Dr. Nancy B. Gutiérrez is the President & Lead Executive Officer of The Leadership Academy, a nationally recognized nonprofit that has supported educators across 43 states and more than 430 districts in building leadership capacity for school and system transformation.

A nationally celebrated education leader, Nancy was named California Middle Grades Principal of the Year (2010), one of City & State’s 100 Most Influential Education Leaders in New York (2020), a Distinguished Alumna by San Jose State University (2023), and received the Innovator of Color Award at ASU-GSV (2025). She chairs the board of Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC) and serves on the boards of The Hunt Institute, brightbeam, and The Neurodiversity Alliance.

A former principal and teacher in East San Jose, CA, Nancy led a successful turnaround of her community’s lowest-performing middle school. She holds an Ed.L.D. from Harvard, is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow, and has served on faculty of Teachers College, Columbia University.

She is the co-author of Stay and Prevail (2023) and Coaching Education Leaders (2024).