Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
Timeline
Generic

Melissa Brown

Greenville,SC

Summary

Experienced and confident leader and life-long educator. Committed to authentic leadership in pursuit of building inclusive communities that create positive impact.

Overview

33
33
years of professional experience

Work History

Director of Leadership Development

Pearson Education (Pearson Virtual Schools)
09.2022 - Current
  • Led creation/implementation of onboarding, training and development of school administrators (CA network of 35 schools)
  • Created and published evidence-based best practices model (standard operating procedures) for CA school network
  • Led DE&I efforts for PVS •Developed, implemented and maintained professional development opportunities for internal teams.
  • Assessed potential candidates for suitability for different programs such as management training and leadership development initiatives
  • Built strategic partnerships across multiple business segments to help leaders improve management structures and team cohesiveness

Director of Schools

Pearson Education (Pearson Virtual Schools)
06.2019 - 09.2022
  • Managed and mentored school leaders in largest network accounts. Schools exceeded goals for academic achievement, graduation rate and staff satisfaction
  • Led planning of winter and summer school leader conferences, resulting in increased conference satisfaction rates and collaboration between school customers and PVS
  • Committed to collaboration and creativity with goal of providing comprehensive supports that result in customer success

Executive Director

Indiana Connections Academy
08.2010 - 06.2019
  • Founding principal of first K-12 virtual charter school in Indiana
  • Leadership resulted in positive financial/operational compliance ratings, increased academic performance, improved graduation rate and excellent staff satisfaction ratings
  • Developed positive network of board member, legislative, State Board of Education, Department of Education and authorizer stakeholders, resulting in increased opportunities for online schools in Indiana
  • Exercised appropriate cost control to meet budget restrictions and maximize operational effectiveness

Virtual School Director

Indianapolis Public Schools
06.2007 - 08.2010

Created and managed program that provided supplemental online courses for students throughout district

Served on district-level leadership team

Online English Language Arts Specialist

Jefferson County Public Schools
08.2001 - 06.2007

Instructional Design Manager

AMC Cancer Research Center
06.1998 - 08.2001

English Teacher/Basketball Coach

North Central High School
08.1990 - 06.1997

Education

Master of Science - Instruction And Learning Technologies

University of Colorado Denver
Denver
12.2001

Skills

  • Authentic Leadership
  • Relationship building
  • Storytelling
  • Performance Management
  • Coaching
  • Stakeholder Relationships

Accomplishments

Panelist, Education Writer's Association National Seminar, What's Next for Online Teaching and Learning, Orlando, FL (July, 2022)

Panelist, ASU GSV+ Summit, Building the Infrastructure for Inclusive Learning Ecosystems, San Diego, California (April, 2022)

Panel Moderator: I Hate Online Learning. Oh Wait, I Kinda Like It, Digital Learning Annual Conference (DLAC), Atlanta, GA (February, 2022)

Pearson Virtual Schools Quarterly Award for performance (October, 2021)

Champion of Equity by the American Consortium for Equity in Education (2021)

Presenter: Supporting LGBTQ Students in Online Schools, Digital Learning Annual Conference (DLAC) (February, 2021)

Published: Journal, American Consortium for Equity in Education, May/June 2021 (ace-ed.org)

Presenter: Supporting LGBTQ Students in Online Schools, RemoteK12 Conference (2021)

Pearson Excellence Award (December, 2020)

Published: PBS Newshour: LGBTQ Educator Visibility Can be a Matter of Life and Death (2020)

Presenter: Supporting LGBTQ Students in Online Schools, Gender Spectrum Conference (2020)

Presenter: Supporting LGBTQ Students in Online Schools, DLAC (2020)

Member: 4th cohort selected to attend the LGBTQ Executive Leadership Series at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (2019)

Connections Academy/Pearson School Leader of the Year (2019) Presenter on Supporting LGBTQ Students in Online Schools, iNACOL annual conference (2018)

Co-presenter Building Community at a Distance, USDLA annual conference (2016)

Co-presenter Building Community at a Distance, iNACOL annual conference (2016)

Timeline

Director of Leadership Development

Pearson Education (Pearson Virtual Schools)
09.2022 - Current

Director of Schools

Pearson Education (Pearson Virtual Schools)
06.2019 - 09.2022

Executive Director

Indiana Connections Academy
08.2010 - 06.2019

Virtual School Director

Indianapolis Public Schools
06.2007 - 08.2010

Online English Language Arts Specialist

Jefferson County Public Schools
08.2001 - 06.2007

Instructional Design Manager

AMC Cancer Research Center
06.1998 - 08.2001

English Teacher/Basketball Coach

North Central High School
08.1990 - 06.1997

Master of Science - Instruction And Learning Technologies

University of Colorado Denver
Melissa Brown