Ethan Ashley

Ethan is building a more inclusive and accessible education system for everyone by redesigning the composition, training, and governance of school boards and their leaders, turning them into powerful levers of educational equity and reform. 

Ethan is growing a national network of next-gen school board leaders to meet the educational needs of the modern world and overcome persistent inequities in our education system. It’s the only network of its kind and poised to leverage the power of school boards to uphold both values like fairness and equity and improve outcomes for all students.  

Across the United States, our public education system is failing kids — mostly kids from disadvantaged backgrounds — at a rate that threatens the future of our workforce, global competitiveness and long-term economic viability. The education sector has been attempting to address chronic inequities ever since the Coleman Report first highlighted the achievement gap over 50 years ago — with little success. And our schools are more segregated in 2025 than they were in the late 1960s.  

School boards play a central role in shaping policies that can help or hinder student thriving. Following Brown vs. Board of Education, school boards were tasked with integrating schools but instead, many enacted policies to continue “de facto” segregation, adhered to redlined community boundaries, and developed financing and talent systems that prioritized the wealthiest, whitest communities. Today, these practices are seen not as discriminatory but “business as usual,” and most school boards functionally maintain the status quo.  

Despite their outsized effect on policy decisions, most school board members are underprepared, under-supported, and do not represent the communities they serve. Meanwhile, potential leaders of color lack the necessary resources and training to reform inequitable policies. Despite the authority that school boards have in shaping education policy, they are underutilized, underdeveloped agents for change.  

Through his organization, School Board Partners, Ethan Ashley is helping school boards evolve into institutions oriented toward justice by diversifying, supporting, and professionalizing boards across the country. First, he recruits people who share identities and experiences with the communities they serve; helps them wield power to effectively govern in a manner that supports schools and advances justice; and professionalizes boards as a whole by equipping them with the skills, networks, and resources needed to close the gaps in equity and excellence that persist. Ethan is building a pipeline for new, impactful leadership, and cultivating a national community of practice among school board members focused on driving educational equity. Ethan is creating the conditions that will enable school boards to succeed in their core responsibility of improving opportunities for all students and to become the driving force for educational equity in the United States.  

Every day 90,000 school board members across the United States make life-altering decisions about who has access to education, what history students learn, who feels safe and included in schools, and what policies govern everything from discipline to curriculum. The ripple effects of their choices determine whether a child will succeed or struggle within a system that has often been rigged against them. And yet, despite this immense responsibility, the vast majority of these school board members are underprepared, under-supported, and overwhelmingly lack the diversity necessary to make decisions that truly address the needs of all students. These conditions have allowed systemic racism and inequality to persist, not only leaving gaps between students of color and their white peers but exacerbating them—perpetuating a system where educational outcomes are too often predetermined by a student’s race or zip code. 
 
The roots of the problem run deep. Over 75 years ago, school boards were at the heart of the struggle for educational equality in the U.S. In 1952, school boards in Virginia and other Southern states fought to maintain racial segregation, leading to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. The school boards involved actively perpetuated inequities, from segregated schools to policies that favored wealthier, predominantly white communities. When the Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal, school boards were tasked with implementing desegregation. Some moved quickly to integrate schools, but others actively resisted by creating new policies, such as redlining attendance zones, implementing "freedom of choice" plans that maintained segregation in practice, shuttering public schools entirely rather than integrating them, selective student transfer policies, and funding schools based on property taxes.  

These policies reinforced a cycle of inequality that continues to this day, where school boards frequently lack the vision and capacity to create opportunities beyond what they inherited. They don’t rally to create open enrollment systems, offer magnet or charter schools, or shift resources to allow students access to college courses for free. Instead, inequitable policies are so ingrained in K-12 education that many people, including school board members, do not even recognize them as discriminatory.  

School Boards are failing to meet their primary responsibility of increasing educational equity for three main reasons: a lack of representation, a lack of preparedness, and a lack of purpose.  

Lack of Representation  
School boards have the power to shape the education system in profound ways, but too often, the people making those decisions aren’t representative of the students they serve.  60% of the 90,000 school board members in the US are white, over the age of 55, and their decisions fail to address the unique challenges faced by students of color who make up most of the public-school population.  

