Watch: The 2020 Impact Virtual Event Video

Accelerate Institute was joined by two extraordinary school leaders for the 10th Annual Impact virtual event on Wednesday.

Accelerate Founder Pat Ryan, Jr. first sat down with Katie Kirley, executive director and principal of Steel City Academy in Gary, Indiana. Since opening the school’s doors in 2016, Kirley has led Steel City to serving over 500 students and being Gary’s first “A” letter grade high school in 21 years today.

Kirely, a School Accelerator alumnus, said the program “provided the strategic planning approach for our organization rather than strictly the theoretical [approach], and I knew I now had the application and the skills” necessary to lead Steel City effectively.

Watch the full 2020 Impact virtual event on Vimeo

Mr. Ryan was also joined by Kash Wilson, principal of Noble - Hansberry College Prep in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Wilson, who worked with Accelerate back in the Inner City Teaching Corps days, is also a School Accelerator alumnus.

When it came time for her to pivot from being an in-classroom instructor into a leadership role at a school in an underserved community, Wilson said she knew it would be essential to look to a professional development program like the School Accelerator for support.

“What I recognized was that I needed some skills and some support around, ‘How do I motivate [my] team to be able to go [in the right] direction even when the odds are seemingly against them?’” she said.

Wednesday evening featured one more special appearance when Alain Locke Charter School Dean of Students and Operations Vonyell Foster dropped by to interview alumnus Martin Hunter.

Hunter, a Wells Fargo financial analyst who graduate from Alain Locke in 2008, provided his unique perspective on how educators like Kirley and Wilson helped shape his life path as a young student.

Watch the full interviews with Wilson, Kirley and Hunter in the 2020 Impact virtual event video below: