Dr. Danya Tiara Woods is a self-motivated enthusiast who seeks opportunities to enhance the lives of today’s youth through education, mentorship and cultural exposures. Currently serving as an Assistant Principal of the Dr. Joseph E. Johnson Elementary School in Red Clay Consolidated School District her education philosophy centers on the idea that students learn best when their basic needs and interests are met. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Dr. Woods obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Early ...
Nov 22, 2023•36 min•Ep 186•Transcript available on Metacast Jon Campopiano is in his fifth year as the Executive Director of Secondary Education for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. In his duties as Executive Director, Jon supervises all SRVUSD Middle and High Schools, leads the district Local Control Accountability Plan and strives to institutionalize equity for all students, staff and community members. Prior to his district leadership, Jon was the Principal of Stone Valley Middle School. Show Highlights Coach your school leaders like you ...
Nov 15, 2023•41 min•Ep 185•Transcript available on Metacast Adam H. Frank, PhD, principal at Palmer Ridge High School in Monument, Colorado, provides consulting, speaking, and professional development services specializing in school discipline, legal practices, student-centered engagement, leadership development, and change theory. Show Highlights Reading the signs when your staff goes “BIG.” Discipline done well is a loving process with these practical strategies. Leaders need to get comfortable "embracing the messy" for productivity. Edgy topics around...
Nov 08, 2023•48 min•Ep 184•Transcript available on Metacast Namita Prasad is a Confidence Educator and the author of The Power of Why Not. Her revolutionary approach to confidence development redefines confidence as a mindset. She believes anyone can become confident and developed the framework of A Confident Mindset ™ school program for K-8 students to create a schoolwide culture of confidence encouraging children to say why to opportunities. Show Highlights The Power of Why Not. Know the difference between WHY vs WHY NOT thinking. You don’t have to be ...
Nov 01, 2023•29 min•Ep 183•Transcript available on Metacast April Gaydosh is an Administrator of Schools for Jordan School District in West Jordan, Utah. She has previously held positions as a building level principal, assistant principal, high school teacher, and an adjunct college faculty member in both North Carolina and Alabama. She is always looking for new challenges and thrives in environments where creativity/innovation is encouraged and expected! Show Highlights What game are you playing with yourself? A robust way to optimize your potential and...
Oct 25, 2023•35 min•Ep 182•Transcript available on Metacast Nathaniel Provencio is a career educator who has worked in public education for over 20+ years. Nathaniel has served as a teacher, school principal, and associate superintendent. Nathaniel is an award-winning leader, author, and speaker on regional, state, and national levels, and currently serves as a national school leadership consultant focusing on school improvement, team development, and community engagement. Show Highlights Genuine ways to truly advocate for students and families. Leverage...
Oct 18, 2023•41 min•Ep 181•Transcript available on Metacast Jacqueline M. Baker is a speaker, author, leadership consultant and advisor known for her unique approach to modern etiquette and leadership. As the author of The Unexpected Leader: Discovering the Leader Within You and Leader by Mistake: Becoming A Leader One Mistake At A Time, she frequently speaks and writes on the leadership-for-all concept. Her inspiration and expertise comes from more than a decade as the founder and principal consultant for Scarlet, a consultancy that provides leadership ...
Oct 11, 2023•41 min•Ep 180•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Lisa Stanley is the Superintendent of North Texas Collegiate Academy, a public charter school district in Denton County, Texas. Dr. Stanley received her Certificate in School Management and Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education, was among the first 100 superintendents in the US to earn National Superintendent Certification and is a member of Southern Methodist University’s District Leadership Fellows 2021-2022 cohort. Her focus on improving teacher retention in high-poverty sc...
Oct 04, 2023•40 min•Ep 179•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Amy Platt is delighted to be the Head of School at the Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School. Amy is passionate about excellent instruction and working with teachers to be the talented professionals they are destined to be. Amy holds a PhD and an MA from the University of Toronto. When Amy is not at work she can be found on long-distance bike rides, pondering the larger issues facing education. Show Highlights innovative ideas to do with your leadership team in designing the future of your s...
Oct 02, 2023•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Bonnie Low-Kramen is a highly sought-after TEDx speaker, teacher, and founder and CEO of “Be the Ultimate Assistant,” a curated training solution for corporate leaders and assistants creating synchronous and thriving work environments. She is also the author of the forthcoming book, Staff Matters (out in 2023). Show Highlights “We Wait too Long to Train Our Leaders” and develop the essential soft skills needed for a strong leadership foundation. One of the biggest opportunities is to create “lis...
Sep 27, 2023•37 min•Ep 178•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Chris Jones has been an educator in Massachusetts for 22 years. His experience in the classroom ranged from 8th - 11th grade working in an urban setting. A portion of this was spent opening a high school division for an expanding charter school. He has just finished his 14th year as a building administrator. Currently the Principal of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in Whitman, Massachusetts, Chris is also the President-Elect of the Massachusetts State Administrators Association (MSAA). ...
Sep 20, 2023•41 min•Ep 177•Transcript available on Metacast Irreplaceable Leadership Dr. Chris Jones has been an educator in Massachusetts for 22 years. His experience in the classroom ranged from 8th - 11th grade working in an urban setting. A portion of this was spent opening a high school division for an expanding charter school. He has just finished his 14th year as a building administrator. Currently the Principal of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in Whitman, Massachusetts, Chris is also the President-Elect of the Massachusetts State Administra...
Sep 13, 2023•50 min•Ep 176•Transcript available on Metacast Amanda Conley is currently the Principal at Middletown High School, in Middletown, DE. She is a former Social Studies teacher, with experience in teaching at alternative and turnaround schools. Currently, she is focused on leading an innovative, community-connected school and she is passionate about creating opportunities for all students and challenging our traditional grading systems. Show Highlights Innovative feedback to invest in your teachers and principles of instruction. “Stealing little...
Sep 06, 2023•36 min•Ep 175•Transcript available on Metacast Leading as a Fearless Disrupter Dr. Towanna Burrous, President CoachDiversity Institute, is a best-selling author, trainer, and certified professional coach based in Washington, DC. As a much sought-after executive coach, Towanna and the Coach Diversity team deliver training, curriculum, and customized diversity and leadership programs for corporate and individual clients. Coach Diversity Institute Ranked No. 524 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United...
Aug 30, 2023•32 min•Ep 174•Transcript available on Metacast Martín Blank is a visionary educator, breathwork instructor, and educational consultant specializing in whole-school wellbeing and teacher and staff retention. He’s worked with over 15,000 students, and 14,000 educators over the last 10 years in hundreds of schools across districts nationally. He uses positive psychology, stress management, and resilience training to help leaders fight staff burnout and turnover and create systems that enable school and district thriving. Show Highlights Novice ...
Aug 23, 2023•37 min•Ep 173•Transcript available on Metacast Formerly a high school English teacher and a new teacher coach in Palo Alto Unified School District (Palo Alto, CA), Jennifer Abrams is currently a communications consultant and author who works with educators and others on new teacher and employee support, being generationally savvy, effective collaboration skills, having hard conversations and creating identity safe workplaces. Jennifer’s publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicate, Collaborate ...
Aug 16, 2023•32 min•Ep 172•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Chad Dumas is a Solution Tree associate and international consultant, presenter and award-winning researcher whose primary focus is collaborating to develop capacity for continuous improvement. Having been a successful teacher, principal, central office administrator, professional developer and consultant in a variety of school districts, he brings his passion, expertise, and skills to his writing and speaking as he engages participants in meaningful and practical learning. In his Amazon bes...
Aug 09, 2023•31 min•Ep 171•Transcript available on Metacast Jason P. Dropik (Babaamii-Bines / Eagle Clan) is the School Administrator for the Indian Community School (ics-edu.org), in Franklin, WI, which serves Native students in the metro Milwaukee area. A member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (BadRiver-nsn.gov), Jason is committed to supporting students, families, staff, and the community both near and far. Having recently completed a two-year term as President of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA.org), he advocat...
Aug 07, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brantley Turner is the East Asia Education Director for Dwight Schools with campuses in New York, London, Seoul, Shanghai, Dubai, Online and is currently launching Dwight School Hanoi. Ten years ago Brantley co-founded the only Sino-US cooperative high school in China, Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School. Serving as the American Principal at Qibao Dwight until July 2022; Brantley continues to serve on the school governing board. She looks forward to sharing her non-traditional path to educational ...
Aug 02, 2023•35 min•Ep 170•Transcript available on Metacast Jessica Gamble graduated from Howard University, which is located in Washington DC. Mrs. Gamble is a huge supporter of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Mrs. Gamble is married with two children, Kevin and Kai. Mrs. Gamble’s favorite place to visit is Jamaica. She loves it so much that she has been there five times! Mrs. Gamble loves to get her nails done. She always uses unique colors and she NEVER matches her fingers and toes. When Mrs. Gamble was growing up her parents owned a ball...