When surveyed, people of color are more likely to join school boards to make changes to the existing system, whereas white school board members are more likely motivated to “give back to the community.” Research shows that diverse school boards are more likely to distribute funds equitably.1 In California, a study found that boards with at least one Hispanic member led to greater student achievement, more diverse school leadership, and lower teacher turnover. Similar studies in Florida found that more racially diverse school boards lowered suspension rates overall and significantly reduced race-based disparities in school discipline.

School board elections have become more competitive (and expensive) of late, especially in larger school districts, with more people of color running – as well as those with disabilities, from the LGBTQIA+ community, or for whom English is a second language. But they have lower access to necessary campaign infrastructure and face difficulty in continuing to serve – in part because of the unpaid hours (30-50 per month) that are required to do the job (80% of board positions are volunteer), and the added complexities of being a first-gen leader of color on a majority white board.  

Lack of Preparedness  
School boards are entrusted with the power to make life-altering decisions for students—about access to education, discipline, safety, and the curriculum. Yet many board members do not fully recognize the scope of this power nor do they have the training, knowledge, or systems to wield it effectively. The education system is complex, and school boards are expected to manage everything from multi-million-dollar budgets to long-term policy strategies, all while navigating political pressures and public scrutiny.  Even those who are highly motivated to make improvements often don’t have the skills to do so. Without the necessary training, school board members can only react to problems rather than proactively address them, and this ultimately hampers the potential for long-term improvement in student outcomes.  

The education sector has been attempting to address educational inequity ever since the Coleman Report first highlighted the achievement gap over 50 years ago — with little success. But the role of school boards has been overlooked and underutilized as agents for change. National organizations that focus on school boards tend to be “values-neutral” and support with compliance, general governance training, and top-down approaches that don’t address the core issues of inequality (such as the National School Boards Association (NSBA), State School Board Associations, and the Council of Great City Schools). At the local level, progressive initiatives face limitations in their models by assuming that school boards and leadership teams will always be aligned in their goals for systemic reform—a scenario that rarely holds true. Without the proper alignment and readiness to tackle entrenched issues, progress stalls, and leadership turnover resets efforts. Specific efforts to increase board diversity tend to focus on recruitment but don’t provide the expertise or ongoing support necessary for board members (especially leaders of color) to succeed in the role and effect change. Attempts at a whole board approach (such as one initiative of the Broad Institute) stalled at the outset because they could only move as fast as the lowest common denominator. 

Meanwhile, in some parts of the country, relatively small factions that are nevertheless vocal and politically powerful are attempting to seize power on school boards to roll back progress, block  schools from holding open and honest discussions of race and racism and enact laws that discriminate against LGBTQIA+ students. School board meetings don’t have a reputation for excitement, but since the pandemic they have hosted some of the most explosive fights in America. Boards hold the proverbial line regarding culture wars and fend off efforts by right-wing “parents rights” groups (such as Moms for Liberty) to ban books and restrict the teaching of accurate and honest history. Attacks on public education are intensifying, with deliberate efforts to push experienced leaders—especially Black women—out of roles on school boards.  

Increased political pressure, along with other factors (such as age/retirement), have led to a pivotal moment for school board makeup. In a national survey of board members, only 38% said they planned to run for reelection. This presents an opportunity to recruit and train new board members, and an urgent call to action to retain and support existing members who are capable and representative of the communities they serve but struggling to sustain their position.   

Our future as a country is dependent on the thriving of our young people. Empowered, representative and resourced school boards are needed to both disrupt entrenched inequities in education and to approach new challenges with an optimistic and equity-focused lens: issues like pandemic learning loss that continues to impact learning outcomes; the rise of generative AI, which will widen existing learning gaps at an accelerated pace if students aren’t given equitable access to new tools in an increasingly digital world; the rising demand for changemaking skills that many schools are failing to properly equip young people with and finally, the abuse of voucher programs that are diverting public funds with little oversight.  
 
