pathways from education to opportunity — at scale — for the students who need it most?I am the Education Fixer.I go where the gaps are largest and the resources are smallest — and I build systems that work for the students everyone else has already given up on.📍 Chicago Heights, IL | Serving Title I districts nationally 🎓 Ed.D. Candidate, American College of Education | 4.0 GPA 💼 Illinois Principal's License | M.B.A. | M.A.F.M. | MSED 📘 Author: From GED to Ed.D.: Finding My Purpose | amazon.com link: https://a.co/d/05C37glD🏢 Founder: Academic Impact Solutions Inc. 🌟 ACTE Member | NABSE Member | Southland Chamber Workforce Development Committee ✉️
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