Nancy Padilla

Dr. Nancy Padilla has been passionate about teaching and learning for more than three decades working collaboratively with thousands of students, hundreds of teachers, and dozens of administrators. With a Doctorate in Urban Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California, she has primarily worked with under-served student populations as a teacher, mentor, and school site administrator. An award-winning leader with K-12 principal experience, her schools were recognized for success at each level--elementary, middle, and high school. After retiring, or rather ‘re-wiring,’ from public school service in 2013, Dr. Padilla founded her own company, Performance Education Partnership (PEP). She has been coaching district and site administrators as well as teaching staffs in multiple school districts in California and Arkansas to foster capacity-building leadership, provide high-quality professional development, and facilitate system coherence with lead learners. Ever the student, Nancy still actively engages in her own professional growth by staying current on emerging educational research around social emotional learning, closing equity gaps, efficacious teaching practices, and the use of technology to transform and inspire today’s learners. Consistently demonstrating energetic leadership, strong human relation skills, and a passion for the greater good of all in the education community, her participatory style builds a “let’s see what we can do” climate grounded in high integrity and trust