Lack of Purpose 
School boards were originally devised as important accountability levers within public education -- to be the voice of the community, to make sure money is well spent, that schools are safe, and that every student gets a quality education. As school boards have strayed from their central purpose, as has been the case for over 75 years, public education has gone off track. School boards have an opportunity and an urgent responsibility to evolve from institutions that too often promulgate education injustices to those that are motivated to actively identify and deconstruct the racist policies and practices that are harming students and communities. Instead of acting like a status quo bureaucracy, it is in fact this power center that has to be wielded on behalf of shared values in society. 

Despite these challenges, Ethan believes that the opportunity to transform school board governance—and, by extension, public education—into a more equitable and effective system is both urgent and achievable. Boards created these inequities and only boards can fix them. 

Ethan Ashley is helping usher in a new era of school governance where school boards are equipped to lead with courage, competence, and a commitment to equity. School Board Partners (SBP) is the only national organization dedicated to addressing the inequities in school governance, with a laser focus on supporting elected school board members of color, many of whom are first-generation elected officials. SBP empowers board members— particularly those from marginalized communities—with the skills, knowledge, and community support they need to enact anti-racist, student-centered policies that drive systemic change.

Ethan is laying the groundwork for a future where School Boards aren’t just in charge of schools, but the driving force behind a more equitable, just and effective educational system. First, SBP advocates for electing people who share identities and experiences with the students and families served by the board, and who share an antiracist mindset. This requires investing in the infrastructure to identify, recruit, train, and retain them once elected.   

Once the right people are in place, they must be prepared and willing to use their power and influence to ensure the school board focuses on advancing equity and justice in education. On an individual level, board members need high-quality training, ongoing support and financial resources to have an impact. Boards need an effective governance framework, a focus on passing equitable policies, and data transparency to clearly identify disparities and track them back to policies and practices.  

At the core of SBP’s approach is a fellowship program that provides ongoing, personalized support tailored to the unique challenges faced by school boards representing students and families of color. While the needs of each fellow differ based on their experience and context, SBP equips them with the tools to build strong governance structures and address inequities in their districts. Upon election, fellows work with SBP to identify their strengths, areas for growth, and get onboarded to one of their three learning journeys. Ethan’s robust team of expert consultants help fellows with any and every aspect of their board role, from engaging with communities to navigating existing board dynamics to writing a new policy on data transparency and analysis. SBP partners with Edunomics Lab out of Georgetown University to provide financial training and certificates. In addition to individualized support, fellows engage with one another as a cohort and are folded into SBP’s national community of practice, creating relationships and a cross-pollination of ideas across state lines and districts. The community aspect makes a difficult, oftentimes lonely job feel less isolating. Many fellows are first generation school board members who also happen to be the first persons of color on their school board. These leaders in particular need additional support to be effective while dealing with issues of politics, racism, sexism, and more. 

SBP works with local partners to identify quality, values-aligned candidates for school boards – some of whom would never have considered running without SBP’s encouragement. The team trains select candidates to cut their learning curve and prepare them to lead effectively. SBP then identifies a c4 partner (a tax-exempt organization that can engage in lobbying) to help candidates secure school board positions. Once elected, they engage with fellows on an ongoing basis, ensuring that they can be successful. When their term is up, the c4 partners support with re-election campaigns, ensuring they can continue to lead for the long term. The reelection rate of SBP fellows is higher than the national average, showing that – when supported – school board members stay in the role longer. In 2024, 95% of board members in the cohort (40 of 42) got reelected.  

Ethan and his team have supported six cohorts of over 500 school board fellows across more than 190 school districts in 41 states since 2018. One of Ethan’s original and most strategic insights was that just one or two well-trained supported board members can have a huge impact. To that end, Ethan has been laser-focused on cultivating effective, purpose-driven leaders: 20% of fellows hold a leadership position on their school board. SBP fellows across the country are making measurable impacts in their districts, and, since the coronavirus pandemic, the wider public is more aware of the power that school boards wield within the education system. For example, one of their earliest fellows was elected as the first Latina to serve in a district where 99% of the student population was Latino and led the hiring of the district’s first Latino superintendent. Or Danielle Gonzales, who became the school board president in Albuquerque, New Mexico -- a district where Moms for Liberty is alive and well. Danielle championed the hiring of a new superintendent, who worked with the board to dramatically improve test scores such that the district has become an exemplar in the state. Fellows across the country are shifting the culture of school boards, improving test scores, passing compensation resolutions, changing graduation requirements, championing data transparency and progress monitoring, improving superintendent evaluations, etc.  

