About Claudia
I am an education, program, and organizational leader with more than 21 years of experience across K–12 education, professional learning, instructional coaching, student support, strategic operations, and multi-region leadership.
My work has consistently focused on helping people and organizations move from complex challenges to practical, sustainable solutions by strengthening systems, developing people, improving implementation, and using data to guide continuous improvement.
The Thread Across My Career
How do we build systems that help people succeed?
That question has been a consistent thread throughout my career. Sometimes the work has meant helping a student access the right support. Sometimes it has meant helping an educator strengthen practice, developing a leader, improving a process, building a partnership, coordinating a complex initiative, or creating systems that did not previously exist.
Across classrooms, schools, districts, universities, multidisciplinary teams, and regional organizations, I have learned that meaningful improvement rarely comes from one program or initiative. It happens when organizations bring together strong people, clear systems, trusted relationships, useful data, disciplined implementation, and continuous learning.
That intersection is where I do my best work.
My career has taken me from classrooms and special education programs to instructional coaching, university teaching, multidisciplinary leadership, and multi-region systems work. Those experiences have given me both a practitioner's perspective and a systems-level view of what it takes to create meaningful improvement.
What I Bring
Systems Thinking
I look for root causes, patterns, gaps, and opportunities to build stronger structures.
People Development
I help individuals and teams strengthen judgment, confidence, ownership, and performance.
Implementation
I focus on turning strategy into practical, coordinated, and sustainable action.
Continuous Improvement
I use data, feedback, and experience to refine what is working and address what is not.
21+
Leadership Measured by Impact - I combine people leadership, implementation strategy, professional learning, partnership development, and data-informed improvement to strengthen outcomes across teams and communities.
Years of experience across education, professional learning, implementation, and organizational leadership.
14
Multidisciplinary teams led across Florida and Washington.
900+
Children, families, and school communities served through multi-region leadership.
6 + 5
Evaluation tools and key performance indicators established.
80%
Of participating students demonstrated measurable progress across targeted support plans.
65%
Reduction in crisis-related disenrollments associated with coordinated SEL and crisis-prevention supports.
How I Add Value
Program & Strategic Operations
Translating organizational priorities into clear systems, scalable practices, and coordinated implementation.
Learning & Leadership Development
Building educator and leader capacity through professional learning, coaching, and practical support.
Partner Success & Implementation
Strengthening readiness and problem solving across districts and cross-functional teams.
Student Support & Education Impact
Building inclusive, data-informed systems that improve access and outcomes for families.
How I Approach Complex Work
My goal is not simply to launch initiatives. It is to create the conditions that allow strong implementation to continue.
01
Diagnose
Understand the actual problem through data, observation, stakeholder feedback, implementation patterns, and root-cause analysis.
02
Design
Develop practical, scalable solutions that fit the people, goals, and environment involved.
03
Align
Create clarity around priorities, roles, responsibilities, outcomes, and measures of success.
04
Implement
Translate strategy into coordinated action through clear communication, structure, timelines, and follow-through.
05
Build Capacity
Strengthen people through coaching, professional learning, modeling, feedback loops, and practical resources.
06
Measure
Use qualitative and quantitative evidence to determine what is working, where barriers remain, and what needs attention.
07
Improve
Refine systems and practices based on evidence, experience, stakeholder input, and continuous learning.
Selected Leadership Stories
A few examples of how I have approached complex challenges involving people, systems, implementation, and outcomes.
Building Regional Student-Support Systems
Challenge
Expanding teams needed stronger consistency, shared practices, accountability, and visibility across regions.
Approach
Translated organizational priorities into scalable policies, workflows, implementation tools, professional learning, evaluation systems, and reporting structures while leading multidisciplinary teams across Florida and Washington.
Impact
Led 14 multidisciplinary teams serving 900+ children, families, and school communities; established 6 evaluation tools and 5 KPIs; implemented monthly reporting across 6 teams serving 400+ children and families.
Connecting Data to Action
Challenge
Teams needed a stronger process for identifying needs, coordinating intervention, monitoring implementation, and evaluating progress.
Approach
Partnered with school leaders and multidisciplinary teams to analyze academic, behavioral, developmental, communication, and family-support needs and translate findings into targeted support plans.
Impact
Developed 50+ targeted support plans, with 80% of participating students demonstrating measurable progress.
Expanding Access Through Partnership
Challenge
Families faced 3–9+ month waits, transportation barriers, and delays in accessing evaluations and related services.
Approach
Identified system-level barriers, researched available resources, built external relationships, and developed a Florida school-district partnership designed to bring services closer to children and families.
Impact
Helped create opportunities for onsite evaluation, special education, and related services while reducing access barriers.
