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Laura McGowan-Robinson Highlight
There are multiple ways that people bring their gifts and talents to the space, and we just have to be open enough and inclusive enough to embrace those differences.
About Laura
- My love for education stems from my admiration for my grandmother, whose biggest dream was for her descendants to at least finish high school—something she wasn’t able to do as a sharecropper.
- I earned my undergraduate degree in English rhetoric and then went on to earn a Master of Education in secondary education.
- After graduating with my master’s degree, I became a teacher for Chicago Public Schools.
- I taught in Chicago for a few years and then moved to Los Angeles, California, where I spent a few more years teaching before becoming an administrator.
- Surprised by the lack of diversity in education—even in what’s considered to be a diverse state—I became eager to explore how I could help diversify and increase cultural competence in education.
- I founded Crown Preparatory Academy, a public charter middle school in South Los Angeles, and spent over six years as executive director.
- I became more involved with policy and advocacy while working for the California Charter Schools Association—during this time, I also earned my doctorate in educational leadership for social justice.
- I’m now the CEO of the Diversity in Leadership Institute, where I work to increase the pipeline for diversity in school leadership.