SBP’s work has expanded over the years in response to the needs of and learnings from their fellows. SBP has developed open-source policy and governance resources, hosts an annual conference, provides pre-election training and a school board governance certificate program in partnership with Colorado State University Global, and more. School Board members can’t teach at the same time, so SBP works with an employment agency to help former teachers find work during their tenure as a board member. What began as a fellowship has become a national community of practice among school board members focused on driving educational equity. 

In order to scale their work and diversify entry points, SBP has spent the past two years turning their comprehensive curriculum for fellows into a governance framework for school boards called Empowered Governance, which aims to help boards become bridges to progress. It is a policy-centered framework designed to offer a more accountable, power-balanced, and equity-focused approach to school board operations – creating the conditions in which students can reach their full potential. SBP is now using this approach to support district-level reform and whole board work as needed (in addition to open-sourcing the policy toolkit). SBP has developed a tiered model of assistance that can be adjusted to meet the distinct needs of a given district. Most groups currently doing whole board work appeal to superintendents by promising to get the board off their back. SBP’s proposition is to help turn the board into a strong partner and to get everyone swiftly moving in the right direction. 

One example of SBP’s model in action is the Tempe Union High School District in Arizona. In April 2023, the district began working with SBP to implement the Empowered Governance model. Over the next 18 months, SBP facilitated a board retreat, virtual sessions, and 1:1 coaching, leading to transformative reforms and measurable outcomes.  

Key accomplishments include:  
- Revised governance policies aligned with Empowered Governance principles.  
- A district-wide performance data audit to identify key improvement areas.  
- Board-adopted annual goals prioritizing the progress of historically marginalized student groups.  
- A revised superintendent evaluation process tied to student outcomes.  
- A data monitoring calendar for continuous performance oversight.  
- An annual board self-evaluation to refine governance practices.    

At the end of the 2023-24 school year, Tempe Union achieved an unprecedented milestone—for the first time in history, every school in the district earned an “A” rating from the state.  

At the center of this success is Armando Montero. As a sophomore in high school, Armando was struggling with depression when he lost a close friend to suicide. In response, he gathered a group of students and launched an effort to raise awareness about mental health for the school board. The group attended board meetings regularly to advocate for improved policies around student wellbeing. Local partners caught wind of his efforts and suggested him as a candidate to School Board Partners. Armando was elected to the Tempe Union board at the age of 19 and began serving as president at age 22.  

With SBP’s support, Armando championed a mental health policy that promotes student well-being district-wide and led the board to unanimous approval of the governance reforms listed above and new district goals, including: increased proficiency for marginalized student groups on state exams, improvements in college and career readiness metrics, higher FAFSA completion rates to boost college access, and reduced chronic absenteeism. These goals now serve as the foundation for the annual superintendent evaluation, ensuring that leadership accountability aligns with student success.  

In addition to fellows having measurable impact across the U.S., Ethan is cultivating a national community of practice among school board members who are focused on driving educational equity. Every year, SBP hosts the Our Collective Power conference, which brings together fellows, members, and their wider network. In the summer of 2024, 200 attendees came to San Antonio, TX from 82 districts, representing 4.1 million students and responsible for $80 billion in public resources. As education is a state-based right, conditions for school boards differ region by region. The national network enables cross-border learning among board members who can then create new realities within their realms of control. The gathering also helps school board members access a shared sense of meaning and purpose that can get lost in the day-to-day grind. As another part of this field-building work, Ethan and his team developed the first of its kind survey of 675 board members serving students of color across the country – the sample was racially and ethnically diverse and included at least one person from 47 states. Their findings were released in a report, titled “Empty Seats at a Powerful Table,” which highlighted the needs, challenges, priorities and ideas of surveyed board members. The process and findings helped inform SBP’s strategy and has been a huge contribution to innovations and gap assessments in the broader field of education reform.  

