“Leaders that I feel have been most successful have kept students at the center of all that they do and have been brave enough to allow themselves to be led. For me, those are the most important attributes of educational leadership. One can easily slip into the trap of being guided by our own egos and feeling the need to prove our intelligence, but it really is not about us. We are all intelligent. We have the great pleasure of working on behalf of all children so that they might reach their full potential and realize their purpose. My vision for leadership in education is that we all keep that at the forefront of our minds and make decisions on behalf of children. Surge provides educational leaders with an opportunity to hold each other accountable to these pertinent values.”

Jacare Thomas is the Chief of Growth and Innovation at Umoja Student Development Corporation.