Scott Bess is an education leadership consultant, and was most recently Executive Director and Founder of Purdue Polytechnic High School, which launched with one location in downtown Indianapolis in 2017. A second location opened in Indianapolis in 2019, and a third in South Bend in 2020. Prior to coming to Purdue, Scott was President of Goodwill Education Initiatives (GEI), a subsidiary of Goodwill Industries of Central and Southern Indiana. While at GEI, Scott led the development of the Excel Center, a high school designed for adults who had previously dropped out of high school. Under Scott’s leadership, GEI grew from a single, small high school to a network of schools serving over 5,000 students across Indiana and the United States. Before assuming this role in 2004, he was chief information officer for Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana and served in similar technology roles in the private sector. Scott began his career as a teacher and coach in the Beech Grove school system. He also served four terms as a member of the Danville Community Schools board. Scott received a bachelor’s degree in math education from Purdue and a master’s degree in teaching from Marian University, where he was a part of the Turnaround School Leadership program. Scott is on the board of Indiana Youth Institute and on the board of the Washington DC Excel Center and was recently appointed to the Indiana State Board of Education. He is also a graduate of the Pahara-Aspen fellowship program.