Jul 26, 2023•28 min•Ep 169•Transcript available on Metacast Jessica Gamble graduated from Howard University, which is located in Washington DC. Mrs. Gamble is a huge supporter of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Mrs. Gamble is married with two children, Kevin and Kai. Mrs. Gamble’s favorite place to visit is Jamaica. She loves it so much that she has been there five times! Mrs. Gamble loves to get her nails done. She always uses unique colors and she NEVER matches her fingers and toes. When Mrs. Gamble was growing up her parents owned a ball...
Jul 19, 2023•32 min•Ep 168•Transcript available on Metacast Loren Brody is an elementary school principal in Northern Virginia. He is also a husband, father of two teenagers, amateur violinist, dedicated swimmer, new vegetarian cook and mindfulness devotee, and Washington Wizards and Nationals sports fan -- still holding onto his New York roots with allegiance to the New York Jets and Mets Show Highlights The mastermind experience model that's transforming professional development around the world for school leaders. Gain more confidence on how to be a s...
Jul 12, 2023•39 min•Ep 167•Transcript available on Metacast Demetrius Ball is a dynamic leader focused on serving his family and community. As a current high school principal Demetrius is committed to creating a climate and school culture that is welcoming and inclusive for all students and staff members and sees strong relationships as the key to helping students and staff thrive. He has presented at local, regional and national conferences on topics such as technology integration, podcasting, the power of developing your professional/personal learning ...
Jun 28, 2023•41 min•Ep 165•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. David Franklin is an award winning school administrator, education professor, curriculum designer, author, and presenter. He earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from California State University, East Bay, a Master’s Degree in Education Technology from National University, and holds a B.A. in Music from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Franklin is the founder of The Principal's Desk, an online community with a membership of over 215,000 educators from across the world. He...
Jun 21, 2023•35 min•Ep 164•Transcript available on Metacast Jason P. Dropik (Babaamii-Bines / Eagle Clan) is the School Administrator for the Indian Community School (ics-edu.org), in Franklin, WI, which serves Native students in the metro Milwaukee area. A member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (BadRiver-nsn.gov), Jason is committed to supporting students, families, staff, and the community both near and far. Having recently completed a two-year term as President of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA.org), he advocat...
Jun 14, 2023•42 min•Ep 163•Transcript available on Metacast Erika has been an educator for over 20 years, currently serving as the Assistant Superintendent in the Ashland School District. A special educator at heart, she is passionate about supporting all students through individual support to reach their limitless potential. She is excited about her new book, co-authored with Tiffany Burns, Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students. Tiffany loves working with kids. In her two decades in education, she taught elementary, middl...
Jun 07, 2023•37 min•Ep 162•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Christopher Thurber is an award-winning writer and thought leader who has dedicated his professional life to improving how adults care for kids and to enhancing the experience of adventurous young people who are spending time away from home. A graduate of Harvard and UCLA, Dr. Thurber has served as a psychologist and instructor at Phillips Exeter Academy since 1999. Show Highlights Avoid “woodshed moments” when trying to innovate in education. Get organizations and bureaucracies to be open t...
May 31, 2023•40 min•Ep 161•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Lehan competed for six years in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns before getting tapped to become a dean of students and assistant principal for the Osseo Area Schools, and then principal of Osseo Senior High School, which he guided to its first ranking as one of “The Best High Schools” in the nation by US News and World Report. In February 2022, he was named IMG Academy’s head of school, where he oversees, organizes, and grows the world-renowned school’s academic prog...
May 24, 2023•31 min•Ep 160•Transcript available on Metacast Ruckus Makers, Did you enjoy this guided meditation? Would you benefit from more content like this? Tell Danny what you think! Email: danny@betterleadersbetterschools.com Or call/text to tell him yourself: +1-312-788-7595
May 20, 2023•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Merel Kriegsman , Women's Wealth Advocate, is dedicated to helping you become the wealthiest woman in your lineage. A former cleaning lady turned self-made Millionaire Matriarch, she believes that the most powerful thing we can do for our children is become unapologetic female leaders who fearlessly demand what they're worth, AND GET IT. Her insights, based on helping 1000+ women step into SELF-FUNDED wealth, have been featured on CBS news, ABC news and in publications like Forbes , Fast Company...
May 17, 2023•51 min•Ep 159•Transcript available on Metacast 
