I am practitioner of appreciative inquiry as well as conducting rounds (instructional, cultural, etc.) as ways of collecting evidence of a school’s efficacy. I support systems that leverage peer coaching and peer observation. I believe in embedding cultures of continuous feedback in schools.

Mentoring leaders to become more authentic, effective and balanced human beings is part of the work I conduct with school principals, administrators and leadership teams. The capacity to listen, observe, synthesize and get out of the way, is an approach to supporting leaders I’ve refined over time.

I’m at home in a diversity of schools and organizations, as a cultural and pedagogical attache. I work in the material world of children, youth and adults, ideals and ideas, wherever learning is unfolding, hope is non-negotiable, and human possibility is amplified.

The Bard/Bank Street Environmental Science Academy, Youth Empowerment and Sustainability Summit (YESS), China Town I Pad Project, are some of initiatives I brokered and designed for bringing diverse organizations and learners together.

I’ve spoken at memorials and delivered commencement greetings and keynotes to teachers in summer institutes and opening Remarks for National Honors students. I enjoy the pulpit as much as the stage.

I began my teaching life as an ESL instructor in Bogotá Colombia and never stopped. In the schools I led I made it a source of pleasure and a point—to teach. Why does leadership mean a vacating from the very thing you love? Over the years that calling has included teaching teachers and leaders at Bank Street College, Pace and Spalding Universities.

Listening and asking probing questions is a skill that time and humility have granted me. I enjoy conducting and participating in roundtables, dialogues and interviews. In communities of practice, I serve the dual role of facilitator and guide. In the Real Lives series, I conducted interviews with people leading significant public lives for a live audience of middle and high school students.

I am an essayist. An acolyte of Montaigne and the Uruguayan journalist, Eduardo Galeano. The ability to use language well and thoughtfully, Herb Kohl reminds us, is also central to teaching and to developing democratic sensibility. It’s the most powerful tool we have.

I have run schools on 4 continents and across the entire K-12 spectrum. Some of what I learned came from reading and studies. Most of what of I learned has come from mistakes, some failures, and the relational magic that occurs in communities that care about learning and human development. Much of what I believe about leading others starts with leading yourself. Or as Tolstoy says: to live your whole life as though it was a heroic deed.