Ethan sees their tipping point as reaching 25% of public-school students across the US, which means multiplying their current impact by five – to support 2,500 board members across 350 districts – impacting 13 million students. In preparation for this new chapter, SBP is shifting toward a state-based regional organizing model with the goal of becoming embedded in districts (a process they have piloted in Denver). They have also developed a new report and guide written specifically for district decision-makers on how to improve effective school board governance, which was released in early 2025 and disseminated by national education stakeholders and other reform groups to which SBP is connected.  

SBP is also leveraging technology to further scale their impact. In 2025, Ethan and his team will launch PolicyIQ, a generative AI bot that is built to speed up the process of creating equitable education policy and to democratize the experience of doing so for people who aren’t policy gurus. The tool will help boards act swiftly in the face of challenges such as identity-based policy attacks or the weaponization of Title funding. It can help devise supportive policies for English learners and newcomers, or Safe Haven provisions to protect students and staff from ICE interference.  

SBP currently has three full-time employees, and 22 consultants (many of whom have been working with Ethan since day one) who are dedicated to various aspects of their work, including training, coaching, data analysis, operations, accounting, policy development, and community engagement. Ethan will hire local teams to support their shift toward state-based organizing.  

In 5-10 years, Ethan wants representative, resourced and professional boards to be seen as best practice – effective governance becomes anti-racist governance, and the buzzword can be dropped. All parents want their kids to succeed – and Ethan is building toward a future where school boards are accountable to all students, and students consider serving on a school board one day as part of their civic duty. 

Ethan was raised by an extended family of educators and pastors in Compton, CA. He grew up in a challenging environment where access to education, like much of life, was a roll of the dice. At the age of six, he was handcuffed for stealing a pack of Bubblicious— which his family couldn't afford. It was a painful introduction to the cards that were already stacked against him. Ethan also battled childhood cancer, instilling in him the feeling that he was to do something important with his life.  

After attending seven different schools by the time he was in 2nd grade, Ethan was accepted into a prestigious magnet elementary school focused on performing arts, where he flourished in the classroom with supportive educators. At the age of 13, he moved in with a friend's family that lived closer to the high school and community college where he was dual-enrolled. Ethan graduated from high school at 16, Howard University at 19, and law school at 22. But his path wasn't just an individual triumph—it was the direct result of school board policies that gave him access to opportunities that others didn't have: magnet schools, free busing, early college programs, and college credit before high school graduation.  

Ethan’s early experiences as a student set the tone for his life’s work and belief that education systems should even the playing field for all students – no matter their circumstances. His drive to improve outcomes for young people led him to work on Capitol Hill, for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs (among other roles). Eventually, Ethan moved to Louisiana, where his family had lived before being forced out during the Jim Crow era. Ethan began working with Bryan Stevenson on criminal justice reform and helped pass state legislation that ended life sentences for juveniles charged with non-homicide offenses.  

After an infuriating meeting of a University-led think tank about how to handle students with criminal records, Ethan decided to shift his energy further upstream to the school to prison pipeline. He started attending school board meetings and began to understand the powerful role of school boards on student outcomes.  

In 2016, Ethan was elected to the school board in New Orleans where his service as a two-term president spanned the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd’s murder. Despite having had a long and successful career in education, policy, and civil rights, he found he was unprepared to perform the many functions and meet the critical responsibilities of an elected school board member. Being one of seven decision-makers is different from being the CEO. Being elected is different from being hired. Politics are tough and policy-writing is a new skill for many. The training he had access to was mediocre at best and focused on compliance, not ensuring educational equity. When Ethan couldn’t find adequate training anywhere, he launched a self-directed effort to skill up, which included getting an EdFinance certificate from Georgetown University.  

So, Ethan decided to create something different: an intensive one-year fellowship for elected school board members focused on antiracism and equity. School Board Partners brought together the first cohort of fellows in 2019. In 2024, Ethan took over as sole-CEO of the organization.  

Ultimately, Ethan was a force for change during his two terms as board president, including leading a racial equity audit, expanding mental health services, and the groundbreaking decision to raise minimum wages to 15$/hr., making his district a leader in equitable pay and increasing student achievement to its highest point- even higher than pre-pandemic academic numbers. 

Ethan lives in New Orleans with his wife and three children.