Building Educator Capacity
Challenge
Educators and leaders needed practical support to strengthen instruction and intervention for students with diverse learning needs.
Approach
Used observation, modeling, professional learning, data analysis, reflective coaching, and actionable feedback to strengthen practice.
Impact
Strengthened educator capacity in inclusive practice, differentiated instruction, behavior support, intervention, progress monitoring, and data-informed decision making.
Power Week: Turning Regional Data Into Action
Challenge
Regional and school leaders needed a comprehensive way to understand performance trends, emerging needs, and opportunities for improvement across multiple schools.
Approach
Led a structured regional data-review process separately across two regions. Interviewed all Heads of School, coordinated team members supporting each school to gather and synthesize six months of data, and consolidated school-leader, student, and family information into a shared system. Facilitated regional analysis sessions to identify patterns, priorities, and school-specific needs.
Impact
Supported each region in identifying data-informed improvement priorities and worked collaboratively with school leaders to translate findings into school- and region-specific action plans.
Building Capacity, Not Dependency
My approach to leadership is grounded in clarity, coaching, accountability, and capacity building. I aim to help people strengthen their judgment, confidence, and ability to solve problems so that strong practice can continue without relying on constant direction.
Create Clarity
Set clear expectations, priorities, roles, and measures of success so people understand both what is expected and why the work matters.
Coach for Growth
Use observation, modeling, reflective questioning, actionable feedback, guided practice, and ongoing support to strengthen individual and team performance.
Build Ownership
Create opportunities for team members to make decisions, solve problems, reflect on results, and gradually take greater responsibility for their work.
Strengthen Accountability
Establish consistent follow-through, feedback loops, performance expectations, and shared responsibility for results while maintaining a supportive learning environment.
"Effective leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about creating the conditions in which people can grow, contribute, and increasingly lead the work themselves."
Professional Experience
2024–2026
Senior Manager, Student Support — Bezos Academy
Led multi-region student-support strategy, team development, implementation systems, partnerships, professional learning, and continuous improvement across Florida and Washington.
2022–2024
Inclusion Specialist — Bezos Academy
Strengthened inclusive practice, MTSS, educator coaching, intervention planning, family partnership, and school/district coordination.
2019–Present
Adjunct Professor — Grand Canyon University
Teach undergraduate Early Childhood and Elementary Special Education courses in an online learning environment.
2018–2022
Instructional Coach, Autism — Broward County Public Schools
Coached educators and school leaders, designed professional learning, conducted observations, and used data to strengthen instructional practice and student support.
2012–2018
PS/PK Communication & Education Support Teacher — District of Columbia Public Schools
Provided specialized instruction, whole-child intervention, progress monitoring, family collaboration, and multidisciplinary support.
Earlier Leadership & Education Experience
Prince George’s County Public Schools — Supervisor, Special Education | 2011–2012
Ministry of Education, Bermuda — Special Education Teacher | 2009–2011
District of Columbia Public Schools — Special Education Teacher | 2005–2009
Education & Professional Credentials
Master of Education
Special Education
Trinity Washington University
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
Film
HOWARD UNIVERSITY
BACHELOR OF ARTS
FILM
MINORS: ENGLISH & HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
Professional Credentials
Standard Administrator Credential, Pre-K–12
Standard Special Education Teacher Credential, Pre-K–12
Broward County Public Schools Mentoring and Coaching Certification
Professional Thought Leadership
Sharing practice, tools, and ideas with educators and professionals through national and international conferences and professional learning.
ADDRESSING THE WHOLE CHILD IN THE WHOLE CLASSROOM
A whole-child instructional framework integrating standards-aligned instruction, progress monitoring, skill-gap analysis, targeted reteaching, and inclusive support.
- Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI)
- International Conference on Autism, Intellectual Disability & Other Developmental Disabilities
- International World Congress on Special Needs Education
- Annual Statewide CARD Conference
- Council for Exceptional Children
- Educating All Students with Excellence (EASE) Conference
Technology & AI
Using digital tools and generative AI to support research, planning, professional learning, communication, workflow documentation, data synthesis, and operational efficiency.
Microsoft Teams
Zoom
Microsoft Office
Google Workspace
SharePoint
ChatGPT
Microsoft Copilot
Google Gemini
Scribe
I use AI as a practical productivity and thinking tool while maintaining human review, professional judgment, accuracy, and accountability.
Let’s Build Something That Works Better.
I welcome conversations about leadership opportunities involving program strategy, implementation, professional learning, partner success, strategic operations, organizational improvement, and education impact.
Claudia De Silva, MFA, M.Ed.
claudia.desilva@aol.com
www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-desilva