History & Growth

In 2003, social entrepreneur Scott Morgan founded Education Pioneers to meet the need for more top talent in education and to provide the best and brightest emerging leaders with an entry point into rewarding education leadership careers.

Scott began his career as a high school teacher in an under-resourced school in Montgomery, Alabama. Eager to help scale success across the education sector and improve outcomes for all students, Scott pursued a law degree from Stanford Law School. While serving as legal counsel for Aspire Public Schools in California, Scott witnessed firsthand the power of multidisciplinary teams -- comprised of individuals with diverse personal, professional, and academic backgrounds but united in their commitment to students -- to solve education's most pressing problems. Scott also saw the need for more strong leadership across the education sector and envisioned creating a pathway for talented individuals to become leaders in education. From these experiences and observations, Education Pioneers emerged.

Education Pioneers began with a flagship program, the summer Graduate School Fellowship, serving eight Partner organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2004.

2004-2011 Impact and Selected Results:

Education Pioneers has grown into a thriving national organization operating in 16 cities with a network of over 1,600 leaders and partnerships with more than 180 education organizations. 

We have maintained high levels of quality while we've grown. Since 2007, 90% or more of our Fellows have rated their experience with our Graduate School Fellowship as good, very good, or excellent, and 97% or more of our Partners have rated their experience with our Graduate School Fellowship as good, very good, or excellent.

2012-2014 Strategic Priorities

As we look to the future, we believe four strategic priorities over the next three years will advance our vision to transform the performance of the education sector through much needed leadership and management talent.

Strategic Priority 1: Attract and prepare our nation's most promising leaders to drive change in education.

We will establish Education Pioneers as the premier pathway for professionals to launch careers in education leadership. We will attract exceptional people to drive transformational change in education. We will ensure these leaders have the skills and knowledge to drive reform in the sector. We will place a special focus on attracting African American and Latino leaders.

Strategic Priority 2: Strategically connect leaders with key organizations to accelerate solutions for the education sector.

Education Pioneers will serve as a valued partner in solving the most critical talent problems facing key education organizations. We will enhance the effectiveness of our Alumni in catalyzing change by building a world-class network to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and opportunities to drive impact.

Strategic Priority 3: Champion the effective use of data across the education sector.

We will establish Education Pioneers as the premier provider of analytic talent in K-12 education. We will invest in collaborative efforts with strategic partners, focusing on sharing the tools, knowledge, and strategies that create data-informed performance cultures in school systems. We will contribute as a thought leader regarding the effective use of data in K-12 education.

Strategic Priority 4: Build a thriving, sustainable institution.

Education Pioneers will strengthen our organization through two strategies: (1) creating a powerful network of champions and supporters to grow our impact, and (2) nurturing a high-performing, entrepreneurial, and inclusive culture that attracts, develops, and retains exemplary team members.