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Meet Our Founder

and

Executive Director

“I am the Girl Grown-Up"

LaShell S. Rountree, MPA, Doctoral Candidate

The Architect of Institutional Healing

LaShell S. Rountree is a first-generation college graduate and visionary executive leader dedicated to dismantling the marginalization of passive learning. A proud daughter of New Haven, Connecticut, she has invested her life's work in creating equitable educational opportunities. With 25 years of public-sector leadership experience, including over 22 years in operational and instructional design within a nationally recognized charter management organization, she has mastered creating equity-centered systems that transform environments into professional sanctuaries of excellence.

As the architect of Bethune Luminary Academy for Girls, Inc., LaShell draws on her lived experience to develop a proprietary coaching framework grounded in collective efficacy and authoritative accountability. She has successfully coached and developed high-performing teams, empowering them to lead with conviction. Her leadership is underscored by a 110% increase in student enrollment and by her critical role in establishing four distinct school models between 2004 and 2023. These achievements result from an unwavering commitment to providing intensive, high-level support, demonstrating that prioritizing children's best interests is the most effective driver of institutional growth.

A certified School Business Manager (085) currently completing doctoral research in Public Administration, LaShell also served as a certified Administrator (092). She balances a decisive executive approach with a servant-leader mindset, drawing on her academic journey to implement initiatives focused on whole-child healing and institutional design. LaShell S. Rountree is architecting a legacy that empowers every future luminary and the professionals who support them to become the visionary leaders of their own lives.