Valissia is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Leadership Preparatory Charter School. Leadership Preparatory Charter School provides students in grades K-8 with the academic and character foundation necessary to excel in high school, graduate from college, and lead in their communities.

Valissia deeply believes that she can and must create public schools of extraordinary quality that provide their graduates with a clear pathway out of poverty. “I am a graduate of a struggling urban district where less than 60% of students graduate. My success - an educator cared deeply.”

This knowledge and expertise shaped Valissia’s professional life. After graduating from college, she worked with young adults, teaching middle school English and coordinating a youth program for a community theatre before pursuing her goal of earning a law degree. Valissia practiced law with Michigan Legal Services, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating the systemic causes of poverty through impact-oriented legal services, and worked as an Assistant Public Defender. Her experience providing legal services convinced her that creating real change comes from working to eliminate the pervasive educational inequalities that persist in historically underserved communities.

Leadership Prep is one of the highest-performing schools in Memphis, TN. Of approximately 320 schools across the state serving a student population of at least 50% or more economically disadvantaged, Leadership Prep is among the only six schools to receive an A letter grade for achievement in 2024. Leadership Prep students scored in the top 9% of all schools in the state for ELA and the top 19% for math.

Valissia and her team are determined to build schools where all the adults are invested in each student’s academic and personal success.

Valissia